Dealer panels at Used Car Week to cover relationship buying, inventory redistribution & more

By Daryl Lubinsky, CorrespondentMonday, Oct. 23, 2023Dealership inventory shortages during the beginning and peak of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a shift to “transactional” buying, said Samantha Splane of Sterling Automotive Group.“You had the vehicle and you sold it, most times at a premium price,” said Splane, who is marketing and customer experience director for Sterling.Splane will discuss issues like that during Used Car Week 2023, which will take place Nov. 6-9 in Scottsdale, Ariz.Splane will participate in a panel titled, “Top CX Strategies to Set Dealers Up for Success in 2024.” The CX strategies session will cover topics such as using data to drive targeting, responding to customers with trade-in values, and using technology to handle customer follow-up.Alexi Venneri, who is co-founder and CEO of DAS Technology, will lead the panel, and she said the dealers on the panel are open to innovation. The panel will cover topics such as how dealers need the right tools to effectively engage and communicate with consumers on trade-ins and buybacks.“We want to ask them, how are you engaging? How are you being more targeted one to one to get those consumers to raise their hand and act? What strategies have you been employing that have worked for you?” she said. “So there’s just some really interesting things dealers are doing right.“I think they’re even getting back to what kind of perks or experiences at the dealership can draw people in, very targeted messaging. Are you running specific programs if you live near military bases? Are you looking at college grads? It’s all about again that consumer having a great experience.”Read the entire article here.