Before I begin, it’s important to clarify that if your dealership wins because of the products and services leveraged, it provides your vendor with further validation that they’re doing something right. It’s a cycle of success! I learned this from our brilliant EVP of Sales, Jenny Vance!

In order to achieve this success, however, dealerships need to have a conversation with their providers. All too often, dealerships are hesitant to make changes to their processes because, let’s face it, change can be scary. 

With proper dialogue between your dealership and your vendor, new strategies can be developed, learning can happen and success can be attained. And I'm not alone in this thinking either. My colleague, Russ Chandler, discussed provider relationships this in-depth last year. 

Here's what dealerships can look for when searching for a vendor to have a grounded, professional working relationship with:

Seek Out Vendors Who Enjoy Open Discussion

When seeking out a vendor to have a conversation with it, it’s best to find a vendors who are natural conversationalists. And no, I don’t mean hiring vendors who like to rattle your ear off, I mean vendors who have proven that they can work closely with their customers. It’s important that vendors and dealerships are able to listen to one another’s concerns and come up with viable workarounds and solutions that lead to their desired result.

Now you might be asking: “How do I know if the vendor I’m looking at is going to work with me?” Well, honestly, we never know how a vendor/dealership relationship is going to work out until the discussions have begun. However, there’s research you can conduct to help guide your dealership in the right direction.

Before committing to a long-term vendor relationship, be sure to read case studies, read reviews (G2 Crowd & Capterra are some of the best for software reviews) or talk to other auto folks to get a recommendation/referral. In a nutshell, other people’s experiences will tell you more than what taking an educated guess can ever do for your dealership.

Go With Vendors Who LOVE Data

When seeking out a new vendor, chances are good that you’re already having a conversation with them. You’re probably asking them questions about the types of services they offer, pricing, contracts, among all the other usual questions. One question that your dealership might deem particularly useful is “how are you able to build out your strategy?” If any mention of previous benchmark data comes into the conversation at any point, then you’re likely heading in the right direction.

Some of the best types of strategies are built around the mistakes or mishaps of previous strategies from either previous clients or quarters. The more you learn from your mistakes, the more successful you’re likely to be. This builds onto the conversationalist trait because that previous data allows vendors to explain WHY they’re choosing to do certain things.

What have your experiences been like with looking for vendors? Let me know in the comments below!