Developing a department or team to acquire private party seller vehicles within a dealership is a valuable and, at times, challenging pursuit. There are huge benefits to becoming a seller advocate. Having this service provides a steady stream of clean, fast turning and high return on investment vehicles delivered to the dealership doors.

It also provides a tremendous opportunity to get in touch with consumers in the market the dealership would have otherwise never connected with.

We often say – today’s sellers become tomorrow’s buyers.

Putting the consumer at ease

One of the challenges is that consumers selling their vehicles are often skeptical that the dealership has the intention to sell them a car, not just acquire the vehicle they have for sale.

For good reason, the sellers know that the primary business of a dealership is to sell vehicles. In the interest of full disclosure, we certainly won’t turn down the opportunity to trade the vehicle in for a more suitable or newer vehicle if the seller is interested.

For the majority of consumers selling their vehicles, they want a fair market value and a straightforward transaction without the hassle of selling their vehicles on their own.

Our top performing VAN dealers recognize this seller concern and make it their goal to put them at ease very early in the acquisition process. They provide value to the consumer in the form of seller advocacy.

Becoming a seller’s advocate

Top buy centers explain that in the initial conversation he assures sellers that he is interested in acquiring their vehicle. At the same time, commit to being an advocate for them in the form of providing an expert consultation for their classified listing.

They explain some of the factors that make a listing appealing to buyers and offers pointers on the vehicle description. Photo staging and other areas where the seller can improve their potential outcome.

Once a seller realizes that a dealer is genuinely interested in helping them sell their vehicle, top buy centers say that they become more of a consulting source than a dealer interested in selling them a vehicle.

Providing value for vehicle sellers

In addition to providing advice and guidance with regard to selling a vehicle, dealerships have a number of other ways to provide value to a seller in their market including,

- Vehicle history report that usually costs the seller to obtain.

- Mechanical inspection by a professional mechanic.

- Estimates on repairs that may be needed to sell the vehicle.