The Day I Stopped Falling In Love With Cars
One of the most profitable days of my career had nothing to do with making more money.
It happened when I stopped buying cars for myself.
And started buying cars for my customers.
That sounds obvious.
But trust me.
Most dealers don't do it.
The Cool Car Trap
When I was younger, I loved cool inventory.
The rare car.
The unique color combination.
The lifted truck.
The sports car.
The weird niche vehicle nobody else had.
I'd convince myself that being different was an advantage.
Sometimes it was.
Most of the time it wasn't.
What I eventually learned is that there is a huge difference between a car people admire and a car people buy.
Dealers confuse those two things all the time.
The Inventory Everyone Loves
You know the car.
Every customer stops to look at it.
Every employee talks about it.
Every friend tells you it's awesome.
Everybody has an opinion.
Nobody writes a check.
The car gets attention.
The car gets compliments.
The car gets social media engagement.
The car gets everything except sold.
Meanwhile, the boring white SUV parked next to it sells in six days.
The Market Doesn't Care What I Like
This one hurt my feelings.
Because I love cars.
Most dealers do.
That's why we got into this business.
But customers don't buy vehicles based on what excites us.
They buy vehicles based on what solves their problems.
They need:
Reliability
Payment
Fuel economy
Safety
Space
Value
They're not trying to win Cars & Coffee.
They're trying to get their kids to school.
Once I understood that, everything changed.
The Cars I Made The Most Money On
Here's something funny.
When I look back over thousands of vehicles sold, the cars I made the most money on usually weren't the coolest.
They weren't the rarest.
They weren't the most exciting.
They were the vehicles people actually wanted.
The vehicles people searched for.
The vehicles people financed.
The vehicles families needed.
The vehicles that solved real problems.
That's where the money was.
Not in my personal preferences.
Inventory Is Not A Personality Test
This might be the biggest lesson.
Inventory is not a reflection of who you are.
Inventory is a tool.
Its job is to turn into cash.
That's it.
The moment I stopped treating inventory like a collection and started treating it like a business, my results improved dramatically.
Because I stopped asking:
"What would I drive?"
And started asking:
"What will sell?"
Those are very different questions.
What I Buy Today
Today, when I'm looking at inventory, I try to remove myself from the equation.
I don't care if I think it's cool.
I don't care if I'd own it.
I don't care if it impresses my friends.
I care about:
Demand
Turn rate
Market data
Payment
Consumer behavior
Because after selling more than 30,000 cars, I've learned something important.
The best inventory isn't the inventory you love.
It's the inventory your customers love.
And those aren't always the same thing.
Jared Wheeler - Founder at Keysy.com