Mining Your Misses | ASOTU Edge Webinar

Used inventory fuels the store. The problem is not a lack of appraisals. The problem is the ones that slip away. In this ASOTU Edge Webinar, we sat down with Patrick Janes of vAuto and Adam Claiborne, GM at Mike Shaw Kia, to show how a tight process turns missed trades into a steady acquisition pipeline.

The Core Truth

Shoppers collect multiple offers before you ever see them. vAuto and KBB research point to three offers on average, and often four to six for younger buyers. Even strong stores capture only about half of the appraisals they touch. If you are not mining the misses, you are leaving inventory and gross in the street.

What Mike Shaw Kia Changed

Adam Claiborne knew his store could not afford to let trades walk. He built a daily save-a-deal routine that puts him, as GM, directly into the appraisal pipeline. Every morning starts with a sales huddle and recon review, then shifts straight into vAuto’s Global Search. The goal: review every appraisal from the day before, understand why the deal stalled, and decide which customers deserve a fresh offer.

The key shift was discipline. Appraisals are finalized in vAuto every time, so nothing hides. CRM notes capture the real reason a deal didn’t close—whether it was a spouse, a budget gap, or simply bad timing. With that clarity, Adam can adjust the trade number, restructure the deal, and send a same-day alert to sales managers to re-engage.

Why it Works

Most dealers claim they “don’t miss trades,” but reality says otherwise. Customers often leave without sharing their objections, then shop your offer against others for days or weeks. By treating those appraisals as active deals rather than dead ends, Mike Shaw Kia consistently turns yesterday’s misses into today’s wins.

The Workflow You Can Copy

1. Finalize every appraisal in vAuto. If a number was discussed, close the record. Incomplete appraisals block tracking and kill your feedback loop.

2. Tag the pipeline in Global Search:

   • Incoming for units already committed

   • Active for true re-engagement targets

   • Lost for dead ends you will not chase

3. Read the CRM first. Confirm contact info. Read the notes. Know the real objection before you re-price.

4. Re-price with intent. Use ProfitTime, cost-to-market, and your lane strength. Move the number if the deal earns it.

5. Trigger the alert. Sales manager and salesperson call the customer with the specific “what changed” message and a path back to the store.

6. Inspect the follow-up. Recheck Active deals at seven and fourteen days. If no real activity, reset or mark Lost.

Service Drive Angle

Most service acquisitions will not flip same day. Make the offer, document it, and follow up when the RO is fresh in the customer’s mind. One simple hook works: if they bought, the store would apply recent repair spend toward the down payment. That turns yesterday’s bill into today’s lever.

Numbers That Matter

• Look-to-book by channel. Trades at the curb. Service drive. Site-unseen. Street buys. KBB ICO. Stop hiding channels to “protect” the rate.

• Finalization rate of appraisals. If it is not finalized, it was not measured accurately.

• Appraisal-to-call time on re-engagement. Same day wins.

• Front-line ready days. Recon speed drives turn and confidence to stretch for the right trades.

The Main Takeaway

You do not need more leads. You need fewer secrets, cleaner notes, and one owner of the appraisal pipeline.

Mike Shaw Kia proves that when you treat missed appraisals like open deals, you win cars, you win customers, and you build a used operation that can keep pace month after month.