🤔 With Or Without

TOGETHER WITH

We’re just 9 days away from ASOTUx at the Buckhead Theater in Atlanta, GA!

“Why evening,” you ask?! Well, because more than just managers should be able to vibe with the industry. This is the chance for anyone close to ATL!

Plan to join us, or if you can’t come, forward this email to a connection in ATL and let them know where the party will be on June 14th at 6:30 PM!

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

Appraisals: Active vs. Independent

Should dealers be performing active appraisals with the customer? OR should they be performing independent appraisals without the customer?

During last week's chat, David Long’s All Things Used Cars crew debated the merits of both sides. Check the replay or read below for what we learned:

💡 The Power of Information 📚

• Customer interest may be lost if you immediately try to get them into your dealership rather than provide them with some baseline information first.

• The entire sales team should be capable of providing knowledgeable appraisals based on market valuation and vehicle specifics to any customer calling/emailing with an inquiry.

• However, avoid exact numbers — less is more over the phone.

• Remember: it’s not an interrogation. Keep the questions to a minimum (i.e., What is the year/make/model/miles? Is there anything else I should know about your car?)

🤌 Tailoring to Tastes 🎩

• Appraisals are not necessarily one-size-fits-all.

• Some customers prefer a comprehensive and hands-on experience, while others seek something more streamlined. Those people may not want to tag along for the appraisal.

• Strive to meet customers where they are to make each interaction a personalized and enjoyable experience.

🤗 Cultivating Connections 🤝

• Customers who desire that all-inclusive experience take the opportunity to engage as soon as they arrive enthusiastically. Encourage them to tell you everything about their trade-ins (without focusing on the flaws).

• Here is where you can begin to build a connection and relationship.

• Bonus points for active listening!

🫥 Transparency and Positivity ✨

• Do your best to provide accurate assessments based on market valuation without devaluing their trade.

• Emphasize a customer's vehicle's unique features. Allow them to acknowledge any necessary repairs. Demonstrating respect for their knowledge as the vehicle's caretaker fosters a more connected conversation and reinforces the customer's trust and control in the process.

Telling it like it is – Whether you take your customers along during appraisals or not, the ultimate goal should be for them to have an overwhelmingly positive experience.

/Positivity

Do you have a story showing a dealership’s positive impact on their community? Let us share it!

TOGETHER WITH AUTO GENIUS

Marketers Need Marketers

Tired of co-op guideline ordeals, website review sagas, or your brilliant logo ideas getting rejected? You're not alone!

Auto Genius is a 24/7 community with a space on Slack for the brightest minds in automotive marketing to innovate, collaborate, and push the industry forward together!

Join Auto Genius and start redefining the industry today!

AUTOMOTIVE

Motor Morsels: Fetch, Toyota, UAW, and VW

Fetch, a UK car rental service, has launched a 'driverless vehicle' experience - if by 'driverless' you mean remotely controlled by a human in a comfy office chair. To add a dash of suspense, a 'safety driver' sits in the car during delivery, ready to seize control if the remote operator gets too invested in their coffee. However, despite the successful drive of 1,000 collision-less miles, critics fear it turns life into a game of Mario Kart.

Weird how driverless delivery requires more humans than a standard delivery would.

Two US pension giants, CalPERS and the NYC Comptroller's Office, have voted against re-electing Akio Toyoda as Chairman of Toyota amid criticism over the company's slow EV rollout. Critics put their negotiation skills into sport mode and argued Toyota's leadership lacks sufficient independence. Despite global scrutiny, Toyota's holding its ground like a stubborn 85' Celica refusing to retire.

People have done a lot for independence. Just ask the British.

The US auto workers' union is going all gas, no brakes in negotiations with Detroit carmakers. Union leaders, fresh from campaigning on a reform platform, are holding a strike in one hand and several demands in the other, including the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments, more robust job security, and abandoning a tiered pay system.

Don't play with matches or people's livelihoods. Both could result in a 'strike.'

Remember the iconic VW Bus that defined a generation of road trippers? Well, it's back and all-electric. Of course, it still carries the iconic look, but let's see what they changed when they popped that battery in, shall we?

• Bigger: 3rd Row of Seats, larger battery, and 10 more inches of length.

• Stronger: 282-330 hp motors 99mph top speed.

• More Colorful: Cabana Blue, Metro Silver, and Indium Grey are available in the US.

• Pricing: US price isn’t announced. The UK price range is $65K-$70K. We expect the US model to be higher.

CULTURE

Human or Nah?

In the grand 'Human or Not' Turing test, 32% of people could not tell the difference between an AI chatbot and a human. So, for now, we have to hope the 68% success rate is enough to hold off the Robo-Pocolypse.

France won the game with above-average success of 71.3%, while India hit just 63.5% success.

Think you can tell the difference? Check out the test and let us know how you did!

Telling it like it is - ASOTU’s Chris failed the test.

Quick Hits

• US adds 339K jobs in May, surpassing expectations. 👨‍💼

• New AI “camera” has no lens. It just uses location data to generate a picture for you. 📸

• Dig Stars? Check out this June schedule for your sky sightseeing enjoyment.✨

History

• 1909: The first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway 🏎️

• 1956: Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog," on The Milton Berle Show. 🐩

• 1989: The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. ✊