How does that Inventory Partner thing work?

One dealer can only stock so much inventory. The factory provides a locator service to help you find vehicles you don't have in your car and truck lines, but in commercial upfitted trucks, the factory doesn't know what you have on the back of the truck, so the locator is of little or no use. Certainly, you would spend a lot of time on the phone. So, the next best thing is to create a network of dealers where you can share your inventories with each other on paper and create instant availability.

Sometimes it seems that no matter what you have in stock, a customer wants something else, so getting it quickly and efficiently is critical to your making a sale. The network will solve this problem and the greater the size of the network, the easier the problem is solved--for all of you.

We need each other. A long time ago, there was a dealer who stocked about 500 units on the ground. They had the space and the financial prowess to get that done. A typical dealer in a good sized city back then might have had 150 units. So, this dealer that had 500 units decided they didn't need anyone else, so they stopped doing trades with other dealers. Within a year they were back dealer trading. No matter how many you stock, you cannot stock every model in every combination of equipment.

Here's a key thought: Stop thinking of competing with each other and concentrate on just being the best you can be. I guarantee that you will find that by opening up your inventory to sharing with other dealers, you will benefit at least as much as any other dealer will.

So, how do you do this? Call a dealer, talk about the concept, get agreements and begin the process. Commit to sticking with it for all concerned. It will be a very successful venture!

Perhaps I can help you.

I have developed a plan and spreadsheets with specific formatting that you can get for free. That's right, free. It is being used by a number of dealers for this same situation. In addition, the program has a huge list of benefits that far exceed just locating units you don't have. I would be happy to send it to you. Just send me an email with your request, dealership name and address, your name, and phone number to Tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com.