Keep the Used Car “Story Book” with the Car when Sending it to Your Bid Sale

If you are like many dealers today you are building a history and merchandising booklet for every used car. We call them the “Used Car Storybook.” A storybook is sort of the cars portfolio and is a real ice breaker when sitting down with buyers. Because you have prepared in advance many of the items they are going to ask for is disarming and matches the consultative style selling approach used by modern sales consultants.

• Printed Carfax
• Condition Report (this is especially important on “value cars” because it discloses the issues in advance preventing misunderstandings later)
• List of work already completed on the Car
• Printed List of Reviews on the Car from Edmunds or Cars.com
• Printed List of Standard and Added Options
• Original Mileage statement
• List of Standard and Warranties Available

Salespeople that show the storybook upfront are far more likely to get top dollar than salespeople that wait until the customer asks for the Carfax.

When a car ages out and you make the reluctant, “Send it to auction” call, leave the storybook on the passenger seat. We have seen surprising profit improvement when the wholesale buyer finds a well thought out storybook. It’s a valuable accessory of sorts and dealers tend to pay more for cars that include Storybooks.