Badges by TradePending is the brainchild of trying to figure out how to create more urgency with consumers. It uses the same great automotive data that makes Trade, TradePending’s high converting trade-in tool, so effective.
What is Badges?
We evaluate every single VIN every night listed on franchise dealer websites, and compare that to the local market activity for vehicle sales and inventory. - From this treasure trove of data, we apply badges automatically to new and used vehicles that show local market supply, demand, both rare and popular attributes and more.
- Both consumer and dealer now see relevant market information about each vehicle, and what makes it unique and valuable.
- Sales teams use this information to have more informed conversations with consumers that build the value of each vehicle and create urgency, backed by data.
A Typical Price Negotiation Scenario
A customer shows up to your dealership with usually a car in mind, well-researched and armed with internet talking points, and a few ideas how to get the price down. They’ll focus on the price because they don’t have anything else to talk about. Typically, that’s also the primary focus of most online inventory merchandising, aside from photos and a basic description.
The customer believes they need to beat the listed price to feel like they got a good deal and not have buyer’s remorse. When you only give them price, that’s all they’ll talk about.
How Badges Makes Conversations Easier
Talking about money is always going to be a guarded conversation. Every dollar you make is one they give, every dollar you drop from the price is profit lost. It is much easier to educate and agree when you present Badges to customers.
Migrate the conversation away from price to talk about the vehicle in terms of the rare trim package and why it’s cool to have. Agree that the remaining warranty ensures a safe, reliable vehicle for time to come. You’re on the same side of that conversation, earning trust and building the relationship as well as building value in the vehicle.
Transparency & data sharing
Badges provides data that many times the dealer and staff inherently know, but never had a way to make visible before early in the buying process. Giving the consumer more information about a vehicle they’re interested in makes them more of an expert. They’re buying into the story behind the car.
Furthermore, Badges enable you to broadcast the work your dealership made to recondition a vehicle. Our pre-built custom Badges can tell the customer that the vehicle has just received new tires. That’s a $400-900 discount to the customer and serious vehicle merchandising for you.
Creates curiosity in the customer
“What are those little badges? Is this car really the only one of its type in 300 miles? How quick is a quick seller? I better call the dealer to find out.”
These are real questions going through car shoppers minds. Dealers frequently tell us that they create new types of positive conversations about vehicles.
“After we implemented Badges, our BDC teams experienced something they’d never seen before with customers: Customers were calling in, asking about and commenting on the Badges. TradePending turns website visitors into active conversations.” – Jim Congdon, Burritt Motors
Dealer agnostic
We don’t play favorites, we show the real market data. That’s what makes our numbers trustworthy, and our visualization of that data makes it easy to consume. Those badges don’t take your customer away from that vehicle listing or worse, take them away from your website! Once they close the Badges info box, they are right where they want to be, staring at their future car, but a little further down the funnel.
Make every sales associate an instant expert
Educate / then negotiate
Badges gives your reps more talk tracks beyond price. Even new reps to your dealership can seem experienced by just reading the information that Badges has gathered. These badges tell you if a car is rare in your area or has comparatively low mileage for the model year, creating urgency.
The customer is being taught more about the vehicle and being educated by your new sales rep. This changes the conversation from confrontational to educational. With each Badge, the value grows which reinforces the price.
Experienced associates also benefit from a refresh to their talk tracks that could have grown stale over time. There are no downsides to having the most up-to-date and informative car merchandising data available.
Not every sales associate is going to be an expert on every car and trim in your lot. Give them the power to own the conversation with insightful facts that not only build the relationship with the consumer but also build up your bottom line.
Let’s wrap it up
Yes, Badges creates urgency with your customers and builds value in your fleet. A great sales associate knows a vehicle’s best features and attributes by heart. With Badges, every sales and BDC rep is now an expert.
Badges also gives you a more knowledgeable and helpful staff that nurtures relationships for sales to come for years. If you can increase the gross of every car in your lot by a couple hundred dollars using Badges, why wouldn’t you?
