The strength of the US economy has pushed interest rates up, attempting to slow inflation to near-normal rates. Caught in the crossfire between outrageous spending and government policy is the fifth-largest industry in the country: auto retail. And sure as the day is long, pricing is bound to soften as consumers’ budgets are constricted by rising everyday costs of groceries, mortgages, and utilities. That’s particularly true for the used car market.

No one really knows if there will be a recession, or a challenging economy, or what will come next given the last 3 years have been so unpredictable, but it’s good to be prepared. The best way to win when you get thrown curveballs, is to get back to basics.
We’ve scoured the automotive community for insights and some of these are sure to help. (ASOTU and the All Things Used Cars podcast were great sources of information for this piece – they are fantastic resources we recommend subscribing to if you don’t already.)

Leads have ruled dealership conversations for a very long time, and rightfully so – an opportunity to engage with a customer should never be taken for granted. That being said, there is such a thing as a bad lead, and bad leads cost your dealership time, money and morale.