Lost sales from low trade‑in offers and poor look‑to‑book ratios

$10,000–$25,000 per month in missed front- and back-end gross because conservative wholesale-driven trade figures cause retail customers to decline deals or sell elsewhere. • $10,000–$30,000 per month in lost combined front- and back-end gross from deals that die or move to competitors when the numbers change in F&I or when rental partners choose simpler, higher offers elsewhere. • $10,000–$30,000 per month in lost front- and back-end gross from service-lane trade opportunities that never convert because the informal appraisal is uncompetitive or later walks back, contributing materially to the overall 10–20 lost trades per month tied to poor look-to-book.

BDR informally pre-qualifies trades using generic website trade widgets, rough KBB/NADA checks in another tab, or rules of thumb, and then emails or messages screenshots or notes to sales/used car managers for a more formal number, often with delays and miscommunication. • Communication with wholesale buyers occurs via calls, texts, and emails; agreed numbers are scribbled on deal jackets or typed into ad-hoc spreadsheets, and F&I manually reconciles these figures with contracts and payoffs before funding. • Excel spreadsheets comparing auction data and phone negotiations