Adding an acquisition channel fails for operational reasons far more often than commercial ones. The introductions arrive and nobody owns them, or they arrive in the wrong ZIP codes, or they land in a CRM field nobody reports on.
This is the setup we walk new partner stores through. It takes one conversation and a few internal decisions.
Decide your coverage before you decide anything else
Draw the radius you will actually drive an appraisal for and name the metros inside it. Wide coverage feels generous and produces conversations your desk will not act on.
Every state coverage page lists the metros we serve, and the process page shows how routing is applied.
Name the owner and the backup
One person answers transfers during staffed hours. A second name covers lunch, weekends and anything missed. Write both down; do not leave it to whoever is nearest the phone.
Missed transfers come back to you by email and SMS, which is only useful if someone is accountable for working them.
Set the CRM up once, properly
Create a distinct source value so this channel can be reported on separately, and decide which fields the vehicle details land in before the first call arrives.
If you want data delivered by feed as well as by phone, say so during onboarding. Integration questions are covered in the FAQ.
- A dedicated source value in the CRM
- Vehicle year, make, model and ZIP mapped to real fields
- A defined status for declined introductions
- A weekly report on units acquired from the channel
Measure on acquired units
Give it a defined review window and judge it on vehicles bought, not on call count. The reasoning behind that is in cost per lead versus cost per sale, and our process page covers what happens on our side of each introduction.
Ready to set coverage? Start on your market page — Florida, Texas, California, Georgia or Colorado.
Get California trade-in leads
Performance-based pricing per client introduction, no monthly fees, cancel anytime. Tell us your market and we'll confirm coverage.
About the author
Written by the National Auto Source acquisition team, who work with franchise and independent dealerships nationwide on vehicle sourcing. Read how our process works or browse the dealership FAQ.
