Auto Credit Express Blog
May 19, 2008
New LotProOnline feature shows at-a-glance inventory status
New features included with LotProOnline enable special finance managers to instantly know of any booking problems with their inventory.
How do you know if you’ve reviewed your inventory?
One of the biggest problems in trying to manage a subprime inventory is knowing whether or not the vehicles have been reviewed once they hit the lot. Even though you’re supposed to “touch” every vehicle to make sure the information is correct, how do you know if that information was entered into your online inventory.
The good and the bad of inventory automation
A few years ago, a number of companies came up with a way to fully or partially automate the inventory process. LotProOnline, in an earlier version, was part of that cutting-edge process. It enabled special finance managers to bring over their inventory from the DMS and to “base book” the inventory. Once the inventory was in the special finance software, you would then have to pick a car, enter the miles and equipment (or skip this part to make the process quicker) and add it to the inventory. The only trouble was, once the vehicle was in inventory, it was up to your memory to let you know which vehicles had been booked in properly and which ones had just been brought across to empty the integration screen and complete the inventory.
With LotProOnline, you can tell which vehicles have been fully booked
With the most recent version of LotProOnline, you can now tell, by color code, which vehicles have been base booked, which cars have been base booked, which vehicles have been “touched”, booked in Kelley Blue Book and NADA and verified, and which ones may have issues with book value, trim or accessories.
Now, when you click on the inventory tab, a colored icon, just to the left of the inventory number, will tell you the status of that vehicle. If you forget what the color means (other than green for go, red for stop and yellow for caution), their real meaning can be found by clicking on the question mark icon to the left of “inventory: search results”.
The green status means the vehicle is O.K. That is, in addition to being base booked, it has been opened and viewed (with any additional equipment added). When this process is complete, you simply check the “reviewed” box just above the upper left “vehicle information” box.
Changes can be made on the fly as well
If you run a “compare deals” and a vehicle appears in the report with a yellow icon, you can quickly go in and re-book the vehicle without having to go back to the inventory section. In order to do this, you simply left click on the stock number. This opens up a new “select and go to structure” window. You then right click on the “select and go to structure” line, pick the “open link in new window” line and a new browser window will open up with the vehicle information in it. Click on the “inventory” tab, choose the vehicle, correct the information, and close the window. Now, re-run the payment call and the corrected vehicle information will appear.
Now, with a glance, you know the rest of the story.
These latest features should help special finance department managers and employees see, at a glance, if the inventory is accurate and up to date. To find out more about these changes, as well as other features of the best subprime software on the planet, contact us at 888.535.2277 or by using our quick contact form.
