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With certified pre-owned sales numbers soaring to never-before-seen levels, it seems dealers and OEMs are doing something right when it comes to advertising.

Paul Stowe, director of retail operations at NCM Associates, let us in on some of the key advertising tools for a dealer who has embraced the potential of CPO vehicles.

Stowe said franchised dealers should focus on digital marketing since “manufacturers are handling traditional advertising.”

Stowe said he finds too often that dealerships have no digital or minimal presence with regards to CPO on dealership pre-owned websites.

“It has to be digital and it has to be a point-of-sale presence in the dealership, along with a desire to own the CPO market,” Stowe said.

Stowe will also be speaking later today at the CPO | The Pre-Owned Conference, sponsored by AutoTrader.com.

Stowe will be giving a presentation titled “Real Obstacles-Opportunities-Options,” during which he will explain the impacts of what he calls “New-Car Noise” on pre-owned operations.

Stowe will touch on why if dealers are not selling a minimum of one used car for every new car, they are missing huge opportunity and profits.

He will also be helping to give out the CPO Dealer of the Year Award, presented by NCM Associates.

The fourth annuall CPO Dealer of the Year award goes to Galpin Ford.

The North Hills, Calif. dealership has been the automaker’s top-selling certified pre-owned dealer for more than a decade, and is led by award-winning owner Bert Boeckmann. His extensive list of accolades include membership in the Automotive Hall of Fame and the 1985 TIME Magazine National Quality Dealer of the Year award, plus many other honors.

Conveying the Value of CPO

Al Joseph, the general sales manager for used cars at Galpin Motors, told Auto Remarketing how the salespeople at Galpin Motors convey the value of CPO to their customers.

Amid enticing offerings on the new-car side, you have to be able to answer, “Why go CPO?”

In other words, how do you convey the value that certified provides?

For Galpin Ford, it starts with the brand that the Galpin family of dealerships has fostered.

“The No. 1 thing is that because of Galpin’s brand, because of our reputation in the market and the many years that we’ve been in business … we have a huge advantage in terms of buying a pre-owned vehicle,” Joseph said. “You’re dealing with Galpin. In other words, you’ve never alone when you’re buying a used car. If you have any questions or concerns or anything like that, you know where to come back to. You know we’re going to take care of you.

“No. 2, you have factory warranties and protection from Ford that helps us sell these vehicles. It makes it even more attractive that you have a 7-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty,” he continued.

“We also have a 12,000-mile/12-month comprehensive warranty that Ford honors about 500 different components with the warranty, where any time there are issues, they can come to Galpin or any other Ford dealership and they can take care of them.”

Sometimes conveying the value of CPO involves focusing on elements such as warranties or service plans.

In a recent blog post by executive conference moderator for NCM Associates Lydia Jedlicki, she used an example of one of the NCM 20 Groups’ dealers’ pre-owned practices as an example of how one should treat their used-car customers — strategies that ring true for certified programs, as well.

The 20 Group dealer offered a one-year, 15,000-mile maintenance package on every pre-owned vehicle sold — the only exclusions were luxury high-end vehicles — there were no mileage or age limitations.

This included pre-owned and CPO and is part of an effort to treat the pre-owned customers the same way a dealer would treat new-car customers.

“When are we going to start treating the pre-owned vehicle customer like royalty instead of the ‘red-headed step child’? Jedlicki asked in the blog post, which can be found here.

Looking inward, Stowe contends that conveying CPO value starts with a dealership’s staff.

When asked what main attributes dealerships should consider when promoting CPO models, Stowe cited customer acceptance and sales staff training as a couple of key factors.

Stowe said to advertise CPO departments successfully, dealerships must have “management focus and an element of sales person compensation plans and monthly objective planning.”

In other words, if dealerships don’t buy in fully to a CPO program, neither will their customers.

Auto Remarketing editor Joe Overby contributed to this report.

Sarah Rubenoff can be reached at srubenoff@autoremarketing.com. Continue the conversation with Auto Remarketing on both LinkedIn and Twitter.