NEW YORK -

According to Sonic Automotive, with inventory tight and the economy slow, it is becoming more and more important for dealers to focus on reputation management.

During this summer’s J.P. Morgan Auto Conference,  Sonic vice chairman and chief financial officer David Cosper commented on some tips for dealers, as well as the role of dealer training and more. Recordings of the conference’s presentations were posted to the Web.

First, in commenting on how to improve reputation in the used-vehicle industry to enhance sales, Cosper said, “I don’t know how long it takes but I know it takes a long time."

He gave the example of CarMax, noting that while it may have taken some time for them to gain traction, "they have the best brand out there."

Cosper added: "One of their best assets is they have trust. Think about the reputation of dealers, it’s going to take some time.”

But the Sonic executive is confident the Charlotte, N.C.-based retailer will benefit from this focus on improving dealership reputation.

“But we’re going to win them (customers) over. You see it in our parts and service business. If you treat people well, you take care of them and you don’t try to take advantage of them; then you can turn people around very quickly, especially with such a large purchase,” Cosper stressed.

“The main thing we’re going to try to do is make it customer-focused and time-friendly, not three-and-a-half hours. That’s just not going to fly with a young person who texts their sibling who is 10 feet away. That’s how they’re operating. They’re not going to go through reams of paper. It’s going to have to be simple, and we think it’s doable,” he continued.

Moving along, Cosper also went on to note that dealer training will play a huge role in keeping Sonic’s used sales going strong.

“You really do need to keep on them (dealers) a lot. You’ve got to keep reinforcing them, training them, encouraging them. We have a limited ability to manage numerous different things in our business. That’s why we keep it as simple as we can,” Cosper added.

Lastly, though the exec noted that an uncertain U.S. economy may play a part in swaying vehicle sales, it doesn’t seem to be effecting potential buyers quite yet.

“Personally, I think the bulk of the car-buying public is a little shell-shocked and worn out from all the news every day that we look at and worry about. Unless it’s massive, I don’t think it’s going to disrupt things; in part, because there’s a lot of pent-up demand because of the age of vehicles. They’re just coming in and sales are gradually growing. It would need to be a pretty big deal before I think it disrupts sales,” Cosper concluded.

Sonic ranked No. 4 on Auto Remarketing’s list of the Top 125 Used-Car Dealer Groups. To view the whole list, see here.