Automotive sales glossary

Appointment show rate is the percentage of booked appointments where the customer actually arrives, calculated as appointments shown divided by appointments set in the same period. It is the only funnel number that measures a promise the customer made rather than an action your team took.

Appointment to sale ratio is the percentage of customers who show for a booked appointment and go on to buy, calculated as units sold divided by appointments shown in the same period. It is the last conversion in the sales funnel, and the one where every upstream number finally gets tested.

In the automotive industry, the term "CDP" stands for Customer Data Platform. This is a type of software that aggregates and organizes customer data across a variety of channels, including both online and offline sources. The goal of a CDP is to provide a unified, 360-degree view of customers to help businesses improve their marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.

An automotive CRM is the software a dealership uses to hold every customer and prospect record in one place: enquiries, contact history, appointments, deliveries and the follow-up tasks attached to each name. It is the system of record for the sales side of the store.

The automotive customer lifecycle: from first enquiry to repurchase, the stages dealers can influence and where video fits in each stage.

Back end gross is the profit a dealership makes from finance and insurance products sold alongside the vehicle, mainly finance reserve, service contracts and protection products. It is the second half of total gross per unit, sitting opposite the front end gross earned on the car itself.

BDC stands for Business Development Center: the dealership team that answers leads, sets appointments and follows up for sales and service. Structure and KPIs.

A be-back is a dealership customer who leaves without buying and says they will come back, either later that day or after thinking it over. The term is used with heavy irony on most sales floors, because only a small share of them ever return to the store they left.

Churn rate is the percentage of customers who stop doing business with you over a defined period, calculated as customers lost during the period divided by customers at the start of it. In a dealership nobody cancels, so churn has to be inferred from absence, which is why the definition does most of the work.

Closing ratio is the percentage of sales opportunities that end in a delivered vehicle, calculated as units sold divided by opportunities in the same period. Every store tracks it, and almost no two stores count the denominator the same way, which is why the number travels badly between rooftops.

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total gross profit a customer produces across the whole relationship rather than in one transaction. In a dealership that means the vehicle sale, every service and parts visit after it, and the next vehicle, which is where most of the value actually sits.

A conquest sale is a sale to a customer who was driving a rival brand and has now switched to yours. The household is new to the marque rather than repeat, which is why manufacturers fund conquest incentives that a loyal existing owner would never qualify for.

Cost per sale is the marketing spend it takes to deliver one vehicle, calculated by dividing total spend in a period by the units sold from that spend. It is the number that decides whether a campaign paid for itself, and it is the one most dealership marketing reports quietly leave out.

Cost per lead, usually shortened to CPL, is the marketing spend it takes to produce one lead, calculated by dividing total spend in a period by the number of leads that spend generated. It is the easiest number in dealership marketing to improve, and the easiest one to improve in ways that cost you cars.

Customer loyalty in automotive: why retention beats acquisition for dealers, how service visits drive it, and the metrics to watch.

Days supply is how many days of selling a dealership's current stock would cover at its recent sales rate, calculated as units in inventory divided by the average daily sales rate. It is the standard measure of whether a store is holding too much inventory or too little.

Days to turn is the average number of days a vehicle spends in a dealer's stock between arrival and sale. It is the standard measure of how fast used vehicle inventory moves, and it drives holding cost, pricing decisions and the age policy on the forecourt.

A dealer trade is the swap or outright purchase of a vehicle between two dealerships, used to get a specific car for a specific customer when the selling dealer does not have it in stock. It solves a customer order in days rather than the months a factory build would take.

Depreciation is the accounting method that spreads the cost of a vehicle, machine, or other fixed asset across the years it is expected to earn its keep, writing down its book value each period instead of charging the whole purchase price to the year it was bought. It is cost allocation, not valuation.

Desking is the process of structuring and pricing a vehicle deal at the sales desk: turning the chosen car, the trade, the cash down and the customer's credit profile into one or more payment options, and setting what the salesperson is authorised to offer. The manager who does it is the desk.

Digital marketing for automotive: the channels that bring dealerships buyers (search, video, email, social) and where to start.

Digital retailing is the set of tools and processes that let a dealership structure and progress a real deal online: price, part exchange allowance, finance quote, add on products, deposit and paperwork, with the same numbers carried through to the showroom.

F&I stands for finance and insurance, the dealership department that arranges the customer's funding and sells the protection products that go with it. It takes the agreed deal from the sales desk, secures a lender approval, presents the options, and produces the signed contracts.

Floor plan financing is a revolving credit line a dealership uses to buy vehicle inventory, secured by the vehicles themselves, with each unit's principal repaid when it sells. It is the reason every day a car sits on the lot has a price attached to it.

Follow-up cadence is the planned sequence of contact attempts made on a lead: how many touches, on which channels, spaced across how many days. It is written before the lead arrives rather than decided in the moment, which is what separates a cadence from a habit.

The four square is a desking worksheet used in car sales, divided into four boxes: trade-in allowance, vehicle price, down payment and monthly payment, negotiated against one another. It has a real purpose, and a documented history of being used to obscure those numbers.

Front end gross is the profit a dealership makes on the vehicle itself, calculated as the selling price minus what the car cost the store, including reconditioning and pack. It is one half of total gross per unit, sitting opposite the back end gross earned on finance and insurance.

Handover is the process of explaining and formally transferring a vehicle to its new owner: the walk around the car, the demonstration of the controls, the paperwork, and the introduction to the service department. Delivery is the event. Handover is what happens inside it.

A handover video is a short personal video, recorded by the salesperson or delivery specialist, that shows the customer their specific vehicle and explains its key features and controls before or at delivery. It replaces or reinforces the walkthrough that happens at the physical handover.

In the automotive industry, an Inventory Management System (IMS) is a crucial tool that helps car dealerships manage their inventory effectively. This system allows dealerships to keep track of their stock, manage orders, and ensure that they have the right amount of vehicles at the right time. It's a complex system that involves various processes and technologies, all aimed at optimizing inventory levels and improving business performance.

An internet lead is a sales enquiry that reaches a dealership electronically rather than on foot, submitted through a form on the dealer website, a third-party marketplace, the manufacturer's site or a chat tool, and landing in the CRM with contact details and usually a vehicle of interest.

Inventory turn is the number of times a dealership sells and replaces its vehicle stock over a period, normally a year, calculated as units retailed divided by average units in stock. It is the cleanest read on how hard the capital sitting on the lot is working.

Lead management is the process a dealership uses to capture an enquiry, route it to an owner, respond to it, work it through follow-up, and record the outcome. It covers everything between a customer raising their hand and the deal being either sold or genuinely closed out.

Lead response time is the elapsed time between a sales enquiry arriving in the dealership's CRM and the first genuine attempt to contact that customer. It is measured per lead and reported as a median, or as the share of leads answered inside a target window such as 15 minutes.

Lead source is the field in a dealership CRM that records where a sales enquiry came from, such as the dealer website, a third-party marketplace, the manufacturer, a walk-in or a phone call. It is the field every marketing spend decision is judged on, and the one most often recorded badly.

Lead to appointment ratio is the percentage of leads that turn into a booked appointment, calculated as appointments set divided by leads received in the same period. It is the first conversion in the sales funnel and the one most often measured against a denominator nobody agreed on.

Lease financing is a family of funding structures in which a funder buys an asset and grants a business the right to use it for a fixed term in return for periodic payments, with legal title staying with the funder for the life of the agreement.

A lease return is the handover of a leased vehicle back to the lessor at the end of the contract, covering collection, the condition assessment made at the same time, and the settlement of any end-of-contract charges. The return is the event. The inspection is the assessment carried out during it.

Marketing attribution is the practice of assigning credit for a sale to the marketing touches that preceded it, so spend can be judged by what it produced. A car purchase involves many touches over weeks, so every attribution model is a rule for splitting credit, not a measurement of cause.

A marketplace listing is the advertisement for one vehicle on a third-party shopping site rather than on the dealer's own website. It carries the photos, video, price, specification and dealer details, and it sits directly alongside near identical cars from competing stores.

Market share by rooftop is the share of vehicle registrations in a defined geographic area that one dealership location accounts for, measured site by site rather than for the group or the brand as a whole. It is the number a manufacturer's field team opens a review with.

The Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP), also known as the sticker price, is a term that is commonly used in the automotive industry. It refers to the price that the manufacturer of a vehicle recommends that the dealership sell the vehicle for in the consumer market. The MSRP is often found on the vehicle's window sticker and is typically used as a starting point for negotiations between the buyer and the dealership.

A no-show is a customer who books an appointment and then neither arrives nor cancels beforehand. It is the most expensive appointment outcome a dealership has, because the lead cost, the set and the held slot are all spent before anyone knows the appointment failed.

OEM co-op advertising is a manufacturer paying a share of a franchised dealer's local advertising cost, on condition that the advertising follows the brand's rules on logos, claims, disclaimers and approved media. The dealer pays first and claims the money back with proof.

An OEM lead is a sales enquiry passed to a dealership by the vehicle manufacturer, generated on the brand's national website or campaign and routed to a dealer by geography. There is no per-lead fee, but the leads carry manufacturer response standards and are funded from marketing money the dealer already contributes.

The term Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is a concept that is widely used in various industries, including the automotive sector. It refers to a company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. In the automotive industry, an OEM is the original producer of a vehicle's components, and these parts are often used by the car company in the vehicle's assembly, and they are also sold to customers by the car company's service department.

Online car buying is the practice of completing part or all of a vehicle purchase over the internet: selecting the car, agreeing the price, arranging finance, valuing a part exchange and signing, without the buyer being in the showroom for every step.

Part exchange is the UK term for handing your existing car to a dealer as part of the payment for the next one. The dealer values the car, deducts that figure from the price of the vehicle being bought, and the customer settles the difference in cash or finance.

A phone up is an inbound sales call from a customer enquiring about a vehicle, treated as a live opportunity in the same way a floor up is. The only goal of the call is an appointment, because a phone up that ends in a price quote and a thank you is usually a lost one.

Gross profit per unit is the total gross a dealership earns on each vehicle retailed, calculated as front end gross plus back end gross. Commonly written PVR, for per vehicle retailed, it is the single number most dealer principals use to judge a deal, a salesperson or a month.

Recon cost is the total spend needed to bring an acquired used vehicle to retail standard, covering parts, labour, sublet work and detailing, charged against that unit before any gross is counted. Dealers track it per vehicle, not as a department total.

Reconditioning is the work a dealership does to bring an acquired used vehicle up to retail standard before it reaches the frontline, covering mechanical repair, safety items, bodywork and detailing. Dealers shorten it to recon, and measure it in days rather than hours.

Remarketing is the disposal of vehicles at the end of their fleet or lease life, covering the grading, pricing, channel choice and sale that turn a returned asset back into cash. Its job is to recover as much of the forecast residual value as the market will actually pay.

A reputation score is a single number summarising a business's public review performance, usually built from star average, review volume, recency, response rate and spread across sites. There is no standard formula: each platform and supplier weights the inputs differently.

Residual value is the amount an asset is expected to be worth at the end of a lease or finance term, after deducting estimated disposal costs, assuming it is of the age and in the condition the agreement anticipates. It is fixed at inception and it sets the monthly payment.

Retail valuation is the price a used vehicle is expected to sell for on a dealer's forecourt once it has been prepared, warranted and advertised. It sits above the wholesale or trade figure for the same car, and the gap between the two pays for reconditioning, preparation, cover and margin.

Review management is the ongoing work of asking customers for public reviews, responding to the ones that arrive, and feeding what they say back into the process that produced them. It is an operating habit owned by the people who serve the customer, not a marketing campaign.

In the automotive industry, the term "rooftop" is often used to refer to a dealership location. This term is derived from the physical buildings that house car dealerships, which are often large structures with prominent rooftops. However, in the context of the industry, it has come to mean much more than just a physical location.

Showroom traffic is the count of customer visits to a dealership sales floor in a given period, and the base number most sales metrics are divided by. Managers use it to work out closing ratio, plan staffing per shift, and separate a traffic problem from a selling problem.

A sight unseen sale is a vehicle sale agreed without the buyer physically inspecting the car first. The deal is done from photographs, video, a written description and a condition report, with delivery or collection happening only after the paperwork is signed.

A sold order is a vehicle a dealership has sold to a named customer but has not yet delivered, because it is still being built, still in transit, or still waiting on preparation. It is a committed unit and a live customer relationship, sitting in the gap between the signature and the keys.

An SRP, or search results page, is the filtered inventory listing a shopper sees before choosing a car, showing many vehicles as tiles with a thumbnail, price and headline spec. It is the page that decides which of your units gets looked at properly.

A test drive is a supervised or unsupervised drive of a vehicle by a prospective buyer before purchase, run by a dealership under its motor trade insurance and after a licence check. It is also called a demo or a demonstration drive, and it is the single strongest predictor of a sale on the floor.

A third party lead is a sales enquiry a dealership buys from an independent marketplace or lead aggregator, where the shopper submitted their details on someone else's website. The dealer pays per lead or by monthly subscription, and the same enquiry is often sold to competing dealers as well.

A trade-in appraisal is the value a dealership puts on a customer's vehicle when that vehicle is offered as part payment against another car, built from a condition assessment plus current market data. It is vehicle appraisal applied to one specific moment: a car being used to buy a car.

Unit sales is the count of vehicles a dealership delivers in a period, measured in vehicles rather than revenue. It is the volume half of dealership profit, multiplied by gross profit per unit to give total gross, and it is counted differently depending on what is included.

A VDP, or vehicle detail page, is the page dedicated to one specific vehicle in stock, carrying its photos, video, price, specification, history and enquiry options. It is the page where a shopper stops browsing the lot and starts considering a single car.

Vehicle delivery is the event at which a sold vehicle physically passes to its buyer: the day the car is signed for and the keys change hands. It is the point where a sold order becomes a delivered unit, and it is not the same thing as the handover that happens inside it.

A vehicle history report is a VIN-keyed summary of what has been officially recorded about one specific vehicle: title brands, reported odometer readings, ownership changes, and logged incidents. It shows what was reported to a database, which is not the same as everything that happened to the car.

Vehicle merchandising is how a dealership presents a specific unit online: the photo set, the written description, the video, the price and the specification on its listing. It is the digital equivalent of how a car used to be prepped and positioned on the front line.

A vehicle walkaround is a filmed or in-person circuit of a car in which every panel, tyre, interior surface and warning light is shown and described in a fixed order, so the person who cannot stand next to the vehicle can still see its condition. Dealerships use it in sales presentations and in service documentation.

A VIN, or vehicle identification number, is the 17-character code that uniquely identifies one specific vehicle, split into three blocks that encode who built it, what it is, and which individual unit it is. Every title, recall and history record is filed against it.

A walk-in is a customer who arrives at a dealership without an appointment and is greeted on the floor as a fresh sales opportunity. In North America the same customer is usually called an up. In the UK and much of Europe the visit is logged as a walk-in enquiry.

A wholesale valuation is the price a vehicle is expected to achieve in a trade sale between businesses, typically at auction or through a B2B marketplace, rather than the price a consumer would pay on a forecourt. It is the number a fleet plans a disposal against.