The Real Reason Customers Don’t Believe Your Trade-In Values

Brian Kramer has been on both sides of the desk—retail operator and now EVP at Cars Commerce. That’s why he sees the gap most dealers miss: they invest in driving traffic online, but stumble in-store when customers have to repeat the same info, re-do appraisals, and start from scratch.

In this episode, Brian explains how AccuTrade is bridging that gap, why democratizing appraisals is the secret weapon against CarMax and Carvana, and how trusting the data—not old-school hunches—unlocks faster turn, higher gross, and lasting customer confidence.

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Takeaways

0:00 Intro — Paul welcomes Brian Kramer of Cars Commerce

1:00 Why chasing digital traffic without fixing in-store execution breaks trust

2:15 The nightmare of customers re-doing everything after doing the work online

3:31 CarMax and Carvana’s advantage: connecting online promises with in-store delivery

4:26 Sight-unseen appraisals only work if you actually honor them

5:23 Why walkarounds with customers turn appraisals into trust-building moments

6:09 AccuTrade: adding positives, not just deductions, to build credibility

7:18 Making appraisals so simple “an 11-year-old could do it”

8:12 How automation rules let dealers win on acquisition strategy like CarMax

9:54 The “one manager problem” that derails trade capture

10:56 Why 60% trade capture is the minimum bar for long-term success

11:11 What’s coming in the next 90 days

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Connect with Brian Kramer at https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankramerauto/

Learn more about Cars Commerce at https://www.carscommerce.inc

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NAMAD Sessions is brought to you by Mia and produced by the More Than Cars Media Network - https://www.mia.inc/