Kinetic Advantage Partnership Case Study
Average vehicle turn time
Vehicles floored past 90 days
Market: San Antonio, TX
As a 36-year-old mom of 3, Nory Pakravan is breaking the independent dealer stereotype. She opened her dealership 210 Auto Credit five years ago despite not having any experience in the independent dealer space.
“I worked in human resources at a Toyota manufacturing facility in San Antonio but after a few years, I was ready for a change and wanted to start my own business. So, I decided to take a leap of faith and opened an independent dealership with my husband.”
-Nory Pakravan
Learning the Ropes
The first few times Nory visited a car auction she said it was overwhelming because she didn’t have anyone to walk her through the process. “It was challenging because it’s an extremely competitive atmosphere. Every dealer is looking out for the best vehicles for their business and there are not a lot of women at the auctions. They underestimated my ability to know how to purchase the right inventory for my dealership.
I had to pay a lot of attention to every detail during the sales and I learned from trial and error but now that they’ve seen me there for several years, the other dealers will give me a heads-up if there is something wrong with a vehicle. I’ll also tell them when a vehicle has an issue so I’ve gained their respect over time.”
Nory says that it didn’t take her long to realize that another way for her to stay on top of her competition was to get a dealership floorplan. She originally started with two but realized that they might not be meeting all of her needs.
“I worked with two floorplan companies; one was a major floorplan provider and the other was a smaller floorplan company. I started with about 10 vehicles on my lot but was steadily growing my inventory.”
“I worked with two floorplan companies; one was a major floorplan provider and the other was a smaller floorplan company. I started with about 10 vehicles on my lot but was steadily growing my inventory.”
“That’s when I met my rep Rafael from Kinetic Advantage. I talked to him about my frustrations with my current floorplan providers and he said that he would be able to help me and offered me a bigger floorplan with fewer fees.
“That’s when I met my rep Rafael from Kinetic Advantage. I talked to him about my frustrations with my current floorplan providers and he said that he would be able to help me offered me a bigger floorplan with fewer fees…
When I asked him why, he said that even though I was a small independent dealer, he was dedicated to helping my business grow. So, I said goodbye to the other floorplan companies and made Kinetic Advantage my sole floorplan provider.”
…When I asked him why, he said that even though I was a small independent dealer, he was dedicated to helping my business grow. So, I said goodbye to the other floorplan companies and made Kinetic Advantage my sole floorplan provider.”
With a larger floorplan, Nory was able to expand her inventory to 70 vehicles.
“It didn’t take me long to grow my floorplan to $300,000 with Kinetic Advantage. I view our relationship as a partnership, so I treat it as a collaboration of Kinetic Advantage providing me with the funding to grow my business while I make sure I consistently make all of my payments on time.”
With a larger floorplan, Nory was able to expand her inventory to 70 vehicles.
“It didn’t take me long to grow my floorplan to $300,000 with Kinetic Advantage. I view our relationship as a partnership, so I treat it as a collaboration of Kinetic Advantage providing me with the funding to grow my business while I make sure I consistently make all of my payments on time.”
70
70
Average vehicles in inventory
150%
150%
Floor plan growth with Kinetic
Keeping tabs on the market.
She says that one of the main contributors to her success is being on top of Inventory trends. “I consider myself a very proactive person so I watch the market closely for trends. I pull reports from Kinetic 360 and compare my inventory year-over-year so I know how many cars we sold during the same period the previous year. This data gives me a good idea of the number of vehicles we’re projected to sell so I plan accordingly.”
This market savvy along with her floorplan proved crucial during the pandemic. “Without my floorplan, I would have been more hesitant to purchase vehicles during this time. Not only did I need the additional cash flow for the higher prices, but I also needed to make sure I had funds available for reconditioning. My partnership with Kinetic Advantage allowed me to feel confident that I could purchase enough inventory for my lot so that my customers would have different options to choose from, which helped me to stand out from my competitors.”
Her dealership is known throughout the local area for high-quality used vehicles and trucks with modifications on them such as lifts and specialty tires. “The staff at 210 Auto Credit makes sure that our vehicles are immaculate without any dings or dents because we don’t want our customers to feel like they’re settling for a used vehicle. We source our vehicles from auctions, trade-ins and private sales so that we can get the best inventory available.”
Keeping tabs on the market.
She says that one of the main contributors to her success is being on top of Inventory trends. “I consider myself a very proactive person so I watch the market closely for trends. I pull reports from Kinetic 360 and compare my inventory year-over-year so I know how many cars we sold during the same period the previous year. This data gives me a good idea of the number of vehicles we’re projected to sell so I plan accordingly.”
This market savvy along with her floorplan proved crucial during the pandemic. “Without my floorplan, I would have been more hesitant to purchase vehicles during this time. Not only did I need the additional cash flow for the higher prices, but I also needed to make sure I had funds available for reconditioning. My partnership with Kinetic Advantage allowed me to feel confident that I could purchase enough inventory for my lot so that my customers would have different options to choose from, which helped me to stand out from my competitors.”
Her dealership is known throughout the local area for high-quality used vehicles and trucks with modifications on them such as lifts and specialty tires. “The staff at 210 Auto Credit makes sure that our vehicles are immaculate without any dings or dents because we don’t want our customers to feel like they’re settling for a used vehicle. We source our vehicles from auctions, trade-ins and private sales so that we can get the best inventory available.”
Creating a Customer-Centric Experience
Nory says that she tries to home in on how she can create the best customer experience and tailors her sales process to best meet each customer’s needs.
“We get quite a few walk-ins but the majority of our customers want to see the inventory online first, so I make sure the vehicle photos on our website are top-notch. We also use different online platforms to promote our inventory including Instagram, Craigslist, YouTube and TikTok.”
She also uses a multi-channel approach to target car buyers in her area but the majority of her leads come from online advertising such as Facebook Marketplace and word of mouth in her local area.
“We have built a good reputation within our community so people know we are the go-to independent dealership for high-quality, dependable used vehicles at an affordable price.”
Part of that reputation has been built from the little extras she provides customers with after they purchase a vehicle. “We give our customers a voucher for oil changes with a third-party partner so that they can get a discount on future oil changes. We want to help them keep up on the maintenance of their vehicle.”
Finding the Right Balance
Finding the Right Balance
Nory says that running a dealership is a 24/7 job and that’s why she likes using tools like the Kinetic 360 portal to help manage her floorplan. “The calendar feature in Kinetic 360 helps me to stay on top of my floorplan. It lets me know what curtailments I have coming up so I can easily track what’s due and coming due. I also like the fast-fund program. It allows me to request funds for a vehicle before I receive the title. I like the simplicity tools like these provides me with which I didn’t find with other floorplan companies.”
With a staff of four, Nory says she doesn’t have a lot of work-life balance, but with three kids, she loves the flexibility that being an independent dealer provides her. “I like being able to pick my kids up from school and attend a play during the day or join them on a field trip. At my old corporate job, I always had to request time off to be with my children, but now, I have the flexibility to come and go as needed. People made certain assumptions about me because of my age but I’m the breadwinner of my household so I have to make this work. I am all in with every penny I’ve saved, including my retirement so I’m determined to make this work no matter what it takes.”
Nory says that her partnership with Kinetic Advantage has helped her to achieve her dream of being a successful entrepreneur and having the flexibility to be there for her family. “I ultimately decided to switch from the other floorplan companies because Kinetic was willing to support my business with a larger floorplan when the other floorplan companies wouldn’t. Sometimes the most popular floorplan isn’t the best one and it’s more important to find the one that’s the right fit for you and your business.”
