Real Problems → Real Fixes: The Incentive Blind Spot in Vehicle Acquisition
Introduction: Why This Series Exists
Dealership managers don’t need more “features” or shiny objects. They need blind spots fixed.
Too often, automotive software is built outside-in: smart engineers design tools, then hope they’ll fit the rhythm of a dealership. The result? Adoption stalls, processes break, and managers go back to their workarounds.
I’ve lived those blind spots as a GM and as a consultant, and I’ve worked with teams who try to sell around them. That’s why I’m starting this series: Real Problems → Real Fixes.
Each post will show how real operational problems translate into product enhancements — and why solving them matters not just for dealers, but for any vendor or OEM trying to gain traction in this space.
The Problem: Incentives Are Invisible in Appraisals
Every used car manager knows this headache:
You’re appraising a late-model trade. Sometimes the system shows you new comps, and sometimes it even shows incentives tied to those comps. But if no new comps appear, incentive money is invisible.
That leaves the used car manager or appraisal manager scrambling:
Calling buddies at other stores to ask what’s still live or guessing at the “true” sale price when MMR doesn’t reflect incentive dollars (a $100K closed sale could really be a $110K deal after factory money), which leaves the real potential for risking grosses because they don’t have the full picture.
This isn’t just a dealer inconvenience. For vendors, it’s exactly the kind of blind spot that kills adoption. If the tool doesn’t show what the desk needs, managers will default back to phones, spreadsheets, or guesswork.
The Fix: Incentive Transparency Inside VINCUE
Here’s the enhancement we built:
When appraising any vehicle with current market support, VINCUE now flags a warning bar if incentives are still available. Even if no new comps appear, you can click the New Comps tab and see a full list of every incentive nationwide for that vehicle. Then, dealership management cam decide which ones are relevant to their market — no phone calls, no delays.
And this isn’t limited to your brand. It works across makes and models.
Why It Matters (for Dealers)
• Protects grosses by showing the true market support.
• Eliminates wasted time chasing information that should be transparent.
• Speeds up appraisals and improves decision-making at the desk.
Why It Matters (for Vendors & OEMs)
• Adoption depends on solving felt problems. Dealers won’t change behavior unless the tool closes their operational gaps.
• Showing incentives inside appraisals is more than a feature — it’s a design principle: build from the desk out, not the outside in.
This is a case study in how operational knowledge, applied correctly, creates product traction.
The Larger Point: Operator Knowledge Drives Product Innovation
This fix for incentive visibility is one example, but the principle is bigger:
Automotive technology succeeds when it connects storefront reality with product design. My role sits at that intersection — taking dealership blind spots and turning them into requirements that engineers can actually build against.
For dealerships, it means fewer blind spots.
For vendors, it means products that stick.
Closing: What’s Next in the Series
Real Problems → Real Fixes will keep surfacing these lessons: real dealership pain points, the workarounds managers have lived with for years, and the product fixes that eliminate them.
If you’re a dealer, you’ll see how the right tools protect your gross and simplify your desk.
If you’re building for dealers, you’ll see why adoption starts with fixing blind spots.
The incentive blind spot is gone.