Stop and take a moment and think about that used car that just came in on trade...have you ever considered the 'trade-chain'. Have you ever looked at a total transaction package from the New car sale to the trade to the trade to the trade...and done the math!

It can be a real eye opener when you track all the money every department has made - from sales to F and I to service and parts and back again. I have seen chains that will go to from new car sales to 6 additional transactions...think about all that for a moment.

This can be a fun exercise if you have the opportunity. A residual effect is that you are less likely to whole sales a car if it's going to keep the chain going, as you never know what you could get in to allow the chain to continue. Also, this encourages you to keep a car that would have gone to another lot so they could start a new chain.

Have fun with this, it will be interesting to see what kind of numbers you put up.