If you work in auto sales, you know how competitive things can get. Every lead matters. Every opportunity counts. And when it comes to finding those golden prospects—the customers who are driving vehicles with equity ripe for a trade-in—you need tools that help you work smarter, not harder. That’s where TradeFinder steps in.
VenueVision’s TradeFinder is the shortcut every dealership needs to tap into the power of Automotive Equity Mining. Let’s break down how to use it effectively—and how it can help your dealership accelerate car sales without the usual heavy lifting.
What is TradeFinder?
TradeFinder is a powerful equity mining tool built into VenueVision’s all-in-one customer experience platform for automotive dealerships. It sifts through your customer database to find current service customers who are in a positive equity position and are likely ready to trade up.
So instead of guessing who might be a good sales opportunity, TradeFinder shows you exactly who’s ready—and puts those opportunities front and center.
Why Equity Mining Matters
Before we get into how to use TradeFinder, let’s quickly talk about why Automotive Equity Mining is such a game-changer.
Most dealerships focus their energy on attracting new leads. But your best customers are the ones you already have. If someone is sitting in your waiting room for an oil change and they’re already in a strong equity position, they could walk out with a new vehicle today—if you engage them at the right time.
Equity mining helps you do just that: uncover trade-in opportunities already hiding in your database. And TradeFinder takes it even further by simplifying and speeding up the entire process.
Getting Started with TradeFinder
Step 1: Integrate TradeFinder with Your DMS
One of the best parts about using TradeFinder is how seamlessly it plugs into your existing Dealer Management System. Once integrated, it scans your service appointments and customer records to identify vehicles that have positive equity.
You don’t need to manually dig through spreadsheets or outdated CRM lists—TradeFinder does the searching for you.
Personal note: A GM I worked with once spent hours every week pulling customer lists for potential trade-ins. After installing TradeFinder, he told me, “This thing just handed me the list. I didn’t even have to look. It was just there.”
Step 2: Review and Prioritize Opportunities
TradeFinder’s dashboard gives you an easy-to-read list of equity opportunities for the day. Think of it like a cheat sheet for your sales team. You can filter by appointment time, vehicle model, year, or even profit margin potential.
No more guesswork. No more wasted time chasing the wrong leads.
Step 3: Take Action Right from the Platform
Here’s where TradeFinder really shines. Once you’ve identified a prospect, you can take immediate action—text the customer, send a trade-in offer, or notify your sales team—all from within the platform.
This real-time communication is a game-changer. You catch the customer while they’re engaged and already thinking about their vehicle. And because it’s built into VenueVision, you get full visibility across your service and sales departments.
Turn Your Service Lane into a Sales Lane
Here’s something that’s often overlooked: your service lane is full of sales leads. But too often, these leads walk in and out without anyone taking notice.
With TradeFinder, your advisors and BDC team get alerts when a customer in service is in a strong equity position. You can display that info on internal dashboards or discreetly notify your sales team to engage that customer before they leave.
It’s like turning every oil change into a potential vehicle upgrade.
Real Results: What Dealerships Are Seeing
Let’s talk results. Dealerships using TradeFinder are reporting significant increases in trade-in conversions and overall vehicle sales.
One of our dealership partners in Ontario saw a 35% increase in trade-ins within the first three months of using TradeFinder. Their sales team loved it because they weren’t cold-calling—they were reaching out to customers already familiar with the dealership and happy with their service experience.
It’s a win for everyone involved. The customer upgrades their vehicle. The dealership increases sales. And the service lane becomes a powerful lead generator.
A Better Experience for Everyone
At the end of the day, TradeFinder is about creating a better experience—for your team and your customers. Instead of chasing down cold leads, your team can focus on warm opportunities. And customers appreciate being offered something relevant, personalized, and timely.
It also helps with dealership customer retention. Customers feel more connected to a dealership that’s looking out for their best interests. Even if they’re not ready to trade today, they’ll remember the interaction when they are.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Let Opportunities Drive Away
Equity mining isn’t a “nice-to-have” anymore—it’s essential. And with TradeFinder, the process becomes faster, smarter, and more effective.
Whether you’re trying to move more units, improve automotive dealership customer retention, or just give your team a better way to sell, TradeFinder is your go-to solution.
If your dealership isn’t actively mining equity from your service customers, you’re leaving deals on the table. Worse—you’re letting them drive off the lot and into a competitor’s showroom.
It’s time to flip the script and let TradeFinder do the heavy lifting.
VenueVision is the only all-in-one automotive customer experience solution that includes digital signage as part of its offering. Unlike Kimoby and other competitors, which lack a digital signage solution, VenueVision provides a fully integrated platform for dealerships to enhance customer communication and engagement.
