Deals and desking

A deal holds the numbers for one customer and one unit: price, fees, trade-in, tax, how they pay, and what is due. You build it in the console, the customer reviews and signs it on a private web page, and you take it through to delivered. Desking adds an itemized worksheet with saved versions, a payment grid, gross and manager approval.

Before you start #

• Deals need a plan with the sales CRM (Pro and Enterprise).
• Set up at least one reviewed tax profile before you desk deals. A deal whose worksheet uses an unreviewed profile cannot be sent.
• Default fee lines come from Finance › Deposits & online deals (see deposits and buy online).

Start a deal #

1. Open the lead and select New deal in the Deals & deposits panel. (Or open Sales › Deals, select + New deal and pick the Lead.)
2. Pick the Vehicle and select Create deal.

The deal starts from the vehicle's website price, your default fee lines and sales tax rate, the customer's latest trade-in request and any deposit they paid on this vehicle. Deals that shoppers start with Buy online appear in the list with the status Started online, ready for you to review.

(open full size)

1. New deal.
2. Deposits & online deals settings.
3. Search and Status filters.
4. Deals with total, balance and status.

Desk the deal #

1. Open the deal and select Desk this deal (or Desking worksheet (vN) once a version exists).
2. Under Vehicle, tax and payment, set the Selling price ($), the Tax profile and Paying by. For financing, enter the Cash down ($, financing), Lender, APR / sell rate (%), Buy rate (%) (shown only to people who see financials), Term (months) and Days to first payment.
3. Add lines as needed: Dealer discounts, Manufacturer rebates and incentives, Accessories and add-ons (with cost, if you have it), Fees (title and registration fees are never taxed; the documentation fee follows the tax profile), Optional protection products and Trade-ins (allowance, payoff and ACV). There is room for 3 discounts, 3 rebates, 8 accessories, 8 fees, 5 products and 3 trades.
4. Adjust the Payment grid terms and Payment grid cash down ($) to show the customer options.
5. Select Save as version N.

(open full size)

1. Worksheet: the inputs and itemized lines.
2. Version summary: taxable amount, tax lines, out-the-door price, total, deposits credited, amount financed and the estimated payment, with and without optional products. Gross shows here for people allowed to see it.
3. Approval: whether this version needs a manager's approval before it can be sent.

The page also shows the Payment options grid (up to three terms by three cash-down amounts), the Versions list with Compare versions, and buttons to Print worksheet or Print customer copy. The customer copy never shows costs, ACV, gross, the buy rate or reserve.

Every save creates a new version; nothing is overwritten. If a colleague saved a newer version while you were working, your save is refused so you do not undo their changes. All totals, tax and payments are worked out on the server.

Use a lender's approval #

When a lender approves the customer's credit application, the worksheet lists the decision under Lender decisions. Select Use these terms to save a new version with that lender, the lender's rate as the buy rate (your sell rate is kept if it is higher), the term and the approved amount. If the amount financed is more than the approval, you get a warning.

Send the deal to the customer #

1. Make sure the current version needs no approval (or is approved) and uses a reviewed tax profile.
2. On the deal, under Customer link, select Email it or Text it. You can also copy the Deal link.

The customer opens a private page with six steps: vehicle and price, trade-in, how they will pay, review, sign and pay. They accept the numbers, type their name to sign the purchase agreement, and pay what is due now by card when online payment is on. The agreement includes an itemized schedule of every line. Messages follow the customer's consent (see messages).

If you save a new version after the customer accepted, the deal goes back to them to accept again. A version that needs approval moves the deal back to Draft so nobody can accept numbers that were not approved.

Close the deal #

• Delivered marks the vehicle sold and can start your post-sale follow-up sequence (see automation and SLAs).
• Create sale invoice builds the invoice from the deal lines; its total equals the deal balance.
• Cancelling releases the deal's deposits (they can be credited to the next deal), voids unpaid invoices and tells accounting about money already paid. It does not refund anything.
• After the customer signs, the numbers are locked.

Tips #

• Desk every deal, even cash deals. Versions give you a clear history if a customer disputes a number.
• Record vehicle costs so front gross is known. While cost is unknown, front gross shows "unknown" (see costs and holding).
• Use Compare versions before you approve, to see exactly what changed.

Permissions #

Limitations #