Gross vs. Volume: Real Talk with Nathan Shaver

In Episode 29 of LotTalk, hosts Chris Keene, Renaldo Leonard, and John Anderson welcomed Nathan Shaver, Managing Partner and GM of Shaver Automotive Group in California. This wasn’t just another dealer interview — Nathan is not a Lotpop client (yet), which made his willingness to get candid about his operations incredibly valuable.

The topic? The age-old debate in automotive retail: gross vs. volume. But instead of arguing one over the other, this episode proved something more powerful: you can have both. Here’s how.

Volume vs. Gross: Why Not Both?

When asked whether he’d prioritize volume or gross, Nathan answered quickly: “Volume.”

Why? Operating in Southern California’s dense metro market, he’s always leveraged high inventory levels, competitive pricing, and well-placed advertising to drive traffic. In his view, moving more cars — even at thinner front-end gross — pays off when you blend in reconditioning profits and strong F&I performance.

But Nathan didn’t stop there. He admitted something many GMs wouldn’t: despite his best efforts, he hasn’t yet cracked the code on high-turn, high-volume, and high-gross used car operations. That’s where the Lotpop team leaned in.

The Power of Inventory Turn

A major theme from the Lotpop hosts was the importance of turning inventory faster. Nathan’s average days to sell was 44, and he stocked 95 units to sell 65 — not terrible, but not ideal either.

Chris Keene broke it down with data:

“At a 44-day average turn, with a holding cost of $400 per car per month, you’re giving up $5,600 a month just on aged inventory.”

The goal? Get that average turn to 30 days. At that speed, you reduce aged cars, improve cash flow, and even if you shave a bit off the front-end gross, you can add $200,000+ in annual profit.

💡 Key Insight: You don’t need to sacrifice profit to grow volume. You need to sell the right cars, at the right time, faster.

Why Merchandising Matters (a Lot)

Lotpop conducted a mystery shop on one of Nathan’s aged units: a Chrysler 300 that had been sitting for 95+ days. Photos were poor — dirty exterior, visible scuffs, and even a license plate with previous owner info still visible.

“This car looks like it ran through a car wash made of sandpaper,” Chris joked — but the message was serious.

You only get one chance at a first digital impression. And Nathan’s team was unintentionally hurting their gross and turn by failing to audit aging units and merchandising quality weekly.

🎯 Actionable Tip: Conduct a digital lot walk every week. If you wouldn’t want a customer walking onto your front line and seeing that car, fix it online, too.

Leveraging CRM and Lead Quality

Nathan is getting over 1,000 digital leads a month — far more than many stores — but he still isn’t converting at the rate he wants.

When Lotpop mystery-shopped him with a simple question (“Does this car have a sunroof?”), the response was a generic template that didn’t even answer the question.

As John Anderson put it:

“That’s like a customer walking in your store asking about a Chrysler, and the salesperson responds, ‘Are you in the market for a car?’ You’d throw a chair through the window.”

The takeaway? Great merchandising drives leads, but only great lead handling turns them into appointments and sales.

📈 Key Fix: Train managers and salespeople to read the lead first. Then respond with purpose. And ensure managers are treating online leads like walk-ins — engaging early and personally.

Get Aggressive with Aged Inventory

Nathan admitted his aging process was once 30+ days just to get a car online. With process changes, he’s down to a stellar 2.8 days.

But despite this win, he’s still holding over a dozen units past 90 days. This sparked one of the most important points of the episode:

“Your first loss is your best loss.” – LotTalk Hosts

Rather than clinging to margin on aged cars, Nathan was encouraged to take action sooner, reduce the loss, and reallocate capital more effectively. Again, the goal is volume with velocity — and that means treating every unit like it’s got a clock ticking.

What Nathan’s Doing Right

Despite the coaching, the team praised Nathan repeatedly:

• He trains his sales team daily — no exceptions.
• He believes in building long-term customer relationships.
• He understands that high-energy, service-first salespeople often outperform “old-school” closers.
• He’s actively experimenting with technology and CRM strategies.

His openness to change and eagerness to learn made one thing clear: his store’s poised for the leap to the next level.

Final Thoughts: Bridging the Gross & Volume Gap

This episode proved something critical: having loyal customers and great processes isn’t enough. To maximize both gross and volume:

1. Inspect what you expect — especially online.
2. Cut aged inventory early, not late.
3. Audit lead responses for clarity, tone, and relevance.
4. Use data to drive actions, not assumptions.
5. Consider software like Lotwalk to identify gaps in turn, ROI, and lead performance.

As Chris Keene said:

“Math doesn’t lie. People do. Two plus two will always equal four.”

With the right strategies and discipline, dealers can absolutely stock what they sell, sell what they stock, and grow both volume and gross, just like Nathan’s aiming to do.