TrueCar chief executive officer Chip Perry described how traditional dealership messaging sometimes fails to address the most important trust gap used-vehicle shoppers have.

Perry reiterated TrueCar research that pinpointed five pieces of information that consumers want but they often are the most difficult to learn from dealerships. Those elements included:

— Monthly payment 

— Easy and convenient paperwork process

— Upfront trade-in offer

— Fairness of asking price 

— No pressure experience 

While most of his automotive career has been in the technology space, Perry cautioned independent dealers who came here for the annual conference hosted by the National Independent Dealers Association and the National Alliance of Buy-Here, Pay-Here Dealers that solving these potential trust problems won’t be solved with a single website or app.

“Winning with consumers is about all of these things,” Perry told NIADA/NABD Conference attendees on Tuesday morning.

“Technology will help, buy that’s not all,” he continued.

“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions that technology is the answer to all our problems,” Perry went on to say.

NIADA reaches milestone

As Perry made his presentation, NIADA reached an unprecedented milestone.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 2,000 independent dealers and exhibitors had registered to attend this year’s conference, shattering the previous record by more than 21 percent. It marks the third consecutive year of record attendance for the event, and the sixth consecutive year-over-year increase.

As a result of NIADA's acquisition of NABD in December, NABD's May conference was merged into the NIADA Convention and Expo. 

Organizers created an event that includes some 60 education sessions, the most ever for an NIADA event, in five tracks — Retail, BHPH, Legal and Regulatory, CPO and an all-new Digital Marketing track — as well as by far the largest Expo Hall in NIADA Convention history, featuring more than 210 exhibitors.

"The opening day of the NIADA Convention and Expo is always an exciting time for us, but this year that excitement has been ramped up to another level," NIADA CEO Steve Jordan said.

"Adding NABD to our Convention has allowed us to put together the biggest event ever for independent dealers, with the best and most comprehensive training available in the used car industry. We're thrilled dealers have responded in record numbers."