How to Use the Request Sheet in Inventory Link

One page per request, one row per provider, and every quote in the same place. Here is how to raise a request in the dealer portal and work it until the unit is where it needs to be.

1. Open Requests and start a new one

   In the dealer portal, open Requests and click Create request. Everything about this job is going to live on the page you are about to make, so start it before you make a single phone call rather than after the third one.

2. Name the unit

   Identify the vehicle by VIN, by the last six of a VIN, or by its stock number, and the portal fills in the rest from the inventory record. Quoting on a described car invites a different number later; quoting on a decoded vehicle does not.

3. Say where it is going

   Enter the pickup and delivery city, state and ZIP, and the address where one matters. Add the date you need it there by. Route and timing are the two things that move a price more than anything else, so be specific rather than optimistic.

4. Describe the job exactly

   Say whether the unit runs and drives, whether it needs an enclosed trailer, and anything the provider should know: low front end, no keys, oversized, a gate code at the pickup. A surprise found at the loading dock turns into a second price and a lost afternoon.

5. Choose who to ask

   Search the directory of transport carriers and service providers by name or by city and add the ones you want on this job. Ask several. One quote is a price and three quotes are a market, and the sheet is built to hold all of them side by side.

6. Send it

   Click Send request and the same description goes to everyone you picked. From that moment the sheet starts tracking the conversation: what was sent, what was emailed, who replied and what they said.

7. Read the replies and record the quotes

   As answers come in, the row for each provider fills in with what came back. Put the number on the row when somebody quotes you on the phone as well, so the page is the whole picture and not the half that arrived by email.

8. Pick one and close it out

   Choose the provider you want, arrange the job with them directly, and mark the outcome on the sheet. Use Email this request to send the page to a manager or to whoever promised the customer a date, and reopen it later with Open the request when you need the history.

You need a sign in to the Inventory Link dealer portal and the unit you want moved or worked on in your inventory. The portal opens from the My Inventory button on the dock at the bottom of LeadLocate CRM with single sign on, and on a device where you have set one up you can Use a passkey instead of typing a password.

Have the details in front of you before you start, because the whole value of the sheet is that every provider gets the same information and you can compare what comes back. That means the vehicle, where it is now, where it is going, whether it runs and drives, and the date you need it there by. A unit that does not start, one with a low front end, and anything you want under cover are all worth saying up front; a provider who learns it later comes back with a different number.

Inventory Link carries a directory of transport carriers and service providers, which is where the list of who to ask comes from. You choose who to work with and you deal with them directly. The sheet is your record of what you asked, who you asked and what each of them said.

One page per request, with the unit at the top and a row for every provider you asked. Each row tells you where that conversation stands: that the request went out, that it was emailed, that they replied, what came back, and the quote if they gave you one. Your own notes sit with it, so the thing the dispatcher told you on the phone is on the sheet instead of on the back of a deal jacket.

The requests list is the view above that. It shows your open requests with who has been asked, who has quoted and what is closed, so a used car manager can look once and see which four cars are waiting on somebody to call back. Nothing here goes stale in a drawer, because it is a page anyone on the team with access can open.

The point of putting them side by side is that quotes are easy to compare only when the question was identical. Three providers answering the same described unit and the same route give you a real number. Three providers answering three different phone calls give you a headache.

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Keep each provider on its own row and keep the outcome current. When a quote comes in, put it on the row. When you pick somebody, mark it, and close the request when the unit arrives. Two weeks later, when you are moving another car on the same route, you open the old sheet and you already know who answered fast and who never called back.

Use Email this request when somebody else needs the whole picture: the manager approving the spend, the salesperson who promised a delivery date, or a provider you are adding late who wants to see what the others were asked. Sending the sheet is better than retyping a summary, because the summary is where details go missing.

Treat the notes field as the record rather than as scratch paper. A dealership that moves a few cars a month builds a usable picture of its own lanes this way within a season, and it costs nothing more than typing what happened when it happened.

Nobody has replied. Give it the business day, then work the phone on the rows that are still quiet and put what you hear on the sheet. Providers answer at very different speeds, which is exactly the thing the sheet is there to show you over time.

The quotes are all over the place. Usually the unit was described differently to each one. Check what you wrote about condition and about whether it runs and drives, correct it, and ask the outliers again with the same description. A car that does not start is a different job and a fair difference in price.

You cannot find the request you made last month. It is in the requests list with its status. Open the list, find it by the unit or by the status, and click Open the request to get the whole sheet back, quotes and notes included.

The vehicle is not in the list when you start the request. It has not reached the portal yet. Add it in the inventory list first so the request carries the year, make, model and VIN, and then the provider is quoting on a vehicle rather than on a description.

You want somebody who is not in the directory. Ask them directly and put their answer on the sheet as a note, so the comparison stays in one place. A provider your store wants added to the directory is available on request, and our team puts it in production for your dealership.

The directory and the rest of what the portal does are on the Inventory Link page. If the reason you are moving a car is a buyer in another state, the sell to out of state buyers page covers that deal end to end, from texting the unit with photos to the signature and the delivery.

Do not confuse this sheet with the shopper facing one. When a customer on your brand page or your inventory site picks a time to come in, that is a Schedule a Visit request and it lands on a lead in the CRM. The LeadLocate Help Center has the guide for handling those, along with publishing your inventory site and getting the widget onto the website you already run.

How many providers should I put on one request?

Enough to compare, which usually means three or four. The sheet holds a row for each, so adding one more costs you nothing and often moves the price. One quote on its own tells you very little.

Does LeadLocate arrange the move for me?

You choose the provider and work with them directly. Inventory Link gives you the directory to ask from, the request that goes out with the same description to everyone, and the sheet that holds every reply in one place.

Can I share a request with somebody else at the store?

Yes. Email this request sends the page as it stands, quotes and notes included, which is better than retyping a summary for a manager who is approving the spend.

Is this the same as a Schedule a Visit request?

No. Schedule a Visit is the shopper facing sheet on your brand and inventory pages, and it lands on a lead in the CRM. The request sheet in the portal is your own request to a provider about a unit.

The request sheet sends one description to every provider you pick and holds the replies, the quotes and the outcome together. See it in the pre-recorded demo or start month to month.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.