Click Dealer’s Bangers4Ben preview: part 1

With less than three weeks remaining before our heroic Clickers embark on their mammoth 1600-mile journey, we thought it was fitting to get some behind the scenes gossip and some insight into their preparation!

Our first team, comprising of Steve Connor and Jake Booth, have gone German for their ride. An E46 3 Series is the car of choice to take them across Europe; a comfy 5-seater, there’s more than enough room for the two to spread out!

Smooth Booth’s Bangers Preview:Jake Booth

Speaking to Jake Booth earlier this week, he was more than happy to share his views regarding the trip! His overwhelming feeling is that of excitement, a 4-day trip could put a strain on anyone’s relationship, however Booth is confident that the desk buddies are more than capable of keeping on each other’s good side throughout! His confidence in the car is high too, with a history of tinkering, Jake feels he can put a stop to any pesky leaks that try to hinder their progress!

Having spoken about the journey, we quickly moved to the topic of track driving! With heaps of experience, Jake’s got no worries when the lights turn green. He feels his ‘no fear’ attitude behind the wheel will be the key to posting blistering lap times around Europe’s greatest tracks!

High speed driving is up there with Jake’s greatest passions, a close second however are movies! He’ll get to see first-hand the set of one of his favourite movies, ‘In Bruges’. Let’s just hope they steer clear of the bell tower…

Stevie Connor’s Pre-Tour Thoughts:

Steve shares Jake’s level of excitement for the trip; the same however can’t be said for his confidence in the car. Despite Steve’s background knowledge in fixing cars, albeit Fords, Steve isn’t sure his German stallion will be able to hold up to the brutal long distances and even harsher treatment on the track!

Steve, who has never been on a track before is playing it cool in terms of rivalry, he explains that Ollie and Lee’s Mazda holds all of the racing pedigree and their weight advantage should see them into the distance.

Steve however isn’t in it for the winning, he’s most looking forward to the camaraderie amongst his fellow competitors; I suppose now is a bad time to explain Ollie and Lee’s Top Gear attitude if they were to break down… Steve loves to dish jokes out around the office, he’s happy to show this off on the trip too. With a megaphone attached to the roof, no one is safe from his quick tongue, best get ready Lee!

Team one seems to have it all sorted, the perfect outfits, the perfect car and a strong friendship. However, there’s one thing that could bring it all tumbling down… The music! With both team members adamant they’ll have control of the aux cord, will it push them over the edge?

Steve’s team quickly jumped to support him on the playlist issue, with Callum Loveday saying ‘His playlist is legendary, I like Jake’s music, but it has nothing on Steve’s! If he doesn’t get control of the stereo, it may well be one of the greatest tragedies in modern music…’

If you’d like to support our brave Clickers on their fundraising adventure, you can donate here. All the proceeds go to Ben.org, an independent charity and dedicated partner to the automotive industry, providing support for life for its people and their family dependents, with a mission to make a positive difference to people’s lives.

Drivers Between 18 and 36 Years Are Most Likely to Buy Self-Driving Cars

As manufacturers race to bring their versions of autonomous cars to the market, it seems increasingly likely that we may start seeing vehicles driving themselves on our roads in the not too distant future.  

The question is, are consumers ready for them? Avis Budget Group gathered opinions through a recent survey. 

Avis Budget Group’s latest survey revealed that motorists between the age of 18 and 36 are ‘most likely’ to invest in an autonomous vehicle, however, this age category appear to find it difficult to define what autonomous means.  

The team, who surveyed 14,000 motorists from 14 European countries, discovered a wide knowledge gap in consumer understanding. When asked to provide a definition of ‘connect’ or ‘autonomous’ vehicles, 24 per cent of the survey respondents did not know the correct answer.  

On the other hand, around 56 per cent of those who completed the survey were able to give the correct definition of what autonomous means, identifying the term to mean ‘a car which drives itself’.  

‘It’s clear as an industry we need to educate consumers across markets and age groups, highlighting the innovations and technological advances that have been made – which have helped make developments that were once only seen in science fiction, a reality’’, says Avis Budget Group’s president of international, Mark Servodidio.  

Although the survey revealed that the younger generation would prefer an autonomous vehicle, the lowest understanding of the term was found to be of those mostly aged 18-23 and 24-36. Respondents aged 66 and over appeared to have a wider understanding of self-driving cars yet expressed very little interest in making an investment compared to those of a younger age group. 

Of the British motorists who took part in the survey, 60 per cent admitted that they would prefer to drive their current car than a self-driving vehicle.  

To find out more about how Click Dealer can help your dealership make the rest of 2018 successful, get in touch via [email protected] or 01782 454354. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our contact page. 

How Car Dealers Can Develop Loyalty and Retain Customers

Customer loyalty is difficult to achieve, but can be incredibly rewarding for car dealers, having a retention process in place is worthwhile.

There are a number of reasons why loyal customers are so valuable: they are easier and cheaper to market and sell to, they may recommend you to friends and relatives and if they are really devoted, they may even choose you over other dealerships with better incentives.

These reasons should be enough to convince you to develop a retention scheme, but whenever you implement a new process within your dealership, you will want it to have minimal disruption, so you should have a good plan of action before you get started.

Regular Communication

The aim with a loyalty strategy is to keep in touch with customers so that they have you in mind the next time that they want a product or service you offer without bombarding them with messages. It is also important to make customers feel like you care about them with personal messages.

A good plan is to get in touch with the customer after six months to ask how they are finding their new car and then again after another six months with an MOT reminder.

ClickDMS allows you to keep track of important dates for each of your customers, with a Key Marketing Reminders feature which enables you to send communications at important trigger points.

Trigger Points

Consider all of the triggers you are able to track that could provide an opportunity for a renewal interaction, for example, if someone’s finance agreement is coming to an end or they request an early settlement fee.

Preparation

Before making a renewal call to a customer, check your CRM to see whether or not the customer has had an interaction with your dealership recently. If they have been in touch about an issue which is already being handled, you will want to be aware of this, to ensure that the call is relevant and prevent confusing or annoying the customer. It’s scenarios such as this which make detailed note-taking on your CRM system vital.

Training

Everyone must receive the same training. Ensure that staff handling a renewal call or training appointment are aware of the structure they should be following, but you should also make sure they know why they are doing it.

If all of your staff members understand the bigger picture of the importance of customer loyalty and retention and how their actions can have an impact on this, they will see the reasoning behind it and everyone can work towards the same goal.

For more advice about how ClickDMS can help you retain customers, get in touch with Click Dealer and speak to one of our experts. Email [email protected], call 01782 478220 or send us a message via our contact page!