If Electrification is the Future, What About the Present?

EV
You may notice them as you drive along, or you may pick them out in their charging spaces at the supermarket, but EVs are by no means mainstream.

In 2016 EVs made up 0.4% of new car registrations, by 2017 that number had risen to 0.5% and for 2018 it ended at 0.6%. This is reasonable growth, it’s just unfortunately on a low volume. In the used market in 2018, EVs made up just 0.2% of auction volume. The latter will naturally increase as the first number does however.

Approved Used is Favoured

As a result of this lacklustre performance on the block, manufacturers often send their used vehicles back through their dealer networks; they believe their own dealers have a better set of skills and understanding of the technology to sell these cars.

Manufacturers set up training programs to help their dealers identify the right customers for these cars and give them accurate and relevant advice to ensure the buyer is fully prepared for EV ownership.

Dealer Issues

Glass’s recent study found that on average EVs take longer to sell than their diesel and petrol counterparts, once again putting them out of favour with second hand dealers as a quick turnaround is key to maximising profits.

A further survey from Glass’s found that just 5% of dealers said they regularly stock EVs; their main concerns being the charging infrastructure, unfamiliarity with the technology and perception that EVs don’t represent good value for money.

Used Car Dealers Have to Keep Up

As more electric vehicles are sold, more will reach the used market; franchised dealers will quickly reach capacity and resort to selling them on through auctions and online traders. It’s therefore imperative that used car dealers adapt to this technology sooner rather than later.

Like those who didn’t optimise their business for the internet, they must keep at the forefront of technology or risk being left behind.

For more information about how Click Dealer can help your dealership’s profitability and lead management, get in touch today by emailing [email protected], 01782 478 220 or via our contact page.

Why Lead Management is Key for Dealerships

Organising Email Inbox
Many dealerships today are heavily focused on acquiring leads, but don’t have a process in place to deal with them once they’ve gained them, leaving them to fall into the hands of competitors. 

Having an effective lead management system can help you offer your customers better service and prevent sales leads being lost. It can also give you easy access to valuable data, so that you can find out which advertising channels are working well and how your sales staff are performing. 

Better Customer Service 

A lead management system should make it much easier for you to see enquiries coming through to your dealership, as they will all be in one place. In this virtual location, you should be able to see what time enquiries come in and if they have been responded to.  

This makes checking and responding to enquiries easier and more efficient, helping you deliver the fast responses that customers have come to expect. With Click Leads, you will receive notifications as enquiries come through, saving you from having to check constantly. The system will also send automatic responses to customers to let them know that their enquiry has been received. 

Less Missed Sales Opportunities 

Failing to respond to enquiries before a customer starts looking elsewhere is a common issue for dealerships, so having this system in place to see exactly what is happening with them helps to ensure that opportunities don’t get missed. This means that more leads will be converted and ultimately, you will sell more cars! 

Storage of Valuable Data 

When leads are pulled from your inbox, website and advertising portals and stored in one location, you can easily draw comparisons and see how many leads are coming from each source. This can help you make informed decisions about how to allocate your budget. 

Visibility of Sales Team Performance 

A lead management system should also let you see which member of your sales team is managing each lead, which gives you a good overview of the individual performance of your staff. From this, you can set personal targets to encourage team members to push themselves. Click Leads allows you to set and track KPIs all within the application to make things even easier. 

For more information about Click Leads and our new Accelerator Pack, get in touch today via [email protected] or 01782 478220!