Click Dealer Shortlisted in 3 Categories for Tonight’s Sentinel Business Awards!

The Sentinel Business Awards takes place tonight at King’s Hall in Stoke and Click Dealer have been nominated in three different categories!

Last year was the first time that Click entered the Sentinel Business Awards and we managed to scoop up two trophies: the Innovation Award and our Managing Director claimed the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. We were also a runner up in the Science and Technology Award category.

 

Gerry Moxham receiving his award from Directors of APT Health and Saftey Gareth Jones and Brian Wilson

The Clickers are hoping for the same level of success this year in the three categories we have been shortlisted:

Business Innovation Award

Sponsored by Staffordshire Business Innovation Centre

The Business Innovation Award will be presented to an entrant who can show that a new idea, or a novel use of an existing one, is making a significant contribution to their business. This could be a product or service and judges will determine the winner based on why and how it was developed and the impact it has made for the company and industry.

Thanks to the continued work on our revolutionary online retailing platform, ClickEngage™, and our brand-new Accelerator Pack, featuring Facebook Marketplace integration, the Click Media Plus app and Click Leads, Click Dealer has been shortlisted once again for the award we took home last year!

Training Excellence Award

Sponsored by Rydale Roofing

The winner of this award will need to have demonstrated a commitment to the training and personal development of staff.

Click Dealer has set up its own apprenticeship scheme through which young, aspiring developers can learn from our experienced team and gain skills that will help them to thrive and progress in their personal careers.

It is because of our dedication to training young individuals from the local area that Click Dealer have been nominated for the Training Excellence Award.

Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Sponsored by APT Health & Safety Training Ltd

This award has been promised to an individual who has had a significant impact as part of a team or in running their own business. The judges will be choosing someone who has displayed enterprising behaviour and has positively affected the wider economy and community.

After winning the Entrepreneur of the Year Award last year, our inspirational Managing Director, Gerry Moxham, has once again be shortlisted.

Click Dealer Directors Gerry, Pippa and Ollie as well as several other representatives for the company will be attending the award ceremony this evening and hoping to bring back some more trophies to Click HQ!

For more information about Click Dealer’s products and services, get in touch today on [email protected], 01782 478220 or via our contact page.

Revhead Ramblings: Why Does Talent Play Second-Fiddle to Money in Motorsport?

Motorsport
I’d love to be a professional footballer. The money, the fame and my name in the history books. I can’t however wander down to Crewe and expect a place in the starting 11.

If, however, I fancied getting behind the wheel of an F3 car, besides the relevant racing license, all I’d need is a plump bank account filled with money. Beyond not endangering myself or others I could buy a place in a team ahead of a driver who is far, far more deserving of a place on the starting grid.

Pay to Drive

If you look at F1, pay drivers aren’t a new thing. Look at Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin at Williams. Both had billionaire parents who pooled £65 million into the British manufacturer last year. Being a pay driver doesn’t mean a lack of talent, but Stroll did manage to skip Formula 2 on his progression to the top. Williams said he’d ‘surprise a lot of people this year’, he ended up with just six points from 21 races in 2018…

You Can’t Blame the Teams

Motorsport doesn’t survive on just talent. Race teams don’t live off the revenue from a stadium of fans; they get by on money from drivers. A quick driver can bring a racing car on by a couple of tenths. One who arrives with £10m can provide engineers who design far faster cars. So, who can blame them for picking money over talent?

Working Class Heroes

Lewis Hamilton managed to work his way up through the ranks without any investors or rich parents. Instead his Dad worked four jobs to take him around the country to compete. A lack of governance in the lower tiers of the sport ultimately mean only wealthy kids will come through. If they can afford to have a new chassis and engine every race, what chance do people have who use the same parts throughout a season?

There are 20 people in the world who get to be a part of that F1 grid every season, so the chances of reaching those dizzying heights are minute anyway. But to even get a second look from one of these teams, you have to win a number of big events at a junior level; these don’t come cheap. Will we see another working class hero like Lewis Hamilton? Unless something changes, it’s highly unlikely.

To ensure you don’t miss out on any of Alex’s ‘Revhead Ramblings‘ be sure to follow him on Twitter at @AlexClickDealer!

For more information about Click Dealer’s brand new automotive blogging service and content from our specialist automotive industry writers, get in touch today on [email protected], 01782 478 220 or through our contact page!

Vote for Click Dealer at the 2019 Car Dealer Power Awards

Ollie Moxham Car Dealer Power Awards Rebecca Chaplin
2019 marks the 10th Car Dealer Power Awards and the lines are open for you to cast your votes!

The Car Dealer Power Awards give automotive retailers the opportunity to have their say about how manufacturers and suppliers have performed throughout the year.

In last year’s awards, Click Dealer scooped up the Dealer Management System of the Year Award thanks to your votes, as well as being highly commended in the website provider category. If you think that we are deserving of an award this year, we would be grateful if you voted once again!

Ollie Moxham Car Dealer Power Awards Rebecca Chaplin

How the Car Dealer Power Survey Works

The quick survey involves giving marks out of ten for each of the categories. It is entirely confidential, and the results will be displayed for all manufacturers and suppliers to see, so this is your chance to provide your honest feedback.

Once all of the votes are in, they will be collated to create the ranking order, so the winners will be decided entirely by dealers.

The winners will be announced at the Car Dealer Power Awards night in Portsmouth at the Spinnaker Tower on Thursday the 26th of September. The findings from the survey will be shared and your feedback could contribute to positive changes in the way that manufacturers and suppliers operate, so your vote really does matter!

How to Vote for Click Dealer

The survey can be accessed online at CarDealerPower.com and it should take no longer than 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

To vote for Click Dealer, head to the Supplier section of the form. You will be able to give Click your vote in the Website Design for Independent Dealers and Dealer Management Product (DMS Systems) categories.

For information about Click Web or Click DMS, get in touch today on [email protected], 01782 478220 or via our contact page.

Online Financing Becoming Increasingly Popular with Car Buyers in the UK

Online Finance
According to an annual survey conducted by Fico, car buyers are shifting towards online financing, revealing a key opportunity for dealers.

The research by the digital analytics expert Fico surveyed 2,000 adult consumers across Britain, the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Spain. These respondents were between the ages of 18 and 64 and had taken out a form of car finance on a new or used vehicle within the past three years.

More Demand for Convenient Finance Processes

The survey found that the percentage of car buyers who obtained finance online rose to 21% from 15% last year. 37% of buyers who did not apply for finance online said that they would prefer to do so next time they purchase a vehicle.

This confirms a trend that many dealers have already picked up on, that customers are now wanting to complete an increasing amount of their vehicle purchase online. It is easier and less time-consuming, and convenience appears to be one of the biggest priorities for consumers in the modern world.

How Did the UK Perform Across the Board?

The findings reveal that the of the nine countries, the UK tied with Germany to come out on top as the country which provided the fastest financing, with 55% getting their financing in under 30 minutes.

Participants were also asked about how easy their financing experience was. Of the UK car buyers, 82% reported that they found the process easy, putting our country above the rest in this area.

Fico’s general manager for Europe, Steve Hadaway, commented, “Consumers are taking greater control of the auto financing process. They are moving online in their search for a better deal. Those lenders that can instantly offer a superior financial package based on analysis of the applicant’s data stand to gain.”

To find out more about how Click Dealer can help you convert finance leads online, get in touch via [email protected] or 01782 454354. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our contact page. 

Why Car Dealers Should Invest in Their Staff

Shaking Hands
At Click Dealer, we are lucky enough to have managers and directors who believe in their people and provide them with opportunities to develop personally and professionally. Speaking from experience, the more you invest in your staff, the more reward you’ll gain.

If you’re an avid reader of our ‘Meet the Clickers’ blog series, you’ll know that the final question our team members get asked is always “What do you love most about working at Click?” and more often than not, you’ll find that the response will be something along the lines of “the people”, “the support” or “the opportunities for training and progression”.
To have achieved such loyalty in staff is a huge accomplishment for Click Dealer, but it also extremely valuable for the business.

The Benefits of Putting People First

A dealership should be a well-oiled machine, with processes in place to ensure that each customer is treated as well as the next. Don’t take this metaphor too literally though, it is important not to become so mechanical that you neglect the human side of your business. This is what makes your dealership special!

People are always more important than processes, whether those people are your customers or your staff, because after all, they are the reason you are in business! When it comes to revising your business strategies, always take a step back to ensure that they are person-centric rather than process-centric.

When you are recruiting, try to identify individuals who are customer-focused, rather than those who obsess over hitting targets. Staff who care can help you gain loyal customers, and this long-term gratification will be far more beneficial to you than a short-term monthly sales figure.

The Benefits of Improving Wellbeing at Work

Life can throw you curve balls from time to time, so having a support network is important. The automotive charity, Ben, identifies four pillars of health and wellbeing: physical, mental, financial and social health and wellbeing.

Everyone will struggle with one of these at some point in their lives, and their work performance can become affected. As an employer, you are in a position to offer support. Getting to know the members of your workforce and creating a healthy, friendly working environment can make it easier for your employees to seek help when they need it.

I would also recommend raising awareness among staff of Ben. This organisation works to support members of the automotive industry. Happy staff means happy customers!

The Benefits of Staff Training

The benefits of staff training should be fairly clear, and this could involve anything from teaching them about finance and the technical systems you use to instilling your dealership’s unique approach to customer service and sales or giving them the opportunity to learn new skills in marketing for example.

Spending a small amount of time and resources educating your workforce regularly can lead to better customer service and efficiency by creating well-rounded employees who better represent your business.

The trend with all of the above points I have made is that the investment you put into your staff filters down to benefit your customers too, which is a good thing for your business overall.

For more information about how Click Dealer can help with staff training, get in touch via [email protected] or 01782 454354. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our contact page. 

Revhead Ramblings: The ‘One Car for Life Challenge’

Speedometer
I toyed with the idea of writing about the perfect three-car garage, it’s a question that can tell you so much about a person. But nothing says more than someone’s automotive soulmate.

A three-car garage allows you to prepare for a number of eventualities; most will pick an SUV for their day-to-day pottering, shopping and human hauling. They’ll then pick a flash and rapid piece, perhaps a supercar or stripped back racer like an Ariel Atom and finally, most will pick a classic or a reminder of their childhood.

Guidelines Rather Than Rules

The One Car for Life Challenge instead makes you blend all of these cars into one; or makes you sacrifice one aspect in favour of another. To make the question more manageable, this doesn’t have to be your full-time car; this car’s sole purpose is to bring you as close as possible to complete driver fulfilment and the idea of swapping it out should never cross your mind.

Popular Choices

When posed with this question, I’d say the majority of people will opt for a Porsche 911. The newer cars are completely manageable as a daily driver, they’re very handsome and they’re incredibly capable across the board. The BMW E92 M3 gets thrown around a lot too, four seat practicality and a V8 to please both your need for speed and for noise as well.

I’m personally more drawn to something along the lines of a Caterham. I can only imagine that the feeling of throwing a car that’s roughly the same weight as a grizzly bear around twisting and undulating B-Roads is one of the most exhilarating feelings a car fanatic can experience. Narrowing down my choice in the range is a topic for another day, but given the choice, I think that’s where I’d go.

We Change Our Cars Like We Change Our Underwear

I don’t believe this is a question that will excite many other than the most devout motoring enthusiasts. Keeping a car for more than four years is becoming an increasingly rare idea. We change our phones year on year thanks to short term flexible contracts so there’s little doubt in my mind that cars will end up like this too. In the not too distant future car subscription services will be rife and the One Car for Life Challenge will be an even more alien concept than it is today.

Automotive Website Design Tweaks that Can Increase Your Conversions

Laptop
Your automotive website is a very important element of your business, acting as your virtual dealership. In the same way that you may use certain sales techniques with walk-in customers, there are certain website design techniques you can use to boost your conversions.

Visual aspects can play a significant part in convincing website visitors to stay on your site, take in the most important content and make enquiries. Here are some of the design strategies that we use when we design automotive websites at Click Dealer.

Contrasting CTA Buttons

There are a number of different variables that can be altered with call-to-action buttons, the most important being their colour. In the image below, you will notice that the search button is a different colour to everything else on the page.

One way to test which parts of a web page pop is to squint. When the image is blurred, the viewer’s eye should still be drawn to the CTA. As you can see, when the image below is blurry, the vibrant green button stands out, so consumers won’t be able to ignore it!Blurred image example

Attention-Grabbing Hero Images

A hero image is the large banner image that is prominently placed on a web page and they can have a dramatic impact on your homepage. As the first visual element that a user will encounter, your hero image should immediately capture attention, and show users what your brand is about.

In the image below, you see a luxury car in an eye-catching colour, with a defining statement over the top. The hero image and overlay work together to entice consumers.
Attention grabbing hero image

Provoking Colours

When choosing a brand or a product, consumers can be heavily influenced by colours. If you look at the Mercedes-Benz website, you’ll be greeted by a black, white and silver colour scheme, which looks chic, luxurious and elegant to match the brand’s vehicles.

In contrast, Renault’s website is more colourful and quirky, featuring yellow as one of its main colours. Yellow can be seen to represent happiness and life, which reflects the manufacturer’s slogan, ‘Passion for life’.

When the colour scheme matches the product, consumers are more like to make a purchase, because they are buying into an emotion that the product evokes, not just the product itself.

To find out about how Click Dealer can help you increase conversions with a stunning automotive website , get in touch via [email protected] or 01782 454354. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our contact page. 

The Importance of Branding for Independent Dealers

Laptop
From your dealership logo to your colour scheme and message, branding is a crucial aspect of business. Once you are able to absolutely define what you stand for, you will be able to offer your customers and employees a sense of belonging, which good branding reinforces.

Branding can alter how your brand is perceived, it can help your dealership to generate new business and increase brand awareness.

Recognition

The main purpose of branding is to help customers identify your dealership. Your company logo acts as the face of your business in that it is what people immediately recognise. With such an important role assigned to it, your logo should look professional, unique and be simple enough to be memorable.

Think carefully about what your logo says about your company. It should reflect your type of business and be in line with your values.

Trust

A company with clear and consistent branding throughout their website, advertising and physical dealership emits a professional vibe, which customers are generally more trusting of. This polished appearance implies that you are industry experts and that you take pride in your work.

Recommendation

How can customers refer you to friends and relatives if they don’t remember your name? Good branding will not only lead to improved recognition and trust among potential customers, but it can also aid recommendations.

This can generate high-quality sales leads, because people are instantly more likely to trust a business which has been recommended by a person they know to be reliable.

Inspiration

Branding is not just about customer benefits, it is also advantageous for your workforce. An employee who works for a strongly branded dealership with clear values that they can get behind will be proud of the company they work for, have higher job satisfaction and be more dedicated to their work. Passionate, hardworking employees are good for business all-round!

To find out about how Click Dealer can help with your website branding, get in touch via [email protected] or 01782 454354. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our contact page. 

71% of Consumers Considering an EV for their Next Car!

EV
The level of disruption in the automotive industry is currently off the charts, with new vehicle technologies and retailing systems drawing closer to the mainstream market. Auto Trader’s latest Market Report investigates consumer attitudes to these and helps to put into perspective the speed at which the industry is changing.

This month’s report focuses on the future and the evolution of cars, examining consumer opinions of electric and alternative fuel vehicles and autonomous options, as well as looking at general concerns.

EVs and AFVs

The findings of the research reveal that there has been significant growth in consumer appetite for low emission vehicles. Survey participants were asked whether or not they would consider buying an electric vehicle as their next car and 71% responded positively. When the same question was asked in Autotrader’s September 2017 Market Report, only 25% said that they would consider an EV, which is a huge leap.

In order to ensure that profitability is maintained, retailers should begin to prepare for the rapidly increasing demand in these vehicles. This may involve training sales staff on EV technology and models or investing in charging points. Incorporating car finance messaging into AFV and EV marketing could help to soften the higher initial prices of these vehicles.

Autonomous Vehicles

While motorists are clearly warming to the idea of owning EVs and AFVs at a fast pace, the same is not quite true in the case of autonomous vehicles. The report found that 80% of people would be wary of using a car, taxi or bus without the safety of a human driver. Although, findings did also reveal a lack of understanding about autonomous features.

Vehicle dealers can help to increase sales opportunities and also improve customer loyalty by explaining and demonstrating autonomous vehicle features to customers and also by avoiding complex jargon that could alienate them. It could also be sensible to target autonomous vehicle marketing toward existing owners, because if they have already adopted these technologies, they are likely to want them in their next vehicle.

To find out more about how Click Dealer can improve your dealership’s performance, get in touch via [email protected] or 01782 454354. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our contact page. 

Revhead Ramblings: The Brits Took Geneva by Storm Last Week

Parked cars
Between Aston Martin, Bentley, McLaren, and Morgan, Britain has confirmed it’s still a front runner when it comes to automotive design and innovation.

The Bugatti La Voiture Noire may have received masses of attention since its debut, but not all that attention was good. Does any car really command a £12 million asking price? I don’t believe so.

Bentley Covered Heritage

While the Bugatti offers incredible exclusivity, it doesn’t exactly push the boundaries anywhere else. Yes, it’s based on an incredibly limited car, the 1936 Type 57 Atlantic, but yet again it offers nothing other than rarity.

If you want heritage from your car, Bentley revealed the perfect answer last week. The continental GT Number 9 based on their 1930’s Le Mans race car. The Blower Bentley is iconic and while the Conti may not be as exclusive as the Bugatti, with just 100 set for production, I doubt you’ll be racing one at the lights anytime soon.

The Investments Keep Coming

Morgan are looking to the future, albeit in a very different way to everyone else. The manufacturer from Malvern is turning 110 this year, but don’t think the investment they’ve received is going to change the way they do things. The money is there to bring stability, rather than change their direction, so the new Morgan Plus Six will sit on an all-new extruded aluminium platform while still retaining an ash frame.

Although the Italian firm Investidustrial now own a majority stake, the Morris family have retained shares themselves before dividing the rest amongst staff and management. This ensures everyone in the company has an interest in the long-term success of the company.

McLaren’s Announcement

They’ve repeatedly refused the idea they’d make an SUV, they believe it would dilute the brand and doesn’t’ correspond with their image and heritage of making great drivers’ cars. If you’re still set on travelling continents in a McLaren though, you’ll be particularly excited about their announcement at Geneva. A driver-focused, luxury McLaren GT that will be ‘the best in its class’ is being developed.

It’ll have a similar V8 to the 720S and feature a carbon fibre tub. It’ll directly rival the Bentley Continental GT but drastically undercut it on weight. They’ll take a more relaxed focus on weight saving inside the cabin, offering some plush materials to save you from the usual expanses of carbon fibre.

The Vanquish is Back

Before you get too excited looking at it, remember this is a concept. Having said that, Aston would have to make some seriously drastic changes to ruin its looks. When it launches it will do battle with the likes of the Ferrari F8 Tributo and McLaren 720s, a pair of foes you’d hardly describe as boring.

Unfortunately, we won’t get the V12 from the old car, instead a V6 lump will take its place. The downsizing isn’t all doom and gloom however, it’s actually the same engine being used in the limited-edition mid-engined AM-RB 003.

The Future Looks Bright

It’s very easy to get down about the British automotive industry when you read the headlines about Honda, Nissan and Mini. They’re all huge losses but the only way to push forward is to innovate and build interesting and desirable products. Geneva did a great job to showcase some of the great British products on offer in the near future and there’s plenty more to come!