2019: The Year of the Van is Upon Us

The UK is already Europe’s second largest market for commercial vehicles. 2019 is set to be a big year for sales too, with the likes of Vauxhall and Ford releasing refreshed models.

France just pips our little island to the top spot, but Britain dominate in the large van market. This trend is sure to continue as Vauxhall plan to release their all-new Vivaro later next year and Ford have a new Transit on the way too, with Plug-in hybrids also due to make an appearance on their forecourts soon.

Vauxhall Leading the Charge

In a bid to take advantage of our van obsession, Vauxhall have made plans to create up to 70 dedicated van centres. Van buyers are a far cry from style obsessed car buyers, they’re far more interested in their payload capacity than the latest infotainment system.

To those who use vans for their jobs, the right vehicle is crucial. Therefore, a higher level of specialism in the industry is paramount to keep up with van owners increasing demands.

Increasing Demands

With each new van released, you begin to notice more and more car-like features being integrated into the cabin. From drive assist features like cruise control and blind spot monitoring, to touchscreen infotainment systems, van drivers’ expectations are increasing, and these creature comforts are now expected rather than desired.

With these features being found in more and more vans, we may also see a decline in the sales of our car derived vans too.

Reducing Emissions

We’re sure to see a greater range of fully electric and hybrid vans too in the next year, Ford have announced their PHEV Transit, Nissan already supply their NV-200 with a fully electric powertrain option and more manufacturers are likely to follow suite.

Our love of online shopping and next day delivery is part of the reason we see so many vans on our roads. In 2016 (the most recent year figures are available) our vans and light goods vehicles clocked up 49 billion miles in the UK alone! Therefore, it’s understandable that commercial drivers are demanding more from their vehicles and we expect further revisions will be made to make our vans as comfortable as cars.

For more information about how Click Dealer can help your dealership’s performance, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!

How Responding to Customers’ Changing Priorities Will Help You Sell More Cars and Car Finance

customer-priorities-changes
We are currently witnessing a shift in consumption patterns, and this could be key to boosting sales of vehicles and, in particular, car finance deals.

Most of us can probably remember when DVDs were the latest trend and we were in awe of this new technology, but now, owning DVDs is old fashioned. Why would you want to buy a DVD when you could sign up to a streaming service? Consumption is becoming less about ownership of tangible commodities and more about experience.

Car Finance

These consumption patterns can also be seen in the automotive industry, with people moving away from the traditional model of mobility, which involves owning a car and towards alternatives like car sharing and finance agreements. The latest Auto Trader Market report revealed that 30% of cars were bought on finance last year and this is only going to increase.

Rather than investing in a car to own, we are seeing more and more consumers investing in experience. If we take PCP and leasing contracts as examples, customers may be able to get a better car and a better experience than if they were to buy it outright, by sacrificing ownership.

Customer Experience

When consumers enter the car buying process, the actual vehicle is not the only thing that they care about. They want a professional, enjoyable experience delivered by experts with insider knowledge who will listen to them and help them make the right choices. They want a straightforward, efficient and honest process and they are willing to invest in this as much as the vehicle they are buying.

The key, therefore, to boosting car and finance sales in the era of experience over ownership, is to perfect your processes to deliver an exceptional standard of service.

Review Your Process

Look at the current processes within your dealership and make sure they are tailored around delivering the best customer experience, ensuring that your team’s roles are clear.

Train Your Team

It is very important that your team is competent and confident enough to tell customers what the best options are for them, so ensure that they are equipped with all of the relevant knowledge they might need, including a good understanding of finance.

Empathise with Your Customers

Your team will have their own views and opinions about what the best way to buy a car is, but the customer is always right, so encourage them to put themselves in customers’ shoes and understand the benefits of various options to help them make the right choice for their circumstances.

Put the Customer at the Centre of Decisions

Pressure to meet targets can result in staff pushing sales at the expense of the customer experience, so if you are really set on putting the customer first, you should consider implementing incentives for achieving good reviews and customer satisfaction instead.

For more information about how Click Dealer can help your dealership’s performance, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!

How to Boost Parts Sales with Video

With competition so high in the used car market at the moment, car dealers must think outside of the box to find ways of maintaining profit margins while keeping screen prices low.

Many auto retailers use video as a vehicle health check tool, through which they can reassure customers and create an opportunity to boost parts sales when replacements are needed. But why stop there? Rather than using video just to promote parts that are needed, why not use it as a sales tool to increase interest in upgrades?

Seize the Opportunity

When a customer is due for a service, this is a prime opportunity to show off the components that could be added to during the process.

ClickDMS offers a feature which allows you to send key marketing reminders to customers at optimum times, for example, when their vehicle is due to come in for a service. At this prime point, you could send a video that not only reminds them that they need to schedule an appointment, but also shows off the parts which could be upgraded.

What makes video so useful for selling parts is that it is a visual tool, and parts are so much more appealing when they can be seen on a vehicle, rather than simply described.

Tips

Keep it Concise

Videos like this should not be too long and detailed as the aim is just to capture interest, customers can enquire further and get all the information when they contact you to book a servicing appointment.

Presentation is Key

Put your creative cap on and make sure that your video looks professional and reflects your business well. The background should be clean and tidy, which may require shooting to take place away from the garage. You could consider shooting parts demonstrations in front of your showroom or in front of some of your premium cars.

Keep Shooting

Use of video doesn’t have to stop at parts sales. This can be a great way to engage customers and communicate your product offering and promotions, so think about where else you could use video in your dealership.

For more information about how Click Dealer can help your dealership’s performance, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!

Revhead Ramblings: Is Cheap Motor Racing the Answer?

 I’ve spoken a lot about racing over the past few weeks, F1 and Formula E are the Premier League of motor racing; what we really need is the National League though.

No, that doesn’t mean watching teams like Port Vale next season, just a place where money hasn’t completely taken over, in most cases that is, and there are no armchair fans, just a collection of enthusiasts and competitors who want to get stuck in!

Cheap Racing

I’ve recently been reading about the Citroen C1 Club Series and I want in. A group of tiny French cars, nearly identical in spec, racing around some of the best tracks in Europe.

By motorsport standards it’s cheap and it’s very fair too. This is achieved by keeping engines standard and only allowing one supplier for consumables, you put the emphasis on the driver’s skill, not the team’s wallet.

Gaining Attention

Another article on Jalopnik highlighted to me that this isn’t just an English or European thing anymore, teams from all over the world are flocking to Europe to compete in 67 bhp Euro hatchback.

The appeal of buying and entering a car for less than £5000 is obviously too much for these international racers. For now, the Brits dominate though, from a race with 70 C1’s on the grid, 40 came from the UK-based C1 Racing Club.

We Need to be Careful

By having some tight restrictions money hasn’t yet been able to penetrate this humble series, but how long can this really last? This race epitomises everything we love about motor racing, minus the money and theatre.

The C1 racers were able to take advantage of a 24-hour race at Spa recently, they were on track with Citroen 2CVs, cars that had been racing here for over 30 years. However, these were no longer 2CVs, they’ve been corrupted by money, each car was worth into the £80,000 region. A series started for fun, ruined by a budgetary arms race.

Putting Their Skills to the Test

The money is around the C1 Series already, many drivers have experience in GT3 and GTE, yet they choose to drop to this level purely to test their skills. Yes, they’re incredibly accomplished drivers, but much of their success in those higher tiers comes from their sponsors’ generosity.

With the C1 though, there’s nowhere to hide, your success comes down to your racing line and your braking points and in the end, the bravest will win!

Click Dealer Shortlisted for Tonight’s Used Car Awards

This evening, Click Dealer could be walking out of The Brewery with the Used Car Product of the Year Award!

Organised by Car Dealer Magazine, the annual Used Car Awards unites business from all over the nation to celebrate the efforts and accomplishments of car dealers and suppliers in the automotive industry this year. Click Dealer has been nominated for the Used Car Product of the Year Award for our online vehicle retailing platform, ClickEngage™.

Used Car Product of the Year Award

ClickEngage™ enables dealers to offer an alternative, convenient and forward-thinking method of buying a car. As consumers demonstrate a clear interest and willingness to complete more of the vehicle purchase process digitally, away from dealerships, it has become apparent that there is a lack of technology available to facilitate this.

Our digital vehicle retailing software addresses this missing link, making it possible for dealers’ customers to choose a car, get a part-exchange valuation and finance quotes, select add-on products and pay a reservation fee entirely online, from the comfort of their own home. All that is left to do at the physical dealership is to collect the vehicle and complete the paperwork.

ClickEngage™ doubles up as lead management software, dropping enquiries directly into a dealer’s DMS and providing instant responses to customers. The product saves dealers valuable time, captures leads and empowers retailers to offer a higher standard of customer service.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who voted for Click Dealer to see us through the public nominations stage. We are thrilled that, as users of ClickEngage™, you deem our product award-worthy. After initial judging and more thorough research, we are proud to be among a number of excellent finalists.

As usual, the awards ceremony will be taking place at The Brewery in London and this year, it will be hosted by TV’s Wheeler Dealer star, Mike Brewer!

We know a number of our dealers also made it on to the shortlist, so good luck to everyone who has been nominated for an award this year. We look forward to celebrating your achievements of 2018 with you!

To find out more about ClickEngage™, get in touch by calling 01782 454354, emailing  [email protected], or sending a message via our contact page, or vote for Click Dealer in the Used Car Awards here! 

Click Dealer Hoping to Claim a Prize Tonight at the Digital Entrepreneur Awards 2018

Digital Entrepreneur Awards Finalist 2018
Tonight, Click Dealer will be hoping for success at the Digital Entrepreneur Awards (DEAs) 2018, as we have been nominated for the Web Development Project of the Year Award.

This will be the Awards’ 14th year of celebrating the achievements of entrepreneurs around the UK, and as Click Dealer’s goal is to create innovative digital solutions, we are very proud to be a finalist in the Web Development Project of the Year category.

We will be amongst both big and small businesses, with past winners including household brands, like Sainsbury’s and Mothercare and niche, independents.

According to the organisers, the award winners will be chosen for their forward-thinking approaches, enigmatic leadership, effective social media campaigns and progressive technologies.

The applicants have been judged by several successful entrepreneurs, including the president of techUK and chair of the Digital Leaders Board, Jacqueline de Rojas. Jacqueline serves on the government’s Digital Economy Council and advises numerous fast-developing tech companies.

She said: “We are known as a nation of innovators and of entrepreneurs. It is quite simply a privilege to judge the technologies and innovators at the frontier of change.

“The UK is a nation of technological significance and shining a light on entrepreneurship in this space is a way of investing in our digital future.

“I have seen the smallest of changes make the biggest of differences and I am delighted to see the creativity of our digital entrepreneurs fixing real-world problems that are worth solving.”

Hopefully our web development efforts have impressed Jacqueline de Rojas and the other members of the judging panel, but just to have become a finalist is a great achievement for us. The winners will be revealed tonight at the Principle Hotel in Manchester.

To find out more about Click Dealer’s innovative digital solutions for car dealers, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!

How to Set Up Google My Business for Your Dealership

Google My Business (GMB) is a free application that allows you to manage your company’s presence on Google Search, Maps and Google + and access performance data from Insights, Reviews and Analytics in one convenient location.

The tool helps local businesses to be found more easily online and it offers numerous benefits for car dealers.

Why Set Up Google My Business for Your Dealership?
  • GMB makes it easy for customers to find important information about your business, such as address and opening times.
  • You can build a collection of reviews that will be public in Google Search and attract new customers.
  • You will be able to engage with existing and potential customers.
  • GMB connects Insights and Analytics, where you can view data about your search performance.
  • GMB is great for local SEO, driving more traffic from your local area to your business. Below is an example of a local search, and as you can see, the first thing that appears on the results page is GMB listings, so even when your company name isn’t directly searched for, your dealership still has a good chance of appearing.

How to Set Up Google My Business

Google My Business can be set up for your dealership in five simple steps:

STEP ONE: Set Up a Google Account

If you don’t already have one, make a Google account for your dealership, as you can’t set up Google My Business without one!

STEP TWO: Claim Your Business

Follow this link: https://www.google.com/business/ and log in to your account with the details you used in the first step. Once you are in, you will see a search box where you’ll need to enter your business name and address.

STEP THREE: Choose Your Business Category

As you fill in the form, you will come across a section asking you to select your business category. This is an important step because it will help Google determine which queries your business is relevant to and which search results you will rank in.

STEP FOUR: Receive Verification

At this stage, Google will need to review your claim. Once this has been verified, you’re good to go!

STEP FIVE: Optimise Your Listing

Now that you’ve set up your Google My Business account, it’s time to optimise your listing. On the GMB dashboard, click on ‘Info’ and fill out your dealership’s details, providing as much information as possible. These details should be checked regularly to make sure it is still accurate.

For more information about how Click Dealer can help improve your dealership’s SEO, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!

Revhead Ramblings: Formula E is the light at the end of the ICE tunnel

Formula 1 has paved the way for plenty of technology for our road cars, with increasingly economical yet powerful engines and even gearboxes finding their place in our cars.

Now the same hopes lie with Formula E, as we’ve accepted EVs as our future, the electric racing series is our best bet for developing truly exciting electric vehicles for the road!

Developing Technology for the Road

Everything from more powerful batteries to better steering feel can be honed in our most promising racing series. Therefore, it’s our duty as car enthusiasts to get behind it and give it the attention it deserves!

Manufacturers have latched on to the series en masse because it’s an easy place to develop electric technology, not to mention a cost-effective way for their PR teams to say they’re committed to the environment.

Some, such as Faraday Future, have a technical partnership with a team for key drivetrain components that they say contributes to the development of a road car. Others, such as Jaguar, are running full works teams.

The Racing is Truly Engaging

With electric technology, there aren’t a lot of ways for teams to get an advantage over one another, this makes for some of the closest racing you can hope for from a competition. Pole position for the Berlin ePrix was decided by 0.001 second, in Mexico the winner of the race started from last place!

The Gen2 cars have eliminated the need to swap cars part way through the race, making the races even tighter come December. Overtaking is common place here, a breath of fresh air from the boring and strict F1.

All New Challenges

When you look at the likes of Spa and Silverstone, their tracks are unbelievably smooth, not so for the street circuits Formula E uses… Undulating terrain, slow corners and high kerbs make for a very different set of challenges for these racers.

Ex-Honda F1 test driver James Rossiter said, “The weight management on a bumpy circuit I found challenging and fun – the car moves around a bit, you’re in between walls, the kerbs can be taken at the apex,” he says.

“With the bouncy track, the weight of the car and the lack of grip, if you go over the limit and the car starts sliding, it just carries on sliding. If you brake too late or carry too much speed, there’s nothing you can do as a driver to recover it. That’s what struck me most.”

Formula E is definitely in its infancy and has plenty of kinks still to work out, having said that, it has a very young fan base and is sure to have the backing of governments and big businesses alike for its green outlook. This makes it one of the most exciting prospects we have in motor racing, providing it’s marketed to work alongside F1 rather than replace it; there’s no substitute for engine noise!

How to Change Your Dealership’s Structure to Improve Performance

The automotive industry is entering an era of radical change, which is bringing strategic issues for vehicle retailers.

Many experts have made predictions about what the future of automotive retail will look like, the most extreme envisaging an end to dealerships as we know them.

Natural Selection

Our prediction is that dealerships who are prepared and willing to evolve will survive and thrive, while those unwilling to adapt will be phased out. The strongest dealers are versatile, ready and able to adjust their business to embrace new strategies, systems and processes as the industry and consumer behaviours change.

Rethink Your Structure

Traditional dealerships adhere to a departmental model, but this can be limiting, as it encourages separation and a silo mentality. When the workforce is departmentalised, this affects the way in which customers are viewed and dealt with; they can be seen as the responsibility of the sales team or the service team, rather than the dealership team as a whole.

This business model may lead to a lack of communication and knowledge between teams and a lack of motivation to assist each other, for example, by referring customers. Introducing a more integrated structure will encourage solidarity, help you to offer a seamless customer experience and improve retention.

Put the Customer at the Heart of Decisions

Putting customers at the centre of decisions is not a new idea, but it is one that is all too often forgotten. Staff are so eager to meet their own goals that they care more about this than adding value to customers’ experiences. Consumers will pick up on this and chances of retention will be reduced.

It is this approach that leads to widespread mistrust of car sales people, but it is not the fault of the individuals in sales teams, rather target-based reward systems which exist in dealerships. Incentives should instead be centred around boosting customer satisfaction.

Be Open to New Technologies

Consumer buyer habits are changing, and more of the car purchase process is happening online. Remain open minded about the possibility of new technologies being used in your dealership, keeping your processes flexible enough to adapt to that sort of change.

More and more dealerships are beginning to introduce systems which allow their customers to create a deal and reserve online and as consumers get used to this process and it becomes normalised, businesses which do not have these capabilities will begin to suffer.

 

For more information about Click Dealer’s online retailing platform and how we can help your dealership’s performance, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!

Motorists Still Want to Own Cars!

The majority of buyers are moving away from the traditional method of purchasing a car, that is, paying the full cost outright, although findings from the latest Auto Trader Market Report reveal that a significant proportion of consumers still want to own a vehicle.

Of the total sample, 80% still want to own a car, preferring this option over car finance and sharing concepts.

Generation Z Are Most Keen to Own

Typically, the attitudes of the younger generation correlate most closely with predictions for future market trends, but surprisingly, the report showed that respondents aged between 16 and 21 were the most eager to own a vehicle.

When asked, “Do you think you will always own your own car?” 86% confirmed that they did believe this, despite signals that the future of mobility is moving towards a model based on less permanent options.

81% of respondents from this age group also believe they will want to and be able to buy a brand-new car by the time they are 25. With so many young people determined to buy vehicles, it may be a wise move for dealers to target offers toward this age group.

Car Sharing

Auto Trader’s research also investigated people’s attitudes to car sharing. More than half (52%) of individuals said they wouldn’t consider a car-sharing service, with the most popular reasons being that it would be inconvenient for them and they’d simply be unwilling. On average, car owners would want a 55% saving to switch to sharing.

Finance Options

98% of motorists who have entered a car finance agreement agreed that they feel like they own the car, even though it legally belongs to the finance provider. Last year, 30% of used cars were bought on finance, and according to Auto Trader’s report, this will increase to 40% in the next five years.

These statistics contradict what was found about attitudes to finance versus ownership. It is possible that people may not fully understand finance options or know what to expect from an agreement. Car finance packages should therefore be presented as clearly as possible and dealers should emphasise their flexibility.

As more people begin to understand and try car finance, attitudes towards mobility options that don’t involve ownership should start to become more positive.

To find out how Click Dealer can help your dealership make the most of the remainder of 2018, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!