Six Easy Ways to Improve Your Sales Team

Learning about a product, being professional and communicating with customers isn’t rocket science, but becoming a great sales person takes skill and dedication.

By learning these steps and continually improving them, your sales team can transform their process and ultimately become more efficient overall.

Here’s my six easy steps to an increase in sales and a greater customer retention rate!

Treat Your Customers Properly

It may sound obvious but treat your customers like you really value them. This might be as simple as offering them a drink or picking them up from the train station. These simple actions will give them a much better impression of yourself and the company as a whole. By being lively and actively engaging in conversation, you’ll get them excited about buying.

Learn More Than One Response

Price is ultimately the biggest sticking point, by having different paths to divert attention from this aspect it will give you an opportunity to add value to the vehicle. Involvement questions, like who the primary driver would be, gets them in the mindset of owning the vehicle and makes it an easier sell further down the line.

The Sale is Just the Start

Once they’re out of the door in their new car, it’d be easy to forget about them; but don’t! By being proactive and making the first contact after the sale, you make a positive start to the aftersales process. A simple thank you could turn them into repeat customers.

A Lead is Never Gone

A text, an email or a phone call could be the difference between a sale and losing a customer. How many people have gone home to ‘think about it’ only to never return? By contacting them and reminding them about the great car they viewed you’ll keep the sale on their mind and encourage them to return. This brings me on to my next point…

Recording Interactions with Consumers is Vital

To contact customers on the fence, you will need their details, so each member of your sales team should be trained in the art of data capture. The importance of recording not only contact information, but as much detail about each interaction with a consumer as possible in a CRM system must also be instilled. By noting down the date, the vehicle they were interested in and any factors influencing their decision, this will save time and make the customer feel valued when you next get in touch.

Old Customers Are Just as Valuable

Putting time aside each week or month to speak to old buyers or service customers could secure you a new wave of customers. A simple catch up call can quickly lead to a visit and subsequent sale. For the sake of a five-minute phone call, what do you have to lose?

For more information about how Click Dealer can help to improve the performance of your dealership, get in touch today on [email protected], 01782 478220 or via our contact page.

Revhead Ramblings: Why Do We Have Limited-Run Production Cars?

From Ford to Porsche, nearly every manufacturer makes limited-run production cars. Is this controversial sales tactic really fair on us though?

If, like in my dreams, I’d been a loyal customer of Aston Martin for years, who are they to say they don’t want my hard-earned money? To turn away customers seems foolish.

Audi listened to the car world, and gave us the Audi R8 RWS, but they made just 999 of them. Porsche had the 911 R, one of the best Porsches on paper, but again, only 991 were made. The same happens with Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, any car that is mildly outside of their usual radar and they limit the numbers.

There’s Method to the Madness; Sometimes

Obviously, this is understandable in certain circumstances, sometimes manufacturers have to sign deals with suppliers or they can only push a limited number of cars through the standard production line without disrupting the regular models.

It also makes sense when they know they’ll struggle to find a home for these models, Porsche for example only made 918 of their 918 Spyder’s, but they knew they’d have to put some work in to find them all a good home.

Flashback

The manufacturers who’re now turning down vast sums of money from prospective punters, were once begging for customers as their balance sheets kept owners awake at night.

Those customers who came in at their time of need and stuck with the brand are now palmed away in favour of a YouTuber with Daddy’s backing because brand exposure is everything.

We Can Make a Change

This isn’t limited to cars though; clothing brands play with their customers in the same way. Brands like Supreme and Palace release their clothes in very low numbers, knowing they have nowhere near enough stock to satisfy demand. With clothes, we can do nothing other than suck it up and accept it, however with our cars, it’s different.

In most cases, aftermarket tuners can offer a lot of what the manufacturer does with their limited run cars; and often create a better car that’s altered to your specification. Not only will you get the car you want, it’ll also be rarer than the limited run car from the OM.

Meet the Clickers – James Smith

Episode 44 of Meet the Clickers is here! This week I had the pleasure of speaking to James Smith.

Once he’d finished speaking about Kanye, I managed to get some answers out of him!

Hi James, I hope you’re well. Could you tell us a little bit more about how you started at Click please?

Well, I was at Uni and we had been encouraged to do a placement year (which I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do,) so we had a few business’s come in and talk to us about what they do and give us a chance to see what was out there, they each did a presentation and came around and spoke to each person for 5 minutes, after this I was more encouraged to do a placement.

The next day I received an email from my course leader and from Keiran telling me that I had made a good impression and asked me to come in for an interview, Ron later told me that I was the only person in the room worth bringing in and that I showed genuine interest and promise. I came in for an interview and got the job!

My placement wasn’t due to start until I finished university in May, but Ron asked me if wanted to start on a part time basis to get used to the job, so I started in December doing either a day or a couple of days per week alongside University and my other job as a supervisor at the Co-op until I started full time in June.

Sounds good! What exactly does your job entail now and how has it changed since you started?

So, I work in web changes, we basically manage the dealer’s websites and make any changes when requested. This can vary from technical additions to the site, to design work on the site or even something as simple as changing contact details.

My job responsibility has grown as my job knowledge has, I started by doing simple jobs while I was training now I help Ganno manage changes for some of the bigger accounts.

What’s the most expensive item you’ve ever bought?

Hmmm, it’d probably be my MacBook Pro!

I would have thought those Yeezys would be up there… What’s one luxury item you couldn’t live without?

That’d have to be my phone! I use it every single day and I don’t know what I’d do without it.

I’m with you there mate. Why do you model your hair on your FIFA Virtual Pro?

Because my pro’s hair is amazing! Definitely got the best hair on the team!

Dream car?

Either an Audi R8, or BMW i8. They both look really nice and are stupidly fast!

Great shout! They’re both unreal cars. I’ve been told you get quite loud after a few beers! What’s the worst thing you’ve done whilst drunk?

That’s a hard one! From the things I remember it’d probably be punching a wall! I’ve got no idea why I did it, but I woke up with a huge swollen hand; it wasn’t ideal. It’s got nothing on Ben though.

Favourite TV show?

Definitely Always Sunny in Philadelphia! Shout out to Ron!

I can’t say that I’ve watched it, that’ll be next on the list. I’ve been told you’re a Stoke season ticket holder, what’re you punishing yourself for?

I really don’t know… It’s definitely been a struggle this year though! At least we can both say we support a better team than Ben Wood though!

Very true mate! What’s one trend you hate?

No doubt about it, dabbing. I hated it when it started, I hated when footballers copied it and I still hate it now!

What is it you like so much about Kanye?

He’s a musical genius and a huge inspiration! His songs are always on my playlists and his clothing collaboration with Adidas is amazing! I’m wearing a pair of Yeezys right now!

Clearly a Donald Trump supporter then too… What could you give a presentation on with no preparation?

I could talk about pretty much anything, but if I was going to pick one it’d be football. There’s just so much to cover, from tactics to tournaments!

What do you love most about working at Click?

For me it’s the working environment, everyone is so friendly, and it just makes Click a great place to come to and get your head down; even if we do have a laugh in the process! The fact that the directors and management are so down to earth, it just makes you want to get stuck in for them!

That’s great James, I think everyone would agree with you there!

Used Car Buyers Have High Expectations of Service Standard

High Customer Service Demand
This year, we have seen more and more people choosing used cars over new, and while this is good news for the second-hand market on the whole, certain challenges have arisen. 

The second-hand car market is currently a thriving success compared to how it was five or ten years ago, but while more buyers are turning to preowned vehicles, used buyers have now come to expect the same standard of service as if they were buying a new car.  

CitNOW’s Report 

CitNOW have recently published a Year of the Used Car Report which reveals that at least 48 per cent of potential car buyers are now taking to the used car market to shop for their next vehicle.  

The report by the video specialist also shows that almost three quarters of used car buyers now expect customer service to be the same as that offered when purchasing a brand-new vehicle.  

CitNOW exposed the biggest problems used buyers have, highlighting the need for better clarity and service from retailers to take advantage of increased interest in the used market.  

Consumer Experiences in the Used Car Market  

According to the study by CitNOW, the most common bad experiences in the second-hand market involved concerns about mechanical reliability, electrical faults and problems regarding bodywork. More than a quarter of the negative consumer experiences appear to be the result of poor customer service from the retailer.  

Head of sales and client services at CitNOW, Ollie Parsons, said: ‘’Modern car buyers are turning toward the used market more than ever before, and this new type of buyer is rightly demanding a customer experience on a level with the brand-new buying journey. 

Parsons further added, ‘’The used car market has been enjoying record levels of success already with plenty of scope retailers to improve their service and push sales even further.’’  

 

To find out how Click Dealer technology can help your dealership provide a higher standard of customer service, 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 Make Your Dealership’s Marketing Activities Successful

Follow up Emails
When it comes to marketing to customers, the more effort your dealership puts in, the more likely you are to be successful.

Car dealers are busy people and it can often be difficult to find time to dedicate to well-thought-out marketing strategies but resorting to bombarding customers with template communications must be avoided at all costs. This is impersonal and annoying, not to mention, it is not very effective.

The most effective marketing is that which is done with care and offers genuine value. Where the method above is almost like shouting at customers to get their attention, the more successful approach involves talking and working with them.

It is unsurprising that car dealers often slip into the habit of bombarding customers with marketing when the job constantly imposes short-term pressure to attain a certain amount of business; however, if you stop to rationalise things, you will find that more business will be generated when you stick to a carefully-planned marketing strategy.

To create the bones of this strategy, consider just two questions:

Who is Your Target Audience?

If your answer to this is ‘everyone’, this is a sign of an uncareful marketing approach. You should rarely be sending the same communication to all of the contacts in your database. Instead, carefully consider when the message will be useful to each customer.

An example would be an MOT reminder. If your target audience is everyone, you will find yourself emailing every customer every month to cover your bases, even those who have only just bought their car! This will feel a lot like spam, and risks recipients ignoring the reminder at a time when it is actually relevant to them.

If instead you choose to target only consumers whose MOT is due soon, your click-through rate and enquiries are likely to increase. ClickDMS offers a feature which sends reminders when key marketing opportunities arise, for example, when a customer’s MOT is due, or their finance agreement is about to end.

Why Should They Choose Your Dealership?

On the face of it, car dealerships can all look very similar, but we know that they are each unique and this is what you need to make customers see. The story of who you are, and most importantly why you do what you do should be told through your marketing material.

If they had a good experience the first time around and your story resonates with them strongly enough, they may choose to return even if they have to make a small sacrifice, for example, paying a slightly higher price than competitors are offering, travelling a bit further or settling for a model that wasn’t exactly what they had in mind.

By taking just a little bit of time to figure out how to incorporate these considerations into your marketing, you could increase the effectiveness of your efforts significantly. So, avoid that ‘send to all’ button and let your originality and drive shine through!

For further information about Click Dealer’s Key Marketing Reminders, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!

Click Dealer Shortlisted for National Digital Entrepreneur Awards 2018

Digital Entrepreneur Awards Finalist 2018

Click Dealer is proud to announce that we have been nominated for the Web Development Project of the Year Award for the Digital Entrepreneur Awards (DEAs) 2018.

Now in their 14th year, the DEAs celebrate digital innovation and entrepreneurship nationwide, recognising forward-thinking businesses, enigmatic leadership, impactful social media efforts and cutting-edge technologies.

The awards are for big and small businesses, with previous winners ranging from household names like Sainsbury’s and Mothercare, to niche companies like Click Media and Social Chain.

Click Dealer was created with a goal of disrupting the status quo of the automotive industry and developing new, better, digital solutions for dealerships. This has never ceased to be our driving force and to be recognised nationally for our digital entrepreneurship is amazing.

We have been nominated in the Web Development Project of the Year category, which was a very competitive group, so it is a great honour to have been shortlisted.

This year, the judging panel will include the following entrepreneurs: Heather Waters (enterprise manager at NatWest), Vikas Shah (CEO of Swiscot Group), Susie Ma (founder and CEO of Tropic Skincare), Naomi Timperley (co-founder of Tech North Advocates and chair of Capital Pilot), and Jon Woodall (founder & managing director of Space 48).

Also judging will be president of techUK and chair of the Digital Leaders Board, Jacqueline de Rojas, who serves on the government’s Digital Economy Council as well as being an advisor to 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.”

The Digital Entrepreneur Awards 2018 will be held at the Principle Hotel in Manchester on the 22nd of November.

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!

Revhead Ramblings: Car culture is Being Ruined by Social Media

I’m all for people enjoying their cars, from photographers to YouTube channels, there’s nothing better than people loving their cars like they should.

The issues come however, when people take it too far for a piece of content. Driving vlogs and stupid stunts on public roads mean all car enthusiasts are tarred with the same brush.

The Good Ol’ Days

How could you show off your gleaming new ride before the invention of social media? Car shows, and car clubs enabled likeminded individuals to come together to share admiration and knowledge on all things relating to cars, parts could be bought, and photos could be taken. This not only enhanced the owner’s feeling of pride for their car, it could also kickstart an obsession for a newbie!

Off-roading clubs helped people to share new skills and methods with the wider world, track days allowed people to expose their true speed demon. While all of these pursuits are vastly different, they’re all interconnected.

These do not however, have anything to do with Instagram stars posting their cars.

Instagram

A quick scroll through the discover page on Instagram and you’ll be met with a range of cars, from meticulously restored classics to widebody mustangs, there’s a great collection of cars.

However, you also can’t help but notice the videos of idiots racing on open streets, doing burnouts on bridges and crashing outside of car meets. These people represent a small minority of car enthusiasts, yet we’re all deemed responsible for their behaviour!

When Did it Start?

Have these people always been around? Or are the monetary benefits of these kinds of videos and actions turning people to this life? 2018 seems to have brought out a special breed of people who’ll do anything to become internet famous.

Burnouts and drifts are fun yes and people enjoy seeing them, however doing them on an open road surrounded by the general public is just selfish and pointless. Don’t ask why, just double tap to like seems to be the motto they live by.

My View

Ultimately, if it’s your car, you can do what you want with it. Individuality is a good thing and it breeds some incredible cars.

However, it’s always important to remember that you’re not just showing off your own car, you’re showing off our entire culture and if one person acts like an idiot, we’re all deemed to be the same. It only takes one unnecessary death, one bad decision, to change our cars forever…

5 SEO Mistakes Your Dealership Should Avoid

If your dealership has an SEO strategy or is in the process of developing one, there are a number of pitfalls to be aware of.

Being a good search engine marketer is not just about knowing what SEO tactics you should be using, but also being aware of the things you must avoid. Listed here are some of the most common SEO mistakes made which can harm the effectiveness of your campaign.

1.    Duplicate or Low-Quality Content

Content is such a vital part of an SEO strategy, but if you don’t get it right, it can be almost as bad as not having it at all.

If you are duplicating content internally across your site or externally from other sites, search engines are likely to disregard it and you’ll risk losing out on the authority you would have gained from the content in the first place.

Not only do you need to make sure that your website content is unique, but it must also be high quality. This means that it should be relevant, grammatically correct and optimised with keywords.

2.    Keyword Overload

While we heavily stress the importance of having a keyword strategy, there is such a thing as using too many keywords. Search engines have updated and refined their algorithms over time and have now cracked down on a tactic known as keyword stuffing.

This is exactly what it sounds like, injecting keywords throughout your site with the sole purpose of ranking higher in search engine results. This hinders readability and worsens user experience, which will not sit well with search engines. Most experts agree that there is no perfect keyword density, but that terms should be evenly distributed in a natural manner.

3.    Lack of Updates

There is a method of incorporating plenty of keywords in a natural way on your site which also offers a number of other SEO benefits. I am talking, of course, about blogs. Click Dealer has just released its new blog feature for websites, specifically designed to help car dealers improve their SEO.

When determining the ranking of web pages, search engines tend to give precedence to those which have been recently updated because they are likely to contain more relevant and accurate content. Blogs allow you to offer a regular stream of new, unique, keyword-rich content.

4.    Dodgy Backlinks

A big mistake that marketers make when attempting to optimise a website is neglecting to do a backlink clean-up first. Search engines weren’t previously as strict as they are today, in fact, in the past you would be able to acquire links from external sites to your own without having to worry whether or not the source itself was reputable and relevant.

This is no longer the case, and any bad links you have gained, whether you know about them or not, will tarnish your reputation and prevent your site from building authority. You must find and either eradicate or disavow any ‘dodgy’ backlinks and refrain from engaging in bad link-building practices which will lead to low-quality referrals in the future.

5.    Not Keeping Track

There is no point in dedicating a tonne of resources to create an excellent SEO strategy if you can’t see whether or not it is working. You need to clearly identify your KPIs, which may include

  • Increasing the volume of organic traffic to your site
  • Increasing the volume of traffic from specific geographic locations
  • Increasing search engine ranking for certain terms

Your journey to achieving these goals can be tracked through platforms like Google Analytics and we recommend conducting a monthly analysis to ensure you are heading in the right direction, and so you are able to spot areas for improvement.

For more advice about automotive SEO, 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!

Click Dealer Ltd Named High Growth Business of the Year for West Midlands!

Click Dealer Ltd, has been crowned one of the winners in the national High Growth Business of the Year heats of the Chamber Business Awards 2018.

Now in their 15th year, the awards are a highlight of the business calendar, recognising the key role that local businesses play in driving the UK economy.

As High Growth Business of the Year Award winners, Click Dealer Ltd, will now go forward to represent the West Midlands in the national finals, which take place in London in November.

Winner LogoClick Dealer’s Managing Director, Gerry Moxham, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled and honoured to have been named High Growth Business of the Year 2018 for the West Midlands region.

“This family business began in my front room and we never dreamt that we’d go on to have almost 100 employees and ever expanding office facilities in Stoke-on-Trent.

“The award is testament to the support we’ve received over the years from our 1300 plus dealership performance partners and the incredibly hard work of our Clickers, it wouldn’t have been possible without all of them.”

Click Dealer, Managing Director, Gerry Moxham.

The 2018 Chamber Business Awards culminate in a Gala Dinner that takes place on Thursday 29th November 2018 at Tobacco Dock in London.

The awards are proudly supported by Facebook, Bibby Financial Services, DHL Express, Heathrow, London Stock Exchange, Legal & General, RADA in Business, Stagecoach, Qdos and Westfield Health.

Francis Martin, President of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said: “Businesses are the engines of the UK economy – creating opportunities and prosperity in our towns, cities and counties. Even in these turbulent times, they continue to show their adaptability, resilience and strength.

“Every year our judges are impressed by the calibre of entries, and this year was no different. All our finalists should be proud to reach this stage given the stiff competition among our diverse and enterprising pool of applicants.

“The Chamber Business Awards are the perfect opportunity for us to celebrate our business communities’ achievements, to take stock of the great performances of UK businesses over the past year, and to encourage and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.”

The full list of categories this year:

  • Small Business of the Year 

  • Export Business of the Year 

  • Best Use of Technology Award 

  • Employer of the Year 

  • Workplace Wellbeing Award 

  • Customer Commitment Award 

  • Digital Communications Campaign of the Year 

  • Education and Business Partnership 

  • High Growth Business of the Year 


    For more information about how Click Dealer can help your dealership to improve its performance, get in touch today via [email protected], 01782 478220 or via our contact page.

Meet the Clickers – Shane Beeston

For Episode 43 of Meet the Clickers, we’re joined by angry man Shane!

From hating bananas to late night car park walks, he fills us in on it all!

Could you tell us a bit about your Click journey so far? How did you end up here?

I was first brought in to help move the websites to the latest platform. At the same time there was an increase in web changes, so I took the lead on this and started to manage these. As Click grew so did the change requests. While doing this, I was still studying Web Development at University and when I finished Ollie offered me a full-time job and I haven’t looked back since.

I then worked in the Web Changes team for about eight months when Ollie spotted I would be better suited within the Tech department at Click, which was more suited towards my degree, so I was happy. But my journey didn’t stop there. When I first started in Tech I was just doing back-end maintenance tasks, this then lead me to work on a bigger project which is now the new SEO platform and the new blog feature on the websites.

I’m now web lead and organise the web projects, also offering advice and guidance to newer members of the Tech team.

Could you tell us all what your job is at Click?

My current role is Web Lead in the Tech Department. This involves the planning of new features, helping build them and also testing and rolling them out to dealers. I also still have involvement on the maintenance of the websites, and not a single line of code gets pushed to the source code without my approval.

Because of my background at Click I have a lot of involvement with other teams, so I also help out where I can and try to push new technologies forward.

If you could create one law, what would it be?

This is a tricky one, but if I had to create one it would be that everyone has to visit Australia at least once in their lives. I’ve been out twice and plan to go again early next year. It’s an awesome country, everyone is friendly and of course the weather is lovely too!

It does look great there, definitely on the bucket list! Why do you hate bananas?

They’re wrong on so many different levels! The texture, taste, the way they feel. Everything about them makes me heave! I like the banana sweets though!

What’s worth paying more for to get the best?

Computers! No question, I love Macs and it’s worth paying extra for the top of the range model!

I’m not sure Jamie Colclough will agree with you on that one! Have you returned to Subway yet?

No. They remembered my order, I know a turkey, ham and cheese flatbread isn’t too complicated but it’s the principle!

Turkey, ham and cheese on a flatbread. That’s awful…

Honestly, just try it and you’ll be converted!

I’ll stick to my meatballs for now thanks… If you could go back in time to witness any event, what would it be?

It’d probably be something football related, this year was nice, but who wouldn’t want to go back to ’66?

Funny, Ben Wood said something about watching the Ginger Messi’s equaliser one more time… How did you get the nickname ‘Chicken Man’?

Well, after the Subway incident, I needed somewhere else to go for lunch. People used to rave about the chicken goujon wraps from Wrights, so I thought I’d give it a go.

I’m not a salad or sauce fan so I literally just had a wrap with chicken. They found this quite funny and gave me the nickname Chicken Man!

Can you explain the car park incident?

We came back from a night out, I was slightly drunk and tried to walk to the taxi rank, it turns out I’d walked into the car park instead. I only knew my way around there in my car, so I had to walk around it like I was driving…

Edit- After speaking to some of my colleagues who were out with Shane on the night in question, it seems the alcohol may have had more of an affect on his memory than he thought… Here’s the true story as told by Jake Mallin! “It all started with Shane and his Hulk hands smashing his glass on the table. The shock that ensued also spilt Megan’s drink too.

After replacing them, Shane decided it was time to head home. Obviously, we don’t know exactly what happened when he left us, all we have are messages from Shane the next morning informing us that he was rudely woken up by a gentleman in the car park next to the pub! It turns out he’d fallen asleep amongst the parked cars! All he could remember was the taxi charged £25 to get back to Biddulph!”

Thanks for clearing that one up Jake! What do you love most about working at Click?

Everyone says the people, so I’ll try and be different! The opportunities offered here are great, there’s so much progression available and they want you to do well. Click are always sending people on training courses and bringing experts in to teach us new stuff.

Click Academy is huge too, I can go home and learn a completely new programming language, there aren’t many places that give you that freedom!

That’s a great point mate! It seems like no one is ever in a role for more than a few months before they move again!