Concerns About Online Vehicle Selling Put to Rest

Lately, Click Dealer has been making a lot of noise about our new online retailing software, ClickEngage™ and while many dealers have welcomed it with open arms, others still have concerns about selling online and are unsure whether this product will work for their dealership. We want to try and put these concerns to rest.

ClickEngage™ is our latest innovation, developed to help car dealers deliver a more convenient experience for their customers. It allows dealers’ customers to choose their vehicle on the website, add a part-exchange and receive an instant valuation, apply for finance and get quick quotes, select add-on products and pay a reservation fee entirely online.

What’s the point?

Online vehicle retailing offers a host of benefits. For example, ClickEngage™

• Runs 24/7, so you can manage leads even when you are closed.
• Captures consumer data so that there is less chance of leads being lost.
• Creates deals for you, so you have time to focus on other things.
• Offers your consumers convenience and transparency, which are key selling points.

I’m all for transparency, but does the customer need to see everything?

Openness and honesty are important to customers nowadays, especially for used car buyers, but by allowing the customers to not only see what’s going on, but actually take charge of their own deal you may feel like you are relinquishing all control.

With ClickEngage™, part-exchange quotes are based on Cap HPI valuations, but you can set your own parameters, deciding whether you would like the quote to be displayed to the customer as below or above the average valuation by percentage. So, while the customer can see their deal, you are still in control.

I’m worried I won’t be able to hold onto my customers online

We have designed ClickEngage™ to help dealers not only to generate leads, but also to convert them. When customers are directed to the ClickEngage™ platform, they will be required to fill in a few personal details and they will be able to opt in for marketing.

Finance quotes will come straight from your finance partners and if a customer is not accepted, you will be notified, so that you can get in touch and try to arrange an alternative solution.

I have always done business this way and I don’t want to change now

Whether we like it or not, automotive retail is changing. Just as so many other industries are, the vehicle trade is becoming digitalised. According to a report released by Cox Automotive earlier this year, 83 per cent of car buyers want to do some of their purchase process online, and over half of these people want to be able to structure their deal away from the dealership.

The key to success with any business is to be attuned with your customers. You can choose to ignore their desires and expectations, or you can choose to adapt to them and thrive in the new commercial environment.

My competitors are not selling online so I don’t need to worry

Do you want to be a follower or a leader? Don’t wait for your competitors to start stealing your leads, seize the opportunity for yourself!

I don’t get enough traffic to my website for online retailing software to be relevant to my dealership

There are ways to change this. Search Engine Marketing and online retailing go hand in hand, and while it is certainly an investment, the two together are a winning combination for lead generation. You may be content with the number of walk-ins your dealership gets, but just think about how much your dealership could develop using these contemporary strategies.

I just don’t think it would work for my dealership

We don’t claim that ClickEngage™ is a miracle product that is right for everyone, but we track the amount of reservations dealers receive through our software and the statistics show that it has had extremely high rates of success for the majority of dealers.

ClickEngage™ is available as a monthly subscription, so there is no harm in trialling it for a couple of months, and if you are not seeing the results you wanted, you don’t have to stick with it, but with its potential for lead generation, surely, it’s worth a shot!

For more information or to book a free demo of ClickEngage™, get in touch with Click Dealer today via marketing@clickdealer.co.uk  or  01782 454354. Alternatively, you can send us a message through our contact page.