Steve Taylor's Blog

All dealers know that the the bigger the forecourt and the more stock on show the more chance a sale will be made.  With the internet now being an everyday tool for the consumer to research their purchase before they buy most dealers have embraced the web with their very own website.  The problem lies with the brand.  The big portals and magazines/newspapers have great marketing budgets and have become the first point of call for most users.  The question is: What’s the best way to accommodate the plethora of portals, all using their own schemas and their different delivery channels?  This also becomes more difficult across multiple dealers and dealer groups.

The portal sites vary on their business model also.  Some based on a per vehicle basis and some on a per lead basis.

The main portal that almost everyone advertises with is Auto Trader.  Auto Trader works on a cost per vehicle advertised per week.  At the time of writing I believe this to be around the £4 mark, being discounted based on number of vehicles and manufacturer deals to as low as around £2.

netcars on the other hand charge on a per lead basis.  They provide the dealership with a free Non-Geographic Number (NGN), normally a local 0845 number.  This allows them to track the enquiries.  The price at the time of writing is £5 per lead.

Skupe.net on the other hand have a different variation to that of netcars.  By default there listings are free, but if you want to have a sponsored listing you appear at the top of the search results (like Google) and pay for the lead.  Depending on the lead you get, being a call (£10), email(£5) or click thru (£0.35).

Here are some of the main portals in the UK:

Suffice to say the portals above will give a varied amount of leads and quality of lead.  It’s up to the dealership to track the amount, and quality of lead coming from each portal to measure the Return on Investment (ROI).

For those of you that live in the UK and are attending this years Glass’s Event: Driving Business Opportunities for Profit and Growth in an Uncertain Market, then I’ll see you there. 

After the success of last years event: The Internet - Gaining the Competitive Advantage, Glass’s have again pulled together a host of key industry speakers that cover all areas of the automotive industry. 

Below is the preliminary list of delegates that will be attending this years event:

Recently I came across a set of videos on YouTube that were created by a team from Google and aimed to introduce Google and what it has to offer to dealers.  The videos are short and target dealers in the US, but the information would also be considered relevant in the UK.

The main problem with these videos is that they offer little or no useful information to the dealer and are really an attempt to sell their generic products and services by wrapping them up as automotive.

Google offers a great range of products and services, and if used correctly, they can dramatically increase your revenue.  One of my next posts I'll go more into detail on how Google can work for your business.

Here are the videos that have been released so far:

Selling Cars with Google 101: Search

Selling Cars with Google 102: Local Business Ads

Selling Cars with Google 103: Search + Display

Selling Cars with Google 104: Dealer Advertising Trends

Selling Cars with Google 105 - Google Analytics

Selling Cars with Google 107- Mobile Ads

For some reason number 106 hasn't been released yet.

Cars Online 07/08, Capgemini’s ninth annual automotive study, explores trends within the retail side of the automotive industry, focusing on consumer buying behaviour, environmental issues, web usage, lead management and customer loyalty. In total, nearly 2,600 consumers were surveyed in five countries: China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Download the report as a PDF.

Here are the key facts from the study:

• 20% of consumers said they were likely or very likely to buy a vehicle over the Internet, up 18% from 2001
• 8 out of 10 consumers  use the Internet when researching car purchases
• 29% of web users indicated they use C2C websites, such as forums, blogs or discussion groups when researching to buy a car up from 21% from last year
• 78% of users rely on search engines when researching car purchases
• 50% of consumers said they were planning or seriously thinking about buying a fuel efficient vehicle
• 34% of European and US consumers said they expect to receive a response to a web enquiry within four hours, up 4% from last year
• 50% of consumers will look for a new dealer and 25% will look for a new dealer and manufacturer if response isn’t fast enough – (Faster response times = greater conversion)
• About two-thirds of consumers said the receipt of a personalised post-sale communications from manufacturers or dealers would make them more likely to purchase another vehicle from the same company
• Effective web strategies will be vitally important, as the online landscape evolves rapidly with the emergence of powerful C2C tools like blogs, discussion forums, social networking sites and virtual worlds

More and more dealers are moving their businesses online with the ability for consumers to purchase directly over the Internet.  The Distance Selling Regulations in the UK came into force in 2000 and applies to all contracts for goods where there were no face to face contact.  So this would apply to cars, parts or other products.

The main point to note is that the consumer may cancel the contract and return the car up to 7 days after taking delivery and this could be extended up to 3 months if your dealer don't comply to the regulations.  The consumer doesn't have to give a reason why they are cancelling as long as the car has been kept good care of.

What you need to do to comply

Before the consumer places their order you should provide them clear details of:

• your dealership's name and address
• full spec of the car
• the full price of the car including all taxes and delivery costs
• methods of delivery and payments
• any other costs such as telephone calls etc.
• the period of which the price is valid for
• the consumers cancellation rights

It's also best to inform the customer that if they cancel the contract that they must return the vehicle to you and if he doesn't then you can charge them for collection.

This law does not apply to business customers.

The book is quite thin, 229 pages in total with lots of photographs and example slide designs so it didn't take long to read it, even if you only read about an hour a day like me.

The book is very well written and presented with well explained concepts.  The book takes you through the main areas of presenting: Preparation, Design and Delivery.

I felt that it would have been nice to see maybe a few examples on a more technical subject but besides that I felt the book was worth reading and will definitely utilise the techniques in future presentations.

Overview

Favourite Quote:  "If you feel tempted to use a picture of two hands shaking in front of a globe, put the pencil down, step away from the desk, and think about taking a vacation or investigating aromatherapy.
Pros: Concise, well presented
Cons: Lack of complex technical examples
Rating:  4/5
Verdict: Recommended if you do any type of presentations with Powerpoint or Keynote.

I've bought a new book today. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery(Amazon Link).

From time to time I find myself having to present a concept or idea to a group of people and every time I tend to reinvent the wheel when it comes to writing the presentation.  I've recently stumbled across this guy, Garr Reynolds, and his website  He is also on You Tube, check out the video below.  Anyway, I'll let you know how good the book is once I've read it.