The Importance of Trust…
If anything the online purchasing experience needs to work harder than anywhere else to generate trust and confidence in the consumer. Particularly when it comes to high ticket items like cars…
A recent study by trading standards in January in Warwickshire estimated that 27% of used cars available for sale were unroadworthy.
However, that is nothing compared to a Hertfordshire report in June… five in eight used cars sold were unsafe.
And, yet, these were cars available on traders’ forecourts. Not online, but in a place where it was expected that they would have been properly checked.
So, What do we Think is Driving This?
On reflection, there are two elements we believe drive this:
- Traders see low priced used cars as unworthy of proper scrutiny because there’s not much margin in them - so they take cars on spec and hope to shift them with minimum effort
- The squeeze on the consumers’ pocket is also affecting what a car can be priced at, lowering margins and again taking profit out of the car
What’s the Solution?
It is our view that the benefits of buying Approved Used Cars as opposed to purchasing from Traders is the only way in which a customer can have confidence in their purchase - both in terms of the way in which the car has been checked and prepared as well as the backup of the manufacturer when things go wrong.
Sure they cost a little more, but they’ll last far beyond the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and so on car bought privately or through traders. Trust and quality go hand in hand!
Sphere: Related ContentBrand Loyalty vs. The Credit Crunch
Although the internet car buying experience is still in its’ infancy, there are some trends that we found useful to share with you - some anecdotal, and some measurable.
The Right Experience
The internet car buyer is no different to any other online customer. They expect a professional, secure, smooth transaction and some kind of incentive for taking this route to purchase. Brands who recognise this end up not only benefiting from passing on the increased efficiency of the internet, but also end up with very satisfied customers - CarQuake’s CSI ratings are far higher for our dealers than through any other source of business.
The Real Deal
Online customers also expect a proper offer and therefore ‘deal’ for their enquiry. After all, they are not choosing to take the high ticket and overhead route… they just want a decent price and not to be messed around. All other consumer products have better offers online than on the high street - why should cars be different?
So, Where Does Brand Loyalty Fit?
Recent research shows there isn’t much loyalty and, if anything, it’s decreasing. All the more rapidly in times where personal spending is much more carefully considered. We can see from our site measures that customers coming in on one brand may end up enquiring on a completely different one.
We note that the brands where deals are there to be had online seem to be the same ones who are doing well in uncertain times. We also note that those encouraging customers to continue using the dealer network are also benefiting from high satisfaction.
We can also receive emails from customers that provide supporting evidence for all we’ve covered. For example…
“I couldn’t get a deal on a MakeX car, so I went for a MakeY… I liked the sliding door, loads of gadgets, much more space. The dealer offered interest free finance too.”
“What an amazing site. I was contacted by a MakeZ dealer and confirmed purchase today. Less than 48 hours after submitting my request. Many many thanks” (this arrived as I was writing this post).
The customers speak for themselves… we need to continue to be ready to respond to their needs.
Sphere: Related ContentNew Car Sales… Something’s Got to Give
It’s no surprise that we watch the new car marketplace carefully, and given this, that we are always interested in the gap between what is reported and what is actually the case.
New cars sales seem, on the face of it, to be rising… tell the franchised dealers the great news… or perhaps they know something that we don’t? Word on the street is that there are a lot of dealers out there with stock of new cars, having bitten the bullet for Q1 and wondering how they can achieve decent NEW business in Q2. After all every pre-reg takes a new buyer out of the marketplace.
Yes, the Pre-Registration issue raises it’s ugly head. Put simply, this is deliberate devaluation of beautiful new cars… register them to make them ‘not new’ even if they haven’t been driven. Curious strategy? Only in the motor trade… where the production lines churn out more cars out than there are buyers for them.
Sphere: Related ContentWhich? MotorTrader? Who?
It’s what we’ve been saying for a long time, and something that dealers using CarQuake know already… Customers SAVE MONEY buying online AND they prefer doing so too.
Motor Trader on the recent Which? Report
Customers save, on average 11% more… They also save their time (and patience) by shopping online for new cars… and Dealers come out poorly. In the most part, they are forced to tow the corporate line, and then they get slammed on customer satisfaction for trying to ‘do the job’ (i.e. not discounting cars).
Sphere: Related ContentHelp Needed… But Only for Dealers Who Want More Business
+++ STOP PRESS +++ STOP PRESS +++ STOP PRESS +++ STOP PRESS +++
It’s as if someone just flicked a switch… and the lights came on! January has already started off with a real explosion of activity at CarQuake.
Someone tell our visitors that the market is wobbly! We need help as we’re still looking for dealers to take advantage of the sheer volume of business we generate… so pass the message round - or just contact us.
Sphere: Related ContentNew <-> Nearly New <-> Used Car Marketing
CALLING ALL FRANCHISED CAR DEALERS
If you want us to help you manage the end-to-end marketing of your cars online, then contact us today. Soon, we will have services for more than just new factory orders… we’ll be able to also help you sell:
- New ‘on the way’ ordered cars
- Physical new cars
- Nearly new cars
- Approved used cars
There are some exciting developments we just can’t publish yet, but if you contact us, then we will definitely keep you posted on our developments.
Sphere: Related ContentCall Trackr - The All-in-One Phone Solution
Sometimes when you have an idea and you have a really good hunt around, and find nothing suitable, you just have to go and do it yourself. Which is what we did with Call Trackr.
We wanted a manageable online phone system where we could buy phone numbers, route them to whatever numbers we wished, record calls if and where necessary and, most importantly, use different numbers for different campaigns AND get realtime reporting of the calls.
So, we did want any determined business would do… we just went and built the thing with our telecoms partner. Thus Call Trackr was born! You can read a little more about it on the site, or contact us if you want to find out how it could work for your business. After all, if you really want to know if a particular campaign worked for you… the only way to be sure is to use Call Trackr?
It really is a neat piece of kit.
Sphere: Related ContentWell… Only In America…
An amusing ’stateside’ car story…
Sphere: Related Content
All Set for September?
If you’re a franchised dealer and you’re wondering how you can make an immediate impact to your bottom line, then look no further than CarQuake. Business is already picking up in expectation of the new registration…
… get in touch with us here, or through the CarQuake website, and we’ll make sure that you’ve get a strong finish to Quarter 3!
Sphere: Related ContentIt’s a Question of Efficiency…
Whilst we have been developing our business, we have worked hard to get dealers covering all online franchises. We have had an ongoing situation where about 2/3rd of dealers get good performance out of their enquiries, whereas the other 1/3rd seem unimpressed.
Until recently we could only speculate as to why, however now having more than one dealer on the same franchise, we’re confident that we know the answer: simply, it’s to do with the efficiency and professionalism of the dealer in managing the leads.
Observation 1: Customers of performing dealers send unprompted ‘praise’ emails
Observation 2: Customers of underperforming dealers email/call us to chase enquiries
Observation 3: Dealers with distance selling experience are more successful
To this end we have developed a service that helps dealers boost their ability to generate sales: we audit dealers to identify shortfalls in service quality, and then provide key advice and strategies for them to develop their online marketplace.
In our experience, it’s all about value and delivery. If the dealer knows the offer is good, then it is still up to them to convince the customer that they’re the right supplier.
Sphere: Related Contentkeep looking »
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