A new phenomenon has swept across the motor trade in the past few years - the ability to sell used cars over the phone or by email by using the dealer website.
Dealer Principals, Sales Managers and Sales Executives will proudly tell us stories and share anecdotes about customers who have travelled hundreds of miles to buy one of their used cars.
This might only be a small percentage of the cars they sell per month, but they are the ones they remember and often the cars sold are ones that are perhaps not suited to the local market or a car they needed to move. So they're really pleased.
It's rare for them to think
"I get all these visitors to my website from all over the country, so could I be selling even more?"
As we all know the basis of any transaction for something that is a used or secondhand item is
TRUST. Essentially a new car is pretty much the same wherever you buy it from. For someone to travel a long distance or even place a deposit for a used car is a huge leap of faith. They need to know as much as possible about the product, but most importantly feel confident that the vendor is going to keep his/her word.
As an industry we expect buyers to base a decision upon what is often just a front view, rear view and a shot through the passenger door which then shows a bit of the dashboard and one-and-a-half seats? Some will, but most people won't, so these are the ones that don't even enquire and you'll never know about
- these are your opportunity. However what we all remember are the ones who did.
The key is to gain an enquiry and through your sales teams undoubted professionalism they can do the rest from there...
So you need to give more reasons for your website visitor to make that next step.
There is money to be made from increasing your visitor:enquiry ratio. In other words making more of those wary visitors pick up the phone or send an email enquiry.
motortradesolutions.net have tools and services to help you be more successful at internet retailing and increasing your enquiry ratio.
It starts with the product presentation. We have a video presentation service for new or used cars. We take the car and produce a mini-movie about it. This highlights the condition, any special features or options, the interior fitments, close up shot of the wheels, the sound of the engine, the list goes on. The service includes full video editing, music and loading up to your website. Best of all it does not tie-up your sales staff by taking them out of the showroom, this allows them to get on with dealing with showroom and telephone enquiries.
The cost of this is not as high as you would think. Most use this service to highlight high-end or unique models for which the small extra investment is covered by the increased profit.
Showroom video presentations giving a guided tour of the showroom or workshop adds to building the confidence for the internet visitor who is deciding if yours is a dealer he/she wants to do business with. This is also something that the team at motortradesolutions.net can provide.
And finally after spending all this money on your website or online marketing are you certain that every member of your sales team is painting a picture with his/her voice when that all important enquiry is received. The nervous buyer will run a mile if the enquiry is not handled properly or confidently.
In fact if you run or have run a sales department you will no doubt have sales executives that do very well with internet enquiries and those that struggle. There's a reason for that. Those that struggle are botching the enquiry and you need to do something about it.
You can spot the ones who are struggling with internet enquiries because they tell you that the customer was "too demanding" or "made a ridiculous offer" or the most common one "they're not returning my calls" which means that the enquirer did not like what they heard and has backed-off.
Members of the team at motortradesolutions.net have run and operated internet sales operations and know that there is a big difference in how you handle an online enquiry - if you want to be successful.
There's a link below to show some examples of used car video presentations that we currently provide, but as always with us this is not a one-size-fits-all approach, so talk to us. We work with you as an outsourced marketing partners and are dedicated to helping you succeed.
Call us today on
0845 658 6880 or
follow this link to complete an enquiry form and let us help you make an impact on your business.
Labels: dealer website, internet retailing, motortradesolutions.net, online enquiry, used cars, video presentation, Vines BMW
