Are you ready to run your business remotely?
Closing your showroom doesn’t need to mean closing your business. With ALL forecourts and showrooms closed it means your digital channels and online shop window are now more critical than ever before.
If you’re still able to manage your business remotely, its imperative that your online showroom is fit for purpose so that you can continually build your sales pipeline, ready for the ‘new normal’ whatever that may look like.
So, here’s a selection of some of the practical things I think retailers can be doing now to help build that sales pipeline:
First, HOW are you building your sales pipeline
People are still looking at vehicles for sale. Yesterday over 9,000 leads were delivered to retailers. Capture this interest, maintain communication with them and harvest these enquiries when the government advises it is safe to reopen your forecourts.
Sales pipeline checklist:
Are your customers able to click and reserve online?
Are you able to take deposits online?
When people purchase brand new cars, they’re often prepared to wait anything up to 6 months after they’ve paid a deposit for the car to be delivered. They may do the same if they find the right used car for them, at the right price, from the right retailer.
Optimising your adverts
Now is the perfect time to be critical of your adverts. Look at them from a buyer’s perspective. Compare your adverts to other similar vehicles and ask yourself “would I click on my adverts ahead of my competitors if I were a buyer?”
Adverts checklist:
If safe to do so, re-photograph and capture a video of your vehicles.
If it’s not safe to re-photograph your vehicles, why not experiment with adding different types of images to your adverts. Try including graphics that promote your services, reviews, company profile, marketing messages and why shoppers should choose you.
Again, if it’s not safe to video your vehicles, why not record a short video message from yourself, telling your customers about your high standards, vehicle preparation, your people, your business values and what makes you stand out. It doesn’t have to be Hollywood quality. People respond better to genuine, authentic content.
Update your advert descriptions and Attention Grabbers.
Evolving trends through Live Chat and Text
We’ve analysed several hundred chat transcripts after the UK-wide lockdown was announced and around 75% of those conversations relate to shoppers putting down deposits to reserve vehicles and making finance applications ready for future collection, once government guidelines dictate its safe to do so. Shoppers are evidently still showing interest but are asking you the retailer to help answer their questions around next steps in their buying journey.
Live Chat and Text checklist:
Have you got your Live Chat and Text functions enabled on Auto Trader?
Do you have it monitored even outside of office hours? If not, consider enabling Chat assist.
Do you need to update your Live Chat script for the provider?
Re-evaluate the importance of email leads
Historically retailers haven’t valued emails as the best quality enquiries. Now, more than ever, retailers need to re-evaluate how they view these leads. They’ve suddenly become much more important for shoppers due to the inability to just walk-in or to book an appointment. Best practice rules still apply: speed and quality of your response is crucial in securing your sales pipeline. In a poll we conducted that was answered by over 500 retailers, email was the enquiry type they most valued.
Do a review of your customer reviews
People are sat at home, many with spare time on their hands. Consider sending a request to review to any of your recent customers. And also make sure you’ve responded to all of your reviews already collected. Its worth checking our reviews best practice guide here.
What’s your stance on delivering vehicles?
As I write this, there appears to be no clear guidance from government. However, several retailers who operate home delivery services have now suspended their service due to safety fears and a backlash from consumers and peer groups. I’ve seen several stories of people delivering vehicles on trade plates being stopped and turned around by the police. Is it something that you really want to be doing in this climate? My advice, for what it’s worth, when people are being told to only leave their house once a day for groceries and medicine, no matter what precautions you think you’ve put in place to mitigate the spread and contraction of Coronavirus, now is not the time to be promoting home delivery. The safety and wellbeing of you, your staff and customers should be the only concern. But do take this time to take a step back and think could home delivery now become more essential in the very near future.
How are you communicating with your customers, staff and suppliers?
Whilst now is definitely not the time for a hard sell, its important to communicate with customers, whether that’s through your website, social channels, email etc. Why not record a short personal message from yourself, wishing your customers well during these challenging times. Don’t use this as a sales message, as now is not the time for selling. But as many commentators have said: when this is all over people will remember those that reached out, offered help or advice or those that even just said hello when a lot of people may feel isolated or lonely.
Contact checklist:
Is your Auto Trader Calls facility directing to the right phone number?
Do you need to redirect from a landline to a mobile number?
Be sure to keep posting on your social networks.
Remain in contact with your staff and customers across whichever channels work best.
Update your business hours and preferred methods of contact.
Communicate with your suppliers, funders, landlords etc. to explain the your situation and see what support they’re able to provide.
My final thoughts for now…
Above all, and I mean this sincerely: stay safe. Don’t do anything that might otherwise go against the government’s advice around your own safety and that of your people and customers. Having just watched Robert Forrester from Vertu on the ARN webinar I thought I’d leave you with the brilliant words he signed off on – “Let’s remember - We’re not sat at the bottom of a wet trench, fighting an enemy, we’re sat at home eating meals with our families watching Netflix”
Watch my short video here for more practical tips that you can be doing digitally to build your sales pipeline: https://bit.ly/2JxaB2w