“I think as long as you can offer customers value for money, the peace of mind that various products give, and it's priced in a fair and transparent way then there is an opportunity to make more out of the insurance products and that will have a positive impact on margin,” explained Lookers’ Chief Operating Officer, Duncan McPhee, when exploring the additional ways that retailers can increase business performance via additional products and services.
McPhee was talking at the Auto Retail Network September briefing and made the point that although the industry is generally good at selling finance and insurance products, there is no doubt that the best performers in this area will reap the rewards.
Another panellist, Steve Bridge, Managing Director at eStarTruck and Van, homed in on another area of potential weakness that could be targeted in the important order to delivery stage of the car buying journey to bolster dealer performance.
“Education, education, education. Clearly electric vehicles are not going to go away, in the car world there are tax benefits and in the commercial world though less so. It’s our responsibility to teach and be consultative in our approach so that we don’t mis-sell something but also teach drivers all the things that they need to understand.”
Interestingly, both the upsell of additional products and the all-important education of car tech are both vital areas that can be targeted in the lucrative order to delivery stage of the car-buying journey.
This period of time seen by many as a mere waiting room, can actually be leveraged to tackle both the issues that the Lookers COO and eStar Truck and Van Managing Director highlight as important business areas in retail automotive.
AutoBuzz data has proven that those retailers that utilise the powerful automated communication platform and give customers the AutoBuzz ‘experience’ while they wait for their new or used car to arrive, can capitalise on the buyer’s enthusiasm and excitement of the purchase.
From an upsell perspective, data has shown the 20% of active customers between order and delivery add more products and services to their order, from accessories and paint protection to service plans and insurance.
“I think there is an opportunity from a finance perspective where we can increase finance penetration as margins are under pressure,” Lookers’ McPhee added.
And, further data insights show that some of the most engaged sections of the personalised websites that AutoBuzz create for each buyer, dedicated to their order and handover, called a WelcomeHub, are around in-car technology. There is clearly an appetite for additional information on the vehicle, and as Bridge suggested, educating customers around electric vehicles for instance, is hugely important.
Want to learn more about your customers in the Order to Delivery part of the car-buying journey? It’s full of possibility but until you begin to shine a light on it you’ll never truly understand what it can deliver.
Get in touch today to arrange a quick demo or set up a small, light-touch pilot so you can see exactly how AutoBuzz delivers during Order to Delivery.
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