“The order bank is starting to shrink, and we have lived off that for two years so we are now getting back to a real world scenario,” explained Perrys’ Managing Director, Darren Ardron, when explaining the state of the retail automotive industry on the latest Auto Retail Network Business Briefing webinar.
The impact of this “scenario”, as Ardron says, is that selling vehicles has become harder and more complex than it has been in recent times and sales teams that excel, are patient and strategic, will be the difference.
Two factors are seemingly driving this need for stronger sales processes and strategies, firstly customers are far more hesitant and cautious today which means leads and test drives do not necessarily convert in to deals.
Secondly, sales teams have been benefiting from the surplus demand for too long and now need to revisit some of their sales tactics of old, if they are to deliver the same results.
Converting leads is harder
“Leads aren’t down generally but it is harder work to convert them. When we came back after Covid it was almost easy to sell everything but now we need to work at it again. For me we have to re-focus on the art of selling again some of our people need to be patient,” explained the Perrys Managing Director.
This view on the market from a successful and established group like Perrys is shared across the board, so in a time when leads are harder to convert, shouldn’t businesses be more determined and diligent when it comes to increasing the value of each customer?
Moreover, shouldn’t these same businesses be even more heightened and alert to cancelled orders owing to the fact that there might not be the same queue of customers waiting in the wings?
Two of the key areas that our order to delivery software, AutoBuzz, adds value to automotive retailers is:
Increasing the value of an order by presenting the profitable products and services at the right time while the customer waits for their newly ordered vehicle to arrive
Reducing cancelled orders by automating personalised and engaging communication to customers post-order, pre-handover
The retail space will change from time to time, demand will grow and then slide, but there will always be a need to keep customers informed and engaged throughout the buying process. The award-winning AutoBuzz technology seamlessly integrates with CRM and manages customers from point of order to handover.
Order to delivery is so often over-looked, but for those businesses that find themselves faced with the same challenges that Perrys’ Ardron clearly articulates, it could be the one section of the buying journey that is capable of dramatically changing performance for the better.
AutoBuzz automates communication to each and every customer, keeps them excited about the prospect of a new vehicle and drives up revenue by presenting profitable products and services at the right time while the customer waits.
Get in touch today to arrange a demo and find out how it would work for your automotive retail business.
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