With 51% of all car dealer website hits happening between the hours of 7pm and 10pm, the question has been raised “should dealers be moving away from the traditional 9 til 5 opening hours and embracing new technology to enable them to service these evening browsers?”
Research carried out by GForces, reveals that despite the fact more than half of all hits to dealer websites take place ‘out of hours’, just 3% of the UK’s top dealers have any facilities to handle the enquiries.  The majority of dealers have no way of providing an instant service to any queries that may come in from potential clients after 5pm.
Product and service providers in this day and age have many ways of dealing with customers and sales enquiries, and at any time of day or night it would seem.  It is now possible to have live web chats with customers around the clock, all in the name of instant and immediate service. According to this research, most car dealers do not appear to have embraced such technologies, and as a result are potentially missing crucial leads. Although some more internet-savvy dealers have been testing the waters with this type of service in a bid to boost profits.  When Peter Vardy launched the service, the sales staff were starting each day with 15 qualified sales enquiries… not a bad way
to begin the day!
“We live in a 24/7 age. These days you can log on to most supermarket websites and enquire about products and potential orders very late at night. By contrast, car dealers still have a 9-to-5 mindset and they’re missing out as a result. Dealers are failing to manage high volumes of potential sales opportunities because they are ill-equipped to handle even the most basic enquiries outside standard opening hours.” Explains Tim Smith, GForces Commercial Director. Smith also felt that not only were dealers missing out on volume of leads, but also on
quality leads, believing that the conversion rate for those customers browsing later at night is better than that of daytime consumers. He goes on to explain “Many consumers with hectic work lives and higher disposable incomes do not have time to enquire about possible vehicle purchases during their working day. Dealers need to manage these high-value sales prospects more effectively”.

And it would appear that Smith knows what he is talking about. GForces have actually launched a live web chat facility on their own website, meaning their consumers are serviced at any time of the day. Smith concludes “It’s vital that dealers create an effective, well-designed website to entice customers, but too many leave the management of the resulting hard-won sales enquiries to chance. By providing a speedy, responsive lead management service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, dealers will be doing everything in their power to ensure that no opportunity slips through the net”.
Think Insurance, the specialist motor trade insurance provider urge all motor traders to take heed of this advice.  Embracing new technologies could make all the difference to the success of your business.

Diesel cars and their supposed ‘green’ credentials are under scrutiny this week, as some councils take the decision to increase parking permits for diesel driving residents, in major cities.  This comes following mounting concerns over the effect these cars are having on air quality.

Diesel vehicles had always been considered to be more environmentally friendly, on account of their lower carbon emissions. In some cases they can emit up to 20% less than a petrol car. It is without doubt that they are more fuel efficient, and in most cases will fall in a lower tax band due to their lower CO2 emission levels. As a result these vehicles are actually becoming more popular, with diesel accounting for 1 in 4 cars on the road and 4 in 10 new cars. However, research for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, reveals that a diesel vehicle emits “too many small polluting particles, which damage local air quality, a particular problem in residential areas with heavy traffic”.  As a result, the Government is being called upon to encourage ‘small, modern petrol vehicles, petrol hybrids and electric vehicles in urban areas in place of diesel vehicles’.

This is bad news for many diesel drivers, who are now faced with paying more than £150 a year to park outside their own home.  Combined with the fact diesel already costs up to 7p a litre more than unleaded petrol, the news will undoubtedly cause a stir.  Motoring groups are said to be angered by the move, but it is expected that environmentalists will be applauding the decision. The campaign group, Environmental Protection UK, is pushing for local authorities to encourage their residents to choose petrol over diesel, and agree this can be
achieved through measures such as increased parking charges for diesel vehicles.

Kensington and Chelsea council will be imposing the £15 surcharge on parking permits from next month, and it is thought that councils in other urban areas are likely to follow.  A spokesman for Kensington and Chelsea council said: “Historically, diesels, while better on CO2 emissions, have tended to be rather worse than petrol engines of similar size in relation to local air pollutants such as particulates and nitrogen dioxide. In Kensington and Chelsea there is a problem with local air quality.”

The AA’s president, Edmund King, said: “Punishing someone for owning a diesel car that produces up to 20 per cent less CO2 than the petrol version is ludicrous. Councils are plundering residents’ parking for money to balance their budgets.”

This article was brought to you by Think Insurance, the specialist motor trader insurance provider.