REPORT Nick Gill, chairman of Capgemini’s automotive council
Hugh Dickerson, head of automotive, Google
Ian Plummer, head of sales operations, Volkswagen UK
Ali White, marketing and sales director, Calltracks Henry Williams, managing director, Williams Automobiles Marshall Manson, managing director, EAME Social@Ogilvy
Alex Kozloff, head of mobile, Internet Advertising Bureau
Jeremy Evans, managing director, Marketing Delivery
Luke Carter, head of search, Manheim Retail Services
Terry Hogan, managing director, Motoring.co.uk
Peter McCullough, managing director, RAC Cars
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Alistair Jeff, commercial director, CitNow
Richard Buxton, technology manager, Node4
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CLICK ON A SPEAKER TO GO TO THEIR REPORT
WELCOME Welcome to the AM Digital Dealer Conference Report. The pages of this digital magazine are packed with useful information and opinions from the expert speakers at last month’s conference. They explain ways franchised dealers can make their businesses more effective through better use of digital infrastructure, technology and strategy. With the right focus on digital aspects of the dealership,
franchised motor retailers can broaden their customer base and deliver a great experience, physically and digitally, that will encourage loyalty and repeat business. We hope it is of benefit to your business, both operationally and strategically. The AM editorial team @amchatter am@bauermedia.co.uk
CONTENTS Building stronger links with today’s car consumer Nick Gill, chairman of Capgemini’s automotive council The customer journey – clicks, bricks and people Ian Plummer, head of sales operations, Volkswagen UK The connected car and the connected consumer Hugh Dickerson, head of automotive, Google Vehicle retailing for the digital age Henry Williams, managing director, Williams Automobiles
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Maximising mobile Alex Kozloff, head of mobile, Internet Advertising Bureau
information together Luke Carter, head of search, Manheim Retail Services
Facebook Zero and the implications of social reach decline Marshall Manson, managing director, EAME Social@Ogilvy
How to get half-a-million social visits in one week Terry Hogan, managing director, Motoring.co.uk
Marketing ROI and a guide to the new Google Universal Ali White, marketing and sales director, Calltracks Putting the customer first Jeremy Evans, managing director, Marketing Delivery Digital Marketing: Bringing people and
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Convert web visitors into forecourt buyers Peter McCullough, managing director, RAC Cars Boost your bottom line with video Alistair Jeff, commercial director, CitNow Using technology to reduce costs and improve service Richard Buxton, technology manager, Node4
BUILDING STRONGER LINKS WITH TODAY’S CAR CONSUMER NEED TO KNOW n Car dealerships are still the most important source of information, and are trusted with consumer data n Number of people using manufacturer and dealer websites instead of going to a dealership is growing
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he automotive industry faces significant disruptive change, according to Capgemini’s latest research. Nick Gill, chairman of CapGemini’s Nick Gill, chairman automotive council, said that despite of Capgemini’s comments about looming transformation of automotive council the auto sector from global executives at Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, some of the vehicle manufacturers Capgemini deals with do not seem convinced that the industry is going to change radically. Reassuringly for dealers, Capgemini’s global research for its Cars Online report has shown that car dealerships are still the most important source of information, and consumers trust them with their data. However, there is huge growth in people using manufacturer and dealership websites and not going to a dealership. The role of the dealership is becoming less important than others. Some manufacturers are testing consumer desire. Daimler and BMW have mobility services that are now profitable and providing learning opportunities for those carmakers. Volvo recently announced its new XC90, with a limited First Edition model that global consumers could order exclusively online. While 24% of consumers would only take a test drive in a dealership, 76% would not necessarily use the dealership for a test drive. And 21% would only buy at a dealership, but 79% would consider other ways. “The people who say the dealership will always exist because it’s the only place you can do a test drive and touch and see a car, they’re wrong. “It has to be a more fulfilling, enticing experience than just those reasons,” Gill said. “We have to be thinking in a broader way about that innovative, compelling experience.” Globally, 44% of people are likely
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BUILDING STRONGER LINKS WITH TODAY’S CAR CONSUMER to buy a car online given the opportunity, although in the UK the proportion is 28%. Appetite is there for more regular communications through digital and traditional channels, said Gill. People expect better communication post-purchase and don’t understand why they only get communication once a year or when the warranty is almost up. Tesla’s Elon Musk plans to communicate regularly, with monthly software updates, car configurations, and is selling an idea of ‘change your car every month’. “I think we’ll look back in five years’ time and realise we were doing nothing with data,” he said. “We talk about all these amazing tools, but as an industry, we still don’t know if it’s somebody’s first or eighth car.”
THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY – CLICKS, BRICKS AND PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW n Volkswagen’s ‘blended retail’ approach merges physical, digital and people elements of sales process n Integrated sales experience journey contributed to a 40% rise in options and finance
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lended retailing is the title of a concept being used by Volkswagen UK in its dealer network that accepts the digitisation of the sales process, said Ian Ian Plummer, head Plummer, head of sales operations. It does of sales operations, not assume that face-to-face contact in the Volkswagen UK showroom or sales staff with encyclopaedic knowledge of the brand have become redundant, instead merging – or blending – clicks with bricks, with people. Plummer said VW and its dealers were acknowledging the non-linear way customers collected information, online, in brochures, through test drive, email and telephone enquiries or showroom visits. The lack of a link between physical and digital sites is illogical and problematic, he said. The tablet computer, as the new “digital showroom”, is a primary tool in this. It was also the first step in Volkswagen’s integrated sales experience journey. In two years, the process has improved car sales and contributed to a 40% rise in options and finance. “We still want customers to touch the car, but with added theatricality and potential benefit to the customer and dealer in the understanding of options available and the upsell opportunities.” Another key element is retention of customer preferences, earlier visits and incomplete sales processes. On ‘bricks’, Plummer said more than half of the 208-strong network had adopted the Volkswagen Retail Concept (VRC) corporate identity. On the third pillar of the blended retailing concept, people, he said: “A lot of customers will come to a showroom with a pretty clear view of the model they are keen on. “But it’s not totally refined. It is the assistance in a credible, honest, open, hopefully warm and maybe even humorous way from the sales person that is critical in terms of making sure that you have built a rapport which in turn provides value to the customer,” Plummer said.
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THE CONNECTED CAR AND THE CONNECTED CONSUMER NEED TO KNOW n One in five consumers choose a car brand they only discover in the research phase of their buying journey n Dealers and manufacturers need to design websites that aid the consumer’s decision-making process
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onsumers ‘have all the gear and no idea’, according to Hugh Dickerson, Google’s head of automotive, who said 79% of car-buyers need guidance, which Hugh Dickerson, gives dealers a huge opportunity to influence head of automotive, their eventual car-buying decisions. Google When that decision is finally made, 40% of buyers opt for a brand that had not been their original favourite. Consumers typically compile a list of four marques and 21% purchase a brand they discover while researching. “18-34-year-olds are already exhibiting behaviour that’s different to the norm,” said Dickerson. “They consider five brands, 55% do not buy their favourite and 23% purchase a brand they discovered in the research phase.” Dealers should take a leaf from Google’s book, said Dickerson. When creating the driverless car, Google opted to start afresh rather than build on something that already existed. Dealers and manufacturers should apply that thinking to their websites and design them to aid decision-making instead of forcing consumers to find information from third parties. Cookies should be used to track the car-buyer’s journey and tailor content. With 78% of people using video as part of their online search, it’s imperative, said Dickerson, that ‘hero’ content is utilised (see his AM column on ‘hero’ content at am-online.com/videotips), which should be supplemented by informative ‘hygiene content’. Consumers will research a dealership before visiting, but 63% will not make an appointment. Dickerson warned against dismissing these people as time wasters. On mobile devices, Dickerson said 39% of consumers will continue to research on their smartphone while on the forecourt and that figure is expected to grow.
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VEHICLE RETAILING FOR THE DIGITAL AGE
NEED TO KNOW n Williams Automobiles ditched mainstream franchises and opened countryside Morgan and Lotus showroom n A strong website and social media presence now act as ‘a digital showroom’
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hen Williams Automobiles repositioned itself as a British sports car specialist, it embraced the digital world as a means to Henry Williams, engage with enthusiasts, both in the UK managing director, and internationally. Williams Automobiles The business ditched its mainstream franchises and relaunched with a single dealership holding Lotus and Morgan franchises in a converted barn near Chipping Sodbury in the Cotswolds (read AM’s Face to Face profile with Williams Auto at am-online.com/williams). Under managing director Henry Williams and his father and company chairman, Richard, the business has become a destination for enthusiasts, despite being based in the countryside. A quarter of the business’s £6 million turnover is generated by international sales. “I learned that, without a high-profile site with passing traffic, the shop window had to be our website. The only way to find us was through digital means,” Williams said. Its website highlights the cars and services it provides, but doesn’t promote any deals. The business is active on owners’ forums such as Pistonheads and in social media, with 2,700 fans on Facebook. Activity such as email newsletters and posting regular pictures of work being done, such as performance upgrades and even the restoration of an MG, has led to customers enquiring about having similar work done on their own sports car. Williams also encourages customers to take photos of their own car to share on social channels, and hosts social gatherings and charitable events at the showroom. “Our customers do plenty of the advertising for us,” he said.
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“Our managed prospecting service allows our clients to plan up to 12 months in advance” Kieron Karue Managing Director Touchpoint
Kristian Cholmondeley, Dealer Marketing Manager at Citroën explains why: “This managed prospecting service ticks a lot of boxes. From Citroën’s point of view it ensures prospecting is undertaken on a regular basis, in appropriate volumes and using agreed creative. The dealers like it for the same reasons but with the bonus of removing the time and efort associated with getting mail and email campaigns out.”
MAXIMISING MOBILE
NEED TO KNOW n UK smartphone penetration has reached 76% from just 25% in 2010 n Smartphone web pages need to be easy to use and navigate due to small screen
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f a website doesn’t work on mobile, it doesn’t work,” Alex Kozloff told delegates at the AM Digital Dealer Conference. The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) head of Alex Kozloff, head of mobile said studies from the internet trade mobile, Internet body showed the importance of a “mobile Advertising Bureau first” approach. Smartphone web pages need to be easy to use and navigate due to nature of the small screen, she said, and all web pages should take on a similar philosophy. “If you think about the way people are changing their media habits, it becomes more and more crucial to make sure it works on mobile,” said Kozloff. UK smartphone penetration has reached 76% from just 25% in 2010. IAB studies of consumer behaviour have shown that, rather than do nothing, 52% of people prefer to check their phone, and 37% of people accept that, when out with friends, they and their friends will take out their phones when there’s a lull in conversation. In addition, multi-screening, where people use a smartphone or tablet while watching the TV, is increasingly normal. Companies can capitalise on this trend. Kozloff gave the example of Mazda in Canada, where the Japanese carmaker created a gaming experience in a Cineplex, which cinema-goers played via their smartphones. Dealers and carmakers need to consider mobile as part of their marketing and SEO plans. From a value of £528 million in 2012, the UK mobile advertising market grew to £1bn in 2013. It’s a figure almost as large as radio advertising, Kozloff said. “It’s so vital to get your search as right on mobile as on desktop, because in some sectors Google sees it as more important. Or you’ll be wasting your money.”
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FACEBOOK ZERO AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL REACH DECLINE NEED TO KNOW n Dealers need to adopt a newsroom mentality and tailor content according to topics that are trending n Paid targeting aimed at non-fans can generates five times more word-of-mouth than targeting fans
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acebook fans are not necessarily the best advocates for your business, according to Marshall Manson, managing director, EAME, at digital Marshall Manson, consultancy Social@Ogilvy. managing director, The decline of organic reach means a EAME, Social@Ogilvy Facebook page with an average of 100,000 fans can only expect to reach about 6,000, while pages with about 500,000 fans now have an average organic reach of 2%. Despite the drop, says Manson, Facebook continues to give, but investment is required. Delivering the right content is key and he advises using organic reach as a means to test which material promotes the highest levels of engagement. However, dealers need to adopt a newsroom mentality and tailor content according to topics that are trending. Facebook rewards newsworthy content and will give it greater prominence in the newsfeed, above offers and promotions. Manson said there is still value in Facebook, but it is unlikely to lie in the fans themselves. He illustrated Social@Ogilvy’s analysis with an example of McDonald’s Belgium, which had 246,000 fans, but found only a fifth interacted with its content. By using Facebook’s sophisticated targeting, the brand found it could generate a higher response rate. In fact, paid targeting aimed at non-fan advocates generated an average five times more word-of-mouth than targeting fans. “Relying on advocates is wrong,” said Manson. “Interestingly, it is not the fans who convert. We need to stop thinking about social as the place to just reach our fans and start thinking about social as the place to do some really sophisticated targeting with some great content. “It means being timely, it means being interesting, it means being newsworthy and it means having a judgment on what will connect with people.”
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MARKETING ROI AND A GUIDE TO THE NEW GOOGLE UNIVERSAL NEED TO KNOW n Google will upgrade Analytics web statistics program to Google Universal n Key benefit of new system for dealers is ability to identify effective digital marketing spend
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ealers will soon be able to measure their return on investment from online marketing activity far more accurately with the introduction of a much more Ali White, marketing advanced analytics programme. and sales director, Calltracks marketing and sales director Ali Calltracks White gave dealers an early insight into the new system, called Google Universal, and the impact it can have on their spending priorities. “Universal looks very much like Google Analytics, but the way it functions is fundamentally different,” he said. Some of the most fundamental changes are the ability to import data from your business and the move from tracking visits (“a vanity measure”, said White), to tracking visitors. Universal also allows data to be sent from any device, which, with the move to visitor tracking and the introduction of user IDs (set up by the dealer), allow an individual’s activity to be tracked across desktop, tablet and mobile. Universal will accept 20 external sets of data, said White, who suggested examples including offline conversions (from email, phone calls, forms filled, test drives taken), online and content interactions (Live Chat, video plays, email open rates and responses to calls to action, numbers of people who scrolled to the bottom of an article) and social interactions. Anything offline, such as a spreadsheet or CRM data, can be integrated. He said the key benefit of the new system was the ability to identify effective marketing spend: “The analysis you can apply is so powerful. Don’t focus on conversions alone at stages throughout your contact strategies, but use Universal to optimise your returns by tracking performance at all contact points. “Then stop spending on things that don’t make a return.”
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PUTTING THE CUSTOMER FIRST
NEED TO KNOW n 28% of car owners prefer to receive communication by email n Even people who did not convert following an initial inquiry often respond to follow-up emails
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mail is a car customer’s favoured method of communication from a dealer, but the personal touch is vital, according to Jeremy Evans, managing Jeremy Evans, director of Marketing Delivery. managing director, Marketing Delivery, which runs eCRM and Marketing Delivery social media campaigns on behalf of some 200 dealers nationwide, has found consumers will respond to emails if the event is relevant, with some dealers undertaking six or seven touchpoints during the service reminder process and bookings being made about two months after the first communication. Sent between a new car order and delivery, emails keep customers informed and help establish a relationship. Emailing information on service plans or finance options with links to the dealer website typically results in a third of those who open clicking on the link for accessories for their new car, providing upsell opportunities. Even people who did not convert following an initial inquiry often respond to follow-up emails, said Evans: “It shows we are taking you seriously and we value your enquiry.” According to Marketing Delivery’s analysis, based on 2,000 sales enquiries over three weeks, of those that convert, 31.3% had an email address and were actively contacted compared with 16.1% who did not provide an email address against an overall conversion rate of 25.4% and an email capture rate of 61.7%. In the ownership cycle, 28% prefer email communication. Evans said: “The data is there, make it work for you. You can keep going but you need the data in order to dictate the message which goes out.” The most successful campaigns work in conjunction with the contact centre and emails must always be mobile optimised.
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DIGITAL MARKETING: BRINGING PEOPLE AND INFORMATION TOGETHER NEED TO KNOW n Dealers should tailor their search terms for customer personas such as ‘car for new drivers’ n Google+ blogs, Q&As, customer ratings and shareable video reviews will all impact search
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ealers can create distinct “personas” for the demographic groups they want to target and then focus their search engine optimisation on these personas. Luke Carter, head Luke Carter, head of search at Manheim of search, Manheim Retail Services gave an example of a dealer Retail Services using ‘low cost car’ or ‘car for new drivers’ in a vehicle description, rather than the more standard ‘new car’ or ‘used car’. The dealer’s content should also confirm to a potential customer viewing their website that it is the right car, right price, a good deal, and a wide choice as well as including a call to action to get in touch. Doing so will help create a stronger natural rating in search. Carter also suggested using Google+ as a digital blog, hosting a Q&A that searches will pick up, and putting a review line or image adverts in any pay-per-click message. Pages with ‘most popular customer questions’ and standard FAQs are valuable, too. In social media, he recommended creating video reviews that can be shared. With automotive forums, dealers can search how customers are consuming. Dealers should also enable customers to rate them, as adverts with seller ratings receive 17% higher click-through rates. “The experience of the user starts in the search page before it comes onto your website,” he said.
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HOW TO GET HALF-AMILLION SOCIAL VISITS IN ONE WEEK NEED TO KNOW n Traditional, link-based SEO search strategies no longer achieve previous levels of reach or engagement n Keep a close eye on Twitter and look at the topics that are trending
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ealers can enliven their online brand image by following a few simple rules aimed at capturing consumer interest, Terry Hogan, Motoring.co.uk managing Terry Hogan, director, told the conference. managing director, Motoring.co.uk opted to reduce its search Motoring.co.uk engine optimisation spend, but improve its social content at the same time by searching out subjects with wide appeal, engaging with users via a newsletter and “acting like a bigger brand”. The lead generator struck gold when one of its articles, entitled ‘Cyclists! Why do they ride in the middle of the road?’, attracted more than 500,000 Hogan’s top tips for visits and was shared worldwide. shareable content “The way people search has changed n Ask users what they dramatically,” said Hogan. like/dislike “Traditional SEO search strategies, which n Keep topics broad relied heavily on links, no longer achieve n Be consistent with previous levels of reach or engagement. Social sites, which are content-dominated, your theme(s) n Raise subjects that offer a great way to attract new visitors, stir emotions but not without a lot of trial and error. n Use newspaper-style “When people are actively looking for a headlines new car, then car reviews are important, n Identify influencers but that’s not going to get the internet and engage with them reading and sharing our content. and their audience “We keep a close eye on Twitter and n Make it easy for we look at the topics which are trending and then tailor our content accordingly, so users to comment on your site we immediately raise our chances of our n Use social share blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts and buttons other social media content being shared.”
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CONVERT WEBSITE BROWSERS INTO FORECOURT BUYERS NEED TO KNOW n to n to
RAC Cars uses Google Analytics to tweak content engage with growing number of mobile browsers Browsers are tracked from first visit to conversion build accurate, segmented visitor profiles
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AC Cars uses on-going analysis to refine its website and its current top priority is mobile engagement, which accounts for 53% of its website traffic. Peter McCullough, “Google search on desktop is dropping managing director, dramatically, mobile and tablet accounts for RAC Cars the majority of search and the challenge is deciding what’s most important, so there are compromises,” said managing director Peter McCullough. Conference delegates received an in-depth insight into the workings of the company’s highly successful online classified directory in the RAC Cars workshop. RAC’s digital team uses Google Analytics daily to tweak the content. The RAC Cars website has been designed to be as simple to use as possible and 90-95% of traffic lands on classified pages with a prominent call to action (CTA), which sees non-buyers filtered out of the journey in the early phases for a 4:1 sales conversion rate. RAC Cars tracks browsers from the first visit through to conversion, segmenting the information gathered. Understanding the audience is key, according to McCullough, including their stock and search comparisons. He said visitor profiling is imperative while retargeting visitors has also had an impact. However, McCullough warned there is a trade-off between conversion rates and data capture: “We get a higher volume of enquiries if we just ask for an email.”
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Video is more than just ‘walk-arounds’
10 ways to use CitNOW profitably in your sales and aftersales departments Google challenged us all some time ago saying “If a picture paints a thousand words, does a video paint a million?” Automotive video use has exploded in the last 12 months, and there’s a good reason; it works. It’s even quite possible that video may become the primary form of communication for future generations. The workshops we hosted at the AM Digital Dealer Conference last month ironically weren’t aimed at teaching how to make a video. Instead, the aim of the workshop was to show and discuss how taking and sending a video is not only more effective, but that it is potentially quicker than sending an email or making a phone call. Our challenge to the workshop delegates was for them to consider using video for more consumer communication purposes. To date we’ve come across more than 30+ uses for video messaging in a dealership, from the obvious answering of an enquiry on a specific used car to confirming appointments, saying ‘thank-you for your business’, customer follow-ups, finance introductions, workshop health-checks, prospecting and an endless list of others. pr To see our list of the top 10 video uses in sales and workshop, visit www.citnow.com/top10videos to see how you can make your videos more effective. Maybe, just maybe video does in fact paint a million words…
citnow.com/top10videos We believe we can enable any sales exec, technician or manager, in any dealer, anywhere in the world, with a super power called ‘trust’. Trust automatically releases customer joy, which has a direct and substantial benefit for every dealer.
BOOST YOUR BOTTOM LINE WITH VIDEO
NEED TO KNOW n 42% of car buyers look at videos, but fewer than 3% of dealers put video on used car pages n Video is one way of combating declining effectiveness of traditional sales techniques
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t would take 14 years to watch all 880,000 videos produced by dealers with the CitNow technology in the first nine months of the year. As the uploads to Alistair Jeff, YouTube will attest (every 60 seconds 100 commercial director, hours of content is added to this online site), CitNow video can be “engaging, easy and fun”, said CitNow commercial director Alistair Jeff. Jeff said 42% of car buyers look at videos when searching – and 96% will have a positive view of a brand via video and 87% say video will have a positive impact on buying a car. “Consumers are taking control of the sale. Showroom traffic is declining, 50% of enquiries are by telephone, email or chat. Average email conversion is less than 10%, telephone less than 10%. It isn’t a positive story if you’re a salesperson. Traditional sales techniques are being challenged, so how do you address this? Video is one way.” However, he said, fewer than 3% of dealers had put video on their used car locator pages, for example. Dealer group Peter Vardy is one of those that has. In its used car search pages it also has a ‘request a video’ button. “This allows the consumer to get an answer to a personal query – how big is the boot, show me the alloy wheel damage.” Jeff showed a number of examples of videos produced by dealers using CitNow, promoting sales events (Brazilian sales event in a tie-in with the World Cup), introducing sales staff and confirming appointments, F&I upsell, pre-handover teasers and handovers/reveal and workshop work requirements. The latter had 265 views on social media. Gordon Grant, CitNow sales director, said: “None of these are of MGM standard, but it doesn’t matter. This is about personalisation and emotionally engaging with the consumer.”
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USING TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE COSTS AND IMPROVE SERVICE NEED TO KNOW n Centralised approach to telephone calls reduced cost and headcount, but increased coverage n Call centre takes pressure off the people on the showroom floor
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he modern dealership may require Wi-Fi, chat and video apps, remote vehicle valuations, hosted dealer management systems, video conferencing Richard Buxton, and CCTV links, but if the infrastructure technology manager, supporting this is not up to scratch then Node4 efficiency and performance will suffer. That was the point made by Richard Buxton, technology manager at Node4, alongside Sean Booth, managing director of Parkway, a four-site Volkswagen dealer group. Parkway has been a customer of Node4 for many years and has its technology throughout the business. Improvements made include replacing the traditional switchboard on each site with one central telephone system in a data centre, which receives every call to any of the group’s businesses and answers it as whichever dealership the caller was expecting to connect to. Booth said this took cost and headcount out of the business, and removed a lot of other systems that could fail. “It’s making a process change, but we’re only doing it once,” said Booth. “I value the call centre, as do our managers, because it takes pressure off the people on the showroom floor.” The data centre also makes it easier to control the customer experience as there is a single team, with suggested scripts and the ability to track the progress and quality of every call. Wall boards show the performance of each site. Abandoned calls can be identified and called back. Web chats and emails can also come into one place for the business to decide where to direct them. The centre works from 8am to 8pm, and it takes 150 bookings daily on average. The system also prioritises service and sales calls above calls to reception numbers, and ensures customers never gets an engaged tone.
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