Generating quality consumer leads from customers looking for a new car feeds a healthy marketplace.
Success here often requires good quality content and advice paired with a slick website that funnels leads through to dealers.
That’s a hard thing to do in any normal year but with dealers having to communicate with customers in other ways during lockdown in 2020, being able to rely on quality leads has never been so important.
Carwow, this year’s winner, has worked tirelessly to help keep leads flowing to dealers and is constantly innovating online.
Survey respondents highlighted Carwow’s customer service as being particularly good in 2020, and this is an area the firm has worked hard on recently.
‘This is a big area in which we have shifted in,’ founder James Hind says.
‘We’ve now changed the way we charge dealers – it used to be on a cost-per-sale and now it’s cost-per-enquiry, and we’ve dialled up hugely the focus on ‘we send you lots of enquiries, now our team focus on helping you manage your processes and improve conversion.
‘This change is what we spend a lot of our time on.’
Rivals have launched offering a similar kind of service to Carwow, but Hind is adamant that his firm betters them.
He said: ‘It comes down to two things – firstly, it’s size, no-one can provide the number of leads we can, and secondly it’s the quality – these leads convert extremely well.
‘When the customers get in touch with the dealers, they have so much information at their fingertips so they are almost ready to buy. A good conversion will equal a great return on investment.’
The award comes off the back of a busy year for Carwow. Hind says he’s seen the switch to digital speed up enormously particularly with the way the firm works with car manufacturers and dealer groups.
‘Also, that role of the showroom being a bit diminished now,’ says Hind.
‘More and more people are doing their homework online and choosing where to buy completely online. This year we’ve seen it happen way, way faster than we told it would.’
- W: dealers.carwow.co.uk
- T: 0333 150 0777
For more Car Dealer Power winners visit the dedicated section here.