8:39 am, April 28, 2016
NEW strategies are needed to sell warranties and service plans, as more and more used car sales happen entirely online, according to The Warranty Group.
The company – one of the world’s premier global providers of warranty solutions and related benefits – says that it is working with a number of car portals, supermarkets, franchises and independent dealers to learn about which approaches work best in which circumstances.
Serkan Obuz, business development director, explained: ‘Car sales are moving online at a rapid pace and dealers are sometimes struggling to keep up with the implications for their sales model.
‘The most switched-on know that they have to identify ways to retail products such as service plans and warranties as part of the online customer journey and are trying out a range of strategies.
‘It is a question of working out how to integrate these products into the customer’s online journey towards buying a car. If not, dealers are both losing potential profits and customer retention, as well as failing to present a complete used car proposition to buyers.’
Obuz said that finding the best way and the right time to present information about products, pricing and benefits is crucial.
He added: ‘Dealers are using everything from product information videos to live chat, from interactive product descriptions to simple FAQs. What we are finding is that all of these probably will have a place in the future, depending on the dealer, the customer and the product.
‘We see our role in this process as very similar to the support that we have offered to dealers over showroom sales for decades – that we are able to provide authoritative and effective best practice ideas that enable dealers to maximise their warranty and service plan sales.’
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