• Car Dealer Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
No Result
View All Result

Profit Clinic: Motor Codes

James Batchelor by James Batchelor
January 26, 2012
0
Home CDTV

screen-shot-2012-01-24-at-204750

screen-shot-2012-01-24-at-204712Dealers can no longer rely on traditional forms of marketing as their only way of attracting business.

Gone are the days when happy customers would tell their friends, colleagues and their postman of the delightful experience they got at their local garage. If they do happen to engage in conversation with someone, it’ll probably be more of the negative type rather than anything complimentary.

These days, if customers have something good to say about a dealer or a garage owner, they will migrate to the internet to spill all. But keeping track of where, when and how customers do this can be tricky – which is where Motor Codes’ Code of Practice for Service and repair can help.


The scheme can help out in a variety of ways, from support to helping settle disputes, but perhaps the best way it can assist dealers and garage owners in 2012 in making more profit is from the marketing power it boasts.

With a presentation entitled ‘A new perspective to your marketing’, Modes Codes’ managing director Chris Mason told Profit Clinic delegates that by embracing the benefits of its services, not only can profits rise but also recognition and respectability can too.

Mason urged dealers to look beyond product margins and instead focus on modern marketing. That’s not the traditional word-of-mouth marketing, but one that relies on social media and is consumer-led – something which other industries have been doing, but the motor industry has been slow to follow.

Mason said: ‘Motor codes is a traditional form of self-regulation that the government requires us to run an advice line. But wrapped around that is customer technology that cuts straight to the heart of marketing in terms of aftersales in dealers’ postcode regions.


‘We have to admit that marketing is evolving. The days of big-spend national advertising are being questioned by more low-cost, high gain tools which allow dealers to manipulate the internet to drive business to them locally instead of waiting for a brand campaign. My view of the future is that static paid-for advertising will be a decreasing currency.’

By simply signing up to Motor Codes, subscribers will be joining a band of garages who want to offer fair and honest services to customers, who want to complete work as agreed, and who want to deliver open and transparent pricing and good practice.

‘Within 24 hours you can have a government-backed business, with full OFT approval, and a Motor Codes rating – it really is that straightforward’

The Code allows customers to fill out a survey on the Motor Codes’ website and rate the service they received. accurate satisfaction ratings are then generated which advertise the service to new customers via the ‘Garage Finder’ tool. This can even be downloaded as a ‘widget’ and added to garages’ websites to give customers assurances of the service they’ll receive. It’s consumer-led and is real-time. ‘Within 24 hours you can have a government-backed business, with full OFT approval, and a Motor Codes rating – it really is that straightforward,’ said Mason.

More than 30,000 customers have filled out a survey, and, in November alone, there were 1.6m subscribers listed in searches, and 77,000 page views. ‘That’s the opportunity for 77,000 jobs of work to go through businesses in the month of December,’ said Mason.

The structure of Motor Codes’ website means customers can find businesses by locality and reputation above anything else. Mason said you should think of each subscriber’s page as an online advert boasting all the information needed by customers when picking where to have work done.

Last year’s big news was the OFT giving the Service and Repair Code full approval. That means any subscribers will now be able to make their businesses fully government-backed with OFT approval.

‘The OFT approval of the Service and Repair Code concludes phase one of our work. Now we are thinking about phase two which is about growing the scheme and making it work harder for our subscribers.’

Get more from Car Dealer

  • Premium stories
  • Used car data
  • Magazine early access
Register

Or Sign in

Related Posts

William Morgan of Morgan’s Motor Engineers
Features

Investigation: How Brexit has led to a parts crisis for independent garages in the UK

April 8, 2021
Outlierman Monza Weekender Bag
Features

From Playmobil campers to premium watches – fun and classy cool stuff for petrolheads

April 7, 2021
Car Quay interior
Features

Used car dealer Jamie Caple on working under pressure, auctions and building a team in the pandemic

March 2, 2021
Ted Welford drives a Bugatti Baby II
Features

Honey, I shrunk the Bugatti! The ‘little’ present that will set you back up to £53,000

February 23, 2021
Aston Barclay set to host two festive digital auctions
Features

Aston Barclay set to host two festive digital auctions

December 20, 2019
Lotus blossoms – A grand design in Nottingham
Features

Lotus blossoms – A grand design in Nottingham

August 5, 2019

Want the latest news?

Sign up to Car Dealer's daily news email updates

Subscribe
Electrified vehicle registrations overtake diesels for the first time in Europe
News

What is stopping car buyers from switching to EV? Our exclusive white paper reveals all

April 8, 2021
How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed
News

How many car dealerships does each manufacturer have in the UK? Car Dealerships Locations List 2021 revealed

March 12, 2021
Used Car Awards with Mike Brewer and James Baggott graphi
News

Who won what at the Used Car Awards 2020? Mike Brewer reveals our winning car dealers

March 12, 2021
Used Car Awards 2021 logo
Used Car Awards

Used Car Awards 2021 will be back in all their glory on November 29 hosted by Mike Brewer

March 17, 2021
The Newcomers: Here are the 10 electric car brands coming to a forecourt near you soon
News

The Newcomers: Here are the 10 electric car brands coming to a forecourt near you soon

March 30, 2021
Trophy Cars forecourt
News

Investigation: Meet the hyper-specialist car dealers making their money from weird and wonderful motors

March 12, 2021
Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK
Car Dealer Top 100

Car Dealer Top 100 – The list in full of the most profitable car dealers in the UK

February 10, 2021
BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Volvo, could they be sold under one roof?
News

Multi franchising: Premium brands rule out selling cars alongside rivals in same dealer – as others remain tight-lipped

March 11, 2021
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • UCA 2020
  • UCA 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100
  • CD Plus
Call us: 020 8125 3880

© 2020 Blackball Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Car Dealer Plus
  • Latest
  • Used Cars
  • Live
  • Forum
  • Power 2020
  • Used Car Awards 2020
  • Used Car Awards 2021
  • CDX
  • Knowledge
  • Suppliers Guide
  • About Us
  • Latest Issue
  • Top 100

© 2020 Blackball Media

Log In
Register
Register
Server 1