Selling vehicles online has become far more than just the nice-to-have that we would have said at this time last year.
Instead these days it is completely vital for car dealers to have a strong online sales experience to perform at their best during these challenging times.
Our winner in the Used Car Online Sales Experience category, Batchelors Motor Group, launched their new website early on in the first lockdown, which resulted in more sales and an improved experience for customers.
Although managing director Tony Denton was unable to join us for the awards, he had previously shared his reasoning for adopting such a customer focused online sales experience.
Speaking on Car Dealer Live, he said: ‘In terms of what it’s provided for us is in-depth knowledge of the customers website behaviour up to and beyond the enquiry stage to us.
‘That gives some real insight into what the customer is thinking and the process they’re going through in choosing their next car.
‘It enables the sales team to create a more tailored offer and have a more bespoke conversation the first time they pick the phone up to the customer.’
Chatting to us just after the new website had been launched, Denton talked proudly about how the team had sold 20 cars online in the first week that it was live.
He said: ‘Online has always been part of our growth plan – we were very early adopters.
‘What our new website has done is made the whole process smoother and more swish for both the buyer and the dealership as well.’
Batchelors website uses artificial intelligence to present what the customer is most likely to want.
The website isn’t your traditional dealer website, but according to Denton its led to more sales and a better quality of lead.
He explained: ‘It’s about the customer choosing the path they want, not the path the car dealer tries to push them down.’
Highly commended in this category was Snows Motor Group and Swansway Garages.
- W: www.batchelorsmotorgroup.co.uk
- T: 01765 690590
Find out who else has been recognised in the Car Dealer Used Car Awards 2020 here.