How remote vehicle valuations can increase sales
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, sales teams have been unable to carry out in-showroom vehicle valuations. Traditionally, dealers value a car based on a number of factors including; age, condition, service history, market prices and through a professional visual inspection. Without the ability to appraise in-person, providing an accurate valuation for part-exchanges remotely, has proved challenging.
Most dealerships currently offer online car valuations via their website. However, they are often limited in the information they return to the customer and rely on the salesperson to follow up offline at a later stage.
By offering customers a more enhanced remote valuation option, you may be able to capture an increased number of sales and provide an improved customer experience.
With the vast majority of buyers including a trade-in as part of their new car purchase, consider integrating the appraisal tool as standard, for general enquiries instead of leaving the buyer guessing regarding the potential value of their car.
Consider also some of the below suggestions on how to improve your remote valuation process.
By offering customers a more enhanced remote valuation option, you may be able to capture an increased number of sales and provide an improved customer experience.
With the vast majority of buyers including a trade-in as part of their new car purchase, consider integrating the appraisal tool as standard, for general enquiries instead of leaving the buyer guessing regarding the potential value of their car.
Consider also some of the below suggestions on how to improve your remote valuation process.
Improving the remote valuation process
Some suggestions on how you can improve your online vehicle valuation process
1. Explain how the trade-in price is calculated
Outline on your website the factors you take into consideration when placing a value on a used car. For example:
Explaining your path to appraisal will instil trust in the customer, giving them more confidence in carrying out the transaction online.
- Age
- Mileage
- Condition
- Service history
- Number of previous owners
- Real time market prices
- Finance outstanding
- Other factors
Explaining your path to appraisal will instil trust in the customer, giving them more confidence in carrying out the transaction online.
2. Offer a money-back guarantee
As full online vehicle purchasing is a relatively new concept for the Irish market, it is likely that your customer has never purchased a car this way before and has a degree of uncertainty about the process.
If the trade-in is forming part of a full online purchase, it is important that you have a robust customer service process in place, in order to minimise issues at handover or post-sale stage.
Provide customers with reassurance that if they are not satisfied with their purchase, they can return the vehicle within a reasonable timeframe, e.g. 14 days. While this cooling off period has always formed part of the return policy, it is important to state this clearly on your website. Additionally, you will require pre-defined terms and conditions, including any issues at point of inspection, however, unless the customer experiences a significant problem with their purchase, it is unlikely that they will return it.
Reducing the level of risk and promoting a 100% money back guarantee, within a set time period, will provide the customer with a greater layer of transparency and trust and ultimately, increase the likelihood of completing the sale online.
If the trade-in is forming part of a full online purchase, it is important that you have a robust customer service process in place, in order to minimise issues at handover or post-sale stage.
Provide customers with reassurance that if they are not satisfied with their purchase, they can return the vehicle within a reasonable timeframe, e.g. 14 days. While this cooling off period has always formed part of the return policy, it is important to state this clearly on your website. Additionally, you will require pre-defined terms and conditions, including any issues at point of inspection, however, unless the customer experiences a significant problem with their purchase, it is unlikely that they will return it.
Reducing the level of risk and promoting a 100% money back guarantee, within a set time period, will provide the customer with a greater layer of transparency and trust and ultimately, increase the likelihood of completing the sale online.
3. Improve the online valuation process
Most dealerships have an online vehicle valuation tool which automatically imports data based on the car's registration number. However, there is often a high dropoff in form completion during the next step of the process, as the customer is presented with a myriad of fields to complete. For many customers, this process feels too cumbersome and they abandon the form. Consider some of the following improvements you can make:
Given that the most frustrating part of the car buying process is paperwork and negotiating, providing a more user friendly system will encourage customers to purchase from you.
- Improve form design - the most common reason for abandoning online forms is either their length or complexity, so only request essential information. Small 'nudges' such as question groups and progress status can improve form completion rates, by 50% in our experience
- Make sure your valuation tool is mobile friendly
- Allow customers to upload multiple photos or videos of their car, for a more accurate appraisal and provide best practice recommendations
- Back up the valuation process with live chat, allowing the customer to ask questions in real time
- Offer a valuation either in real-time or as quickly as possible (with assumptions). It is likely that the customer has requested trade-in quotes from several websites so it is important to respond as soon as possible
- Clearly explain finance and purchase options for the new vehicle purchase
- Have a follow-up procedure in place with personalised communication
Given that the most frustrating part of the car buying process is paperwork and negotiating, providing a more user friendly system will encourage customers to purchase from you.
4. Explain the handover procedure
Whether your customer is collecting their new car from your dealership or you are delivering it to their door, make sure they know what the handover process is in advance. For example, the requirement for a log book, sets of car keys, service records etc. Also, reiterate the sanitation procedure that their new purchase has gone through.
As customers demand enhanced digital experiences in order to make purchasing decisions from the comfort of their home, there are opportunities for dealerships to respond by offering more interactive online services.
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