The Humble Vehicle View

What information is readily available to me now that can improve my sales?

Selling on the internet involves no chicken or egg; it has a clear starting point and a defining end point. There is great focus placed on lead tracking, targeted conversion rates and total sales and most of us carry these figures in our heads and our business performance depends on them. The first metric in the internet sales process that is often overlooked is the vehicle view count; it is such a simple measure which requires little interpretation. Once a listing is placed on the internet it shows the immediate acceptance and position of that vehicle within the market.

At AutoBase we have the privilege of seeing a huge amount of data to identify trends and changes in the online behaviour. One clear fact is that the internet is no different to most things in life and it conforms to the 80/20 rule, more effort is easily rewarded which brings me back to the humble vehicle view. Unlike a billboard or 30 second TV,C this little count provides instant gratification. We provide this information to our customers, either in an easy to read table, ready-made graph, or for the more advanced, a complete Excel spreadsheet to allow data importing or manipulation. 

A daily review of this data takes much of the mystery out of selling within market places like Trade Me Motors. Based on one month’s historical data you can quickly and easily gain the following information:

1. Total vehicle views for the month

2. Most popular vehicles

3. Least popular vehicles

4. Impact of pricing adjustments per vehicle

5. Reaction to a change in photos or vehicle description details

6. Duration a vehicle has been listed on Trade Me Motors

7. Trending of views per day

8. Trending of views per week

Having all this information readily at hand is only one part of a powerful puzzle. Mixing this information with what you already know about your customers and their buying history, takes the black magic out of the web. Rather than being in the 80% that hit and hope, optimising a few key elements of online strategy in reaction to what the market is reflecting back has to be a winner. This has always been one key area where I am surprised we get asked very few questions about. My view of the web is that it is a turkey shoot if you get it right.

One thing that can be overlooked or forgotten and that can be picked up by understanding vehicle view performance is where the customers are going after viewing the listing. There are many services now that let you enhance the listing by allowing the prospect to click away to view more information. We offer this service for our customers and thought should be taken on the final destination of these links as depending on where these links lead, it could be a point of weakness. Full advantage needs to be taken of the opportunity to move them away from a highly competitive environment like Trade Me into your more controlled sales process. If your listings are getting lots of views but your lead rate is low, check any links that you are displaying to ensure that they are adding true value back to the viewer. You would be surprised at the number of links that are either broken (as the web address has changed over time), or lead to very nondescript web pages with no focus. These links generally open a new browser window for the prospect which acts as a barrier for them returning to the classified web site. Getting this all working correctly is key.

A vehicle listed today should have its online performance reviewed tomorrow. This is easy for me to say as I sit at my desk looking out at a dark winter’s day, however the beauty of monitoring vehicle views is that it takes so little time and allows you to catch things early. A newly listed, well-priced, highly desirable vehicle should be generating proportionately more views than your older stock. If not, it needs to be quickly reviewed as it may have incorrect pricing, poor quality or no images, missing comments etc. You do not want to miss that golden period of a latest listing. Equally, any older listing should be addressed where the views have dropped; is it time to update the photos, freshen up the comments and review the pricing? If you are using Trade Me Motors, remember to leverage the model variant field for promotions. 

 Excerpt from an example of an AutoBase Monthly Vehicle Views Report.

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Remember that the web with its saved searches and watch lists, turns all prospective customers into train spotters and you cannot fool them! You have to be transparent with your customers and prospects. With older listings it is best to openly state that the vehicle must go and that the price has been adjusted to reflect this. By being openly on the front foot it helps cut down on those last minute and unwanted price negotiations. If online customers are turned away by your actions they will never tell you.

In summary it all does start with the number of eyes on listings and this information is easy to obtain. Tracking and monitoring this activity is relatively low stress and the gains made around optimising an online sales approach will lead to increased activity in your lead pipeline. Nothing internet-based needs to be hard.

AutoBase Enhanced Daily Vehicle Views Graph. 
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Article by David Boshier, AutoBase General Manager