What is required in a listing to be sent to Trade Me Motors

To maintain the quality of our AutoBase dealer listings on Trade Me Motors, there are a few things each listing must have:

• A Retail Price greater than zero
• A Year greater than zero (there must be a Year for the Cars/Utes/Vans category)
• A Manufacturer
• A Model
• The Vehicle body type (Sedan, Hatchback)
• A Transmission type
• At least 1 image

If your listing does not contain all of this information we are not able to send it up to the Trade Me Motors Website, you can check if your listings are showing on Trade Me Motors in our DealerBase system.

Click HERE to check (*you need to Log In first).

You will find a list of all stock not showing and a list of the missing information in the Advertising tab under “Stock not displayed on Trade Me”

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our support team on 0800 42 88 62 or email info@autobase.co.nz.

How is your Digital Footprint?

With around 2,000 automotive dealers in New Zealand, standing out in the crowd is key - the more ‘arrows’ pointing to your brand and your stock, the better. Auto marketers and dealers are increasingly realising the value of getting their stock and brand online and are utilising several ways to increase their online presence - their ‘digital footprint’.

Online Advertising

The sheer amount of information available on vehicles that can be found online, coupled with the speed and ease of searching for them has made online advertising hugely popular with Kiwi dealers and consumers. People are buying out of town and turning to the internet more and more when buying vehicles. 80% of people now use the internet and 88% of them are on broadband, making it fast and easy for people to search through multiple vehicle listings from home, or work¹. Because of this online advertising has rapidly become the foundation to automotive dealers’ marketing plans. New Zealand’s online advertising spend for 2009 was $213 Million - a 10% growth since 2008². With a huge range of search criteria for vehicles and fast page download times, Trade Me Motors now attracts in excess of 2million UBs (Unique Browsers) a month³ with almost 900 dealers and >35,000 dealer stock listings running as classifieds (>50,000 listings overall), giving Kiwi dealers’ listings massive online exposure. 

All AutoBase customers get their listings displayed on both Trade Me Motors and www.autobase.co.nz at one monthly rate. So to maximize your online presence in line with your budget and resources, put your stock where the most people are looking. It makes sense to choose a provider who gets the most traffic – Trade Me runs auctions and classifieds and they put a great deal of money and effort into optimizing their search results in Google, so you don’t have to! We suggest following this plan. Put 60% of your marketing spend into online classifieds, 30% into promoting those listings so they stand out, and 10% managing leads and your staff to make sure those leads are being followed up.

Company Websites 
Many NZ dealers are getting their own websites, which makes it easy for viewers to find stock, contact details and information on specials or warranties at the click of a button, as well as giving their brand more online exposure. But having a great website is pointless if no one visits it or it’s confusing to navigate. The more arrows you have pointing to your website, the better – put your URL (website address) on business cards, signage and all marketing collateral. There are many people who dabble in ‘website design’, but design and ease of usability are key, so ensure that you trust your web design to a professional that understands your industry.  Web design solutions specifically for dealers must include a database that displays your stock, and is easily managed and updated from your VMS or web browser. 

 

AutoBase designs websites for automotive dealers. If you have a well-designed and professional website, it will pay for itself in no time. Your website needs to reach as many people as possible - it is open for business 24 hours, giving your customers what they want. Many people build websites these days – but not all of them are user-friendly, well made or professional looking. There is nothing worse than going to a website and spending ages trying to find what you want. Most viewers spend less than 10 seconds looking, and if they can’t find want they want they will click off to another website.  AutoBase websites are easy to navigate and all your information is found simply and fast.  AutoBase only build automotive websites that are professional, functional websites for the automotive industry at highly competitive, transparent  rates. We also display and power your stock, at no extra charge. Our designer works with you to make sure we give you what you want – a professional, high-quality, user-friendly website. We can also add video if you like. To  find out more please email us here.

Quantifiable reporting

The beauty of these online marketing tools is that you can capture usable information. Facebook and Twitter now have applications enabling businesses to track and obtain quantifiable reports. Applications can identify user locations and habits such as:

·         Who is walking through your doors?

·         How often are they visiting your premises?

·         How many people are visiting your website?

·         How many people have viewed your individual stock listings?

·         What Tweet posts are the most popular?

Some classified websites also have a large variety of reporting available, including reports on how many people have viewed each stock item, what stock items get the most views and how many enquiries you receive. Yes, websites such as Facebook and Twitter are free, but it’s implicit that you have a well thought out, targeted marketing plan with relevant and correct information going out onto the internet. Consult with your Marketing Manager or an online marketing adviser for guidance and strategy. Make the most of all of your online options and the wide variety of tracking and reporting available to you. Harness and manage the power of the internet by getting your arrows on target, and you will reap the benefits.

Smartphones - worth the hype?

There has been a lot of publicity about Smartphones over the past few years. Smartphones are expected to overtake PCs as the most commonly used web-access devices worldwide by 2013. Consumers of all ages are increasingly using their smart phones to find directions, check the latest news, sports scores & fixtures, weather and sports, order food, research products and compare prices while shopping using their instant mobile access. Many of our customers including Dealer Principals, Marketing Managers and Salespeople are now using Smartphone – it’s like having a mini computer in your pocket. Several of us at AutoBase have iPhones and they have quickly become indispensable business resources. Following are the main benefits we have found with having a Smartphone (iPhone):

Email, Diary and Calendars

Synch your work email and calendars to your iPhones in order to check emails and meeting schedules and reminders when out of the office, without the need to pull out a lap top or phone into the office to check.

Contacts

You can synch all of your personal and business contacts to your iPhone. Every time you add a contact to your Outlook Calendar at work, the contact’s details will synch to your iPhone so that your contacts are always captured, and up to date.

Internet

Access the internet whilst mobile to look at your company website, Twitter, Facebook, competitor’s websites and product reviews, videos or comparisons. Also access WIFI spots via your iPhone. Many companies also have ‘mobile websites’ - websites which are ‘shrunk’ to fit to portable and wireless devices like Smartphones, for better visibility and usability.

Lead Management

When Salespeople and Account Managers are on the yard or out on the road, they use their iPhones to check and respond to emails efficiently without missing a message or leaving a prospect hanging. The last thing you want is a prospect going to a competitor who may provide them with the information they want faster. Also add customer contact details such as email address and phone numbers straight into your iPhone directory, and book in a meeting or follow-up call straight into your calendar so that you don’t lose that lead or let it fall through the cracks.

Social Media

Access and manage your company Facebook and Twitter accounts while mobile, keeping your customers up to date with your latest news, share latest photos and videos of your vehicles and promote specials offers and services.

Google Maps and GPS

Access to maps, directions and GPS make it easier for your staff to get to their meetings on time. Look up best routes by car, foot or bus with an estimate of the time it will take to travel.

iPhone Applications (aka Apps)

iPhone Applications (aka Apps) are 3rd party software programs specifically designed for iPhones which are downloaded directly to your iPhone and are generally free or less than $US2. There are 1,000s of iPhone Apps available ranging from Apps for checking the weather or looking for local movie sessions to checking into your Air NZ flight or games. There are many iPhone Apps now designed for car buyers, car enthusiasts, vehicle owners, car dealers and automotive industry professionals. We use an App for our company CRM system which enables Account and Sales Managers to update their leads and opportunities while out visiting our customers. For car buyers, Trade Me have an App enabling people to search inventory on their iPhone, satisfying the public’s ever growing need for instant gratification –search for what you want, when you want it. Unlike mobile websites custom made iPhone Apps are fast and provides more functionality over a mobile site by utilizing the features such as Location Services, Maps, Local & Push Notifications and rich graphics.

In America individual dealers are going further by getting iPhone Apps built specifically for their dealerships, where they can load their inventory for customers to access real-time information easily, and quickly search, scan, upload, send and share their listings. The Chrysler Group has new Smartphone Apps that provide vehicle operation, maintenance and warranty information, product feature video demos, connections with fellow owners via their Twitter and Facebook sites, access to customer care and 24-hour road-side assistance. Toyota built an App that lets car buyers window shop its makes and models of vehicles with more than 130 color options, take pictures of a vehicle identification number or VIN to get specific information about a car, and the ability to find the nearest Toyota dealership. There are also Apps for dealers to get instant information for their wholesale buyers, both in-house and when traveling. They can quickly appraise vehicles and determine retail market values in real-time. The opportunities are endless!

Access Podcasts

All iPhones have iTunes, which is a free music directory which organises and plays your digital music and video on your Mac or PC computer, iPod or iPhone and also purchase music, iPhone Apps, videos or live podcasts. Podcasts are a method if streaming audio, video or other media over the internet. You can access or subscribe to podcasts covering a huge variety of media from Sky Sport and local radio to the BBC’s coverage of Formula One.

To stay competitive stay on top of the tools your customers are using, and use any tools available to you to make running your business easier and more efficient. Our experience is with iPhones, but there are many other great Smartphones available on the market such as Androids, Blackberries or Windows. It’s something worth looking into.

Social Media for Dummies

This is a great, simple synopsis of the world of Social Media, from Greg Savage.

Facebook is like a pub: It’s an informal place where people get together with old friends, shoot the breeze, tell risqué jokes, and meet people they have never spoken to before. There are few rules and people certainly tend to misbehave there at times, often feeling embarrassed later about what they have said, shown or done! But real friendships can start there, and what’s more business can be done over a beer in the Facebook pub, so it’s not to be ignored.

Twitter is like a cocktail party: There is lots going on, and it’s very high energy. Many conversations are happening at once. Lots of people are talking and far fewer are listening. People drop in and out of conversations and if you like a conversation you might share it with another group. Sure you get the odd twitter cocktail party guest who behaves inappropriately, but mostly it’s pretty cordial, with more manners, and better language, than at the Facebook Pub.

LinkedIn is like a Tradeshow or a corporate conference: It’s business-like. People are there to work, learn and connect with like-minded business people. Mostly everyone is aware they are ‘on show’, and put their best foot forward. At the “Conference” you watch your language, dress up a little.

YouTube is like Times Square on New Years Eve or the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras: Pretty much anything goes! People will let their hair down and willingly make a fool of themselves, but no one really cares… until they meet you at the LinkedIn Conference, maybe.

A blog is like Hyde Park Corner in London: You can stand on your soapbox and say pretty much whatever you like. But your audience is fickle and will drift in and out, and judge you very quickly to be an interesting expert on a niche subject or a quack to be jeered or ignored. But don’t ignore it because lucid orators on street corners spark ideas!

MySpace is like Woodstock: The young and the crazy populated it, but it’s a fading memory for most.

Top Five Tips for Better Classified Listings

Last weekend I watched a friend search online for a Mazda Atenza. He was particularly  interested in a leather interior. He did a search based on price, year, transmission and KMs. The first Atenza he found was from a local dealer, but only had only 2 images (both exterior), no features and hardly any information about the vehicle, let alone the interior. He grunted and clicked onto the next listing. I asked him why he didn't just contact the dealer to ask for more information about that particular vehicle - he said he couldn't be bothered when there were so many other similar vehicles with more info in his list, so he would start there instead. That dealer lost a sale. AutoBase has been providing services for dealers since 1999, and in that time we've seen it all. Following are FIVE of our best tips that will not cost you a cent to improve your online listings. 

1. Use common usage descriptions and keywords in the description of the item. Most buyers search by using a specific word or term., so if you are listing e.g. a mower, use the word “mower” - not just MT 858. A viewer will usually type in a common usage description such as Landcruiser instead of the correct Land Cruiser - so add these keywords to your comments. Avoid abbreviations - a viewer will type in and search for CRV - not CR-V.  Also check your spelling - I recently saw a listing promoting Pirelli tires - but Pirelli was spelled wrong so would not appear in a search. Click on the image below for a good example that includes many keywords like colours, tire brand and 'landcruiser' in the comments.

One of the most popular search fi­lters used when searching for a vehicle is keywords e.g. “Manual”, “leather seats” etc. 90% of Used Cars searches by viewers on Trade Me Motors are done in the sidebar section of the site - 65% of them use the search bar filters. The Most Popular filters used when searching for a vehicle are MAKE, KEYWORDS (such as features - air con, alarm, iPod deck etc) and BODY STYLE/PRICE or YEAR.

 

NB. Remember not to Keyword Spam - it stuffs up the search results for everyone.*

2. Take good photos. You can use up to 20 on AutoBase and Trade Me Motors. We recommend using a minimum of 3 photos. Use photos that show the exterior, interior, = condition and any special features the item may have. Remember, if using www.dealerbase.co.nz to load stock, you can load multiple images in one go.

3. Use the fields provided fully to give uniformity to your listings. These ­fields give a potential buyer basic speci­fications for the vehicle eg: Transmission, Hours, New, Engine Type etc that they buyer will use to search for and compare listings.

4. Write a detailed description & include as many features as possible. Describe the item well in the comments section and include its features and selling points. Look at how detailed most private vehicle listings are – they are usually jam-packed full of photos features and descriptions of the vehicle for sale. If you were selling a vehicle on your yard, would you only mention a few features? Give your online listings the same attention as you would selling face to face on your yard - use Trade Me Motors as your ‘Digital Salesperson’.

5. Promote the benefits of buying from you. As a dealer you have more to offer than a private seller – warranties, finance packages, delivery, other similar makes and models etc.  Include these and any other benefits of buying from your dealership within your listings to attract more enquiries. Please Note: Ask us about our free ‘Standard Vehicle Text’ feature to enter information about your dealership within every listing, in one go.

Many dealers have the mindset that as long as they put their stock on Trade Me Motors, it will sell itself. This is not the case - we have over 900 dealers and list almost 40,000 listings and just like any other tool, Trade Me Motors must be used correctly and to its potential to work best. If you put the time in to create good listings, you will reap the bene­fits. Trade Me Motors is your ‘door-way’ to over 2 Million prospective buyers every single month - but you need to get their attention, so use Trade Me Motors to its best advantage to maximise your sales.  

For more tips, you can also go to www.dealerbase.co.nz and click on Resources > Dealer Tips. Remember that you can contact our free 0800 42 88 62 Customer Service line if a listing is not displaying correctly, or your Account Manager Davern Arona if you further advice on creating good listings.

"The web is not an advertising medium, the web is not a selling medium, it is a buying medium. It is user controlled" Jakob Nielsen 

*Keyword Spamming:

Keyword spamming is when someone puts irrelevant information that is not about the vehicle for sale into their listings, making the search results bring up screeds of other vehicle listings, as well as the vehicle being searched for. This results in a potential buyer being bombarded with irrelevant vehicle listings they don’t want to look at, which causes frustration with the amount of time they are spending trying to find a specific vehicle. It can turn a buyer off very quickly, and result in a lost sale for you and your business! One of the key factors in Trade Me Motors success is the user friendliness and ease of the site, thanks to the keyword search function where potential buyers can quickly and easily find what they are looking for - which is why keyword spamming is prohibited in Trade Me’s Terms and Conditions.  

 

How to measure your classified website's performance

You will have seen plenty of in industry articles and literature from others (including us!) that make reference to UBs – Unique Browsers and PIs – Page Impressions. So what are these statistics and what do they mean to dealers?

Online traffic is fairly tricky to measure, so the industry standard has become Unique Browsers, or UBs. There are products can track and monitor activity for most of the automotive online classified websites in NZ. This enables us to see where the most people are looking and to easily compare and contrast their performance across a range of different metrics. Some of the metrics that we monitor are Unique Browsers, Page Impressions, and Unique Browser Frequency. Here’s the low-down.

What is a UB?
A UB is a unique internet browser – in layman’s terms, a browser application is the software you use to browse the internet. Browsing can occur from your laptop, work PC, home PC, iPhone etc. Because some people browse the internet from different computers – e.g. work computer, home computer and an iPhone - one person can be counted multiple times – the example of work, home and iPhone would count as 3 UBs. However, if a family of 4 are all using the same computer at home – this is counted as one Unique Browser. By the same token, someone passing around their iPhone at work for people to use the internet on it is counted as one Unique Browser, no matter how many people are using the device. So for the most part, the numbers even out to give a fairly good idea of how many individuals are looking at a website.

So if someone has two computers or a computer and an iPhone where they are looking at the same website – are they counted twice?
Yes. This would account for two unique browsers as the person is using a different browser to access the web, twice. We can also monitor Unique Browser Frequency – how many times is a browser going to the same website – which essentially measures the loyalty to that website.

What is a PI?
PI stands for Page Impression. This measures the number of (fully downloaded) web pages viewed for a selected period.

Why monitor UBs and PIs?
UBs are “the best measure of coverage and reach on the web, and the standard for comparing one site against another.” Jimmy McGee, Trade Me Motors.
PIs are a good measure of engagement on a website. The more Page Impressions - the more that website is being viewed. The longer a viewer stays on your website, the better. Obviously, you have to be careful not to mix the two up when comparing the popularity of sites.

Other than UBs, what other statistics should I be taking note of?
You can also measure a browser’s average session duration, average page duration and total time on site. As well as PIs, a website’s average session duration, average page duration and total time on site are other good ways to measure how ‘sticky’ that website is – are people spending a lot of time on it? UB frequency measures the number of times a UB returns to a certain site, during a given time period. This is a key metric which can measure loyalty to a certain website. “Time on site, total page impressions (PIs) and the average number of visits provide a good read on customer engagement.” Jimmy McGee

How can this information help me sell more cars - why are UBs relevant to me as a car dealer?

Information such as UBs enables dealers to see which websites are more likely to attract a higher audience – measuring the loyalty of that audience. You can also see which websites offer a higher level of engagement, such as websites which have people viewing their site for longer periods of time and are looking at a lot of pages – PIs – which could be your listings.

“The more UBs, the greater the reach. The web also allows us to track ‘depth of use’ through time on site or page impression per session” Jimmy McGee, Trade Me Motor.

Can I find out which areas in NZ our listings viewers are from, or what age they are?
Demographic information can also be measured. This includes information such as region in NZ where the person lives, household income, gender, age, occupation and also information about their online research, purchase and their social media behavior – are they on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Why is all of this relevant to me as a dealer?
Unique Browsers is the standard for comparing one site against another. UBs give you the best idea of how much traffic a website is attracting. Online advertising in New Zealand overtook $250m last year, so as someone in that pool, you would want to know which websites put their listings in front of the most potential buyers in order to get the most bang for your buck. Why waste time uploading, managing, reviewing and checking listings that are either not going to be seen by the largest audience possible, or where that same audience is duplicated?

The good news is, UBs are going up across the board – more people are searching online classifieds. Trade Me Motor’s UBs have gone up by approximately 200,000 in the past 12 months. This is due to more access - more people on computers using broadband and more devices like smartphones and iPads were sold in NZ. More access = more people looking = more sales.

If you would like more information on statistics for classified websites, or want to look into measuring online traffic to your own company website, please do not hesitate to contact us HERE.

When the Big Boys come to town

What can automotive businesses learn from the likes of Google? Well, a lot. When the opportunity arose to attend the iStrategy Global Digital Media conference with keynote speakers from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, ESPN, MTV and Dell, I was not going to turn it down.  One of the best attributes of the internet is that it is ultimately a scalable business model and what works for Dell (who earned $10B US last year in online sales alone) can work for any NZ based car dealership.

Before I discuss the learnings and hopefully provide you with thoughts and ideas on improving your internet results, I would like to cover off the difference between tactics and strategy. There is a lot of great information forthcoming from the US on internet based automotive sales and they do set the benchmark. When watching a pitch from a person perfect hair, bright white teeth, a blue shirt and brown dockers, it is generally a vendor that has identified a revenue leak in your business which they can plug with a product. These are tactical solutions.  

Understanding internet trends and merging this with your business direction is strategy.  

While the internet is not owned by any single entity, it is shaped by a number of very large players. For most of us Google dictates what we see and the order we see it, Facebook provides access to the third largest country in the world (with 650 million virtual inhabitants), Microsoft powers the desktops and gaming consoles we use, Twitter distributes news and information faster than light and the online media companies are replacing broadcast TV in the supply of content. The world is changing rapidly.

At AutoBase we have an advantage that most businesses do not have.  The internet is our day job and we spend many hours ensuring our understanding of the above is translated into value for our customers. Lesson One - Partner with a company that can keep you up to speed and provide advice on emerging trends within the internet environment. Your main focus should be on your strategy for results not buying more and more vendor solutions.

Lesson Two - Presence is the key to strong internet sales. The internet is not a friendly place; it is very competitive and not free. This is the part Google loves as businesses want more and more presence on the web and they are prepared to pay for it. Organic search results (which are the ones where Google does not receive a dollar) are dropping further down on the first page and the sponsored searches and paid for advertising is increasing.  With the Rugby World Cup coming up, try to Google ‘Auckland Bars’.  What you see is the face of the internet future with hotly contested competition for first page internet real-estate. We have a model that we share with our customers outlining that 70% of online spend needs to be on gaining a strong web presence. In our unbiased view this should be directed to Trade Me Motors. A scattered spend on the web gets you nowhere, it needs to be focused to get you to the top of the page.

Lesson Three – 20% of online spend should be targeted at enhancing your listing to ensure a great click through rate.  Using the Trade Me Motors example, a feature listing can be used to place your listings at the top of each relevant search category. While the internet can be a bit hostile the 80/20 rule applies. It is very easy to represent your business within the top 20% as 80% of businesses put very little effort into their web presence. Again, have a look at Google to see this.

Lesson Four - Treat anybody you communicate with as well read. The last Nielsen Automotive Report found that after completing their online research 48% of customers were prepared to drive between one and two hours to visit a dealership. There is also the Gen Y factor where they wish to have more and more of the transaction and discussion completed online.

Lesson Five - Social Media is the panacea.  Well to be honest that is a lie. What social media or what now just seems to be called ‘Social’ provides is access to a secondary customer base. In old school terminology we know it as referrals and repeat business.  These tools and applications provide a great way to stay engaged with existing and potential customers.  The key is not to get too hung up on the hype and to choose what suits your business to communicate with your future customers the best. If you can write an entertaining and engaging blog relatively often (a few paragraphs a couple of times a week is good) - write one; if it does not come easy - don’t.  Twitter may be for you if your customer base is more niche and fast, quick communication is the goal.  Facebook works well if you run community events or provide sponsorship as part of your business strategy. If you are a dealership, do not just blast your cars out there because as the young of today will say ‘Epic Fail’. You want a conversation that leads to a sale.

If some of the above has been of interest we will be running seminars for our customers in the coming months covering these topics and more.  On the chance you have read to here and been totally uninterested drop me a note and I will supply you a list of the best bars and restaurants we found in Melbourne.

Print a copy of this article HERE.

C63 AMG Challenge

Yesterday I experienced an AMG challenge day at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. It wasn't free and it wasn't cheap (although Mercedes Benz NZ told us they had covered the majority of the cost) but it was brilliant. This was the first time an AMG challenge event had been run in New Zealand - these events in Australia are usually sold out in about 7 or 8 minutes, and I know why. Not average, not OK, brilliant. And the cars are also brilliant. If I was in this market I would go and buy one right now.


So, what do you get?
Exclusive use of the 2.8km Hampton Downs track for a day, the use of about 25 Mercedes Benz Events C63 AMG's and a lot of fearless instructors. These guys are all race drivers with their race licences. Some are retired, some are racing at a top level (V8 Supercars) and some are still making their way up. But all with plenty of experience. And as it's MB they really turn it on - you also get an AMG vest, AMG cap and a USB stick that looks like an AMG key. The coffee, refreshments and lunch were all pretty good too.


Hampton Downs
In my limited experience, Hampton Downs is a great track. I've been around it once before, so sort of know the ropes. There's several corners that you just can't see until you're on them - the one at the end of the main straight is most important to pre-empt as it's where you've got the most speed on board.


The cars
The vehicles were all brought in from Australia and are stock standard - exactly the same as you could go and buy right now from an MB dealership. They're powered by AMG's 6.2 litre V8 that delivers 336 kW (or 457 hp in old money) and 600Nm of torque via the AMG Speedshift 7 speed sport transmission. Top speed is limited to 250kph. AMG reckon this car will propel you from 0 - 100kph in 4.4 seconds. Smokin'.


The challenges
The day is split into 2 areas; activities in the morning and track time in the afternoon. The morning activities consist of drag racing, a slalom course and the skid pan. These were challenging and great fun, but the track time was best.


Track time
After lunch the track time was split into 3 sessions based around the cars being limited in speed in order to ease the drivers into some real pace in the final session. The first session was limited to 120kph, the second 150kph and the last was unlimited. During the first and second sessions you're getting instruction and just trying to hit the braking points and corner apex markers. And I should mentioned, the track is well marked with cones so you know where to point the car, so you don't need any experience. 
I particularly enjoyed the last session. And you soon realise it's not all about going fast. There's one golden rule to make a fast lap; slow in = fast out (of corners). If you go in or out of any corner too hot, with the tyres howling, you'll be slow and you'll likely miss the race line. And this directly translates to your speed at the end of the next straight.


So how did I go? 
Well, my mission was to go as fast as I could. And I got positive feedback from the instructors. They didn't time the laps, but as a benchmark, several people asked how fast  they might go. The instructors answers were something like "I don't know how well you can drive". They did tell us the fastest speed they managed down the front straight was about 220kph.
Of course when you're driving flat out, you're really concentrating. So apart from an occasional glance at the speedo, you don't really know how fast you're going. Remember I mentioned a USB stick? Some of the cars are equipped with camera gear to record your drive.They simply plug in the stick and it records.
Video playback is cool and shows the main view out the front of the car and in the left corner a smaller video of you driving. The top left corner is overlaid with an active longitudinal and lateral G-Loading matrix and the bottom right corner shows the speed. The top right shows track position, but they didn't have Hampton Downs loaded. I'm fairly satisfied that my top speed down the front straight was 205kph.

If you're in the market for a sedan that can be very sedate but clearly has race DNA click here. For all other Mercedes Benz, click here.

Reality Check – Are you on your game?

These days most people advertise their vehicles online with dealer & private listings appearing side by side on classified websites.  Private sellers are a dealer’s biggest competition. So is there anything that dealers could learn from private sellers?

Time, Motivation and Emotion

As we see it, there are 3 main factors that distinguish private sellers from dealers that in reality, dealers should be up to play with. Time, Motivation and Emotion. Private sellers spend the time to put blood, sweat and tears into their listings. They only have 1 vehicle to sell – so can put everything into it.  They’re motivated – they need the cash, for a new car, or an overseas trip or some other reason. They have to sell it. They’re emotional – the sale of that vehicle will mean a trip, or an engagement ring or a new car. They put this emotion into their listing, they will think of every single benefit and feature to mention in their listing to promote their vehicle. They tell a story about how great the vehicle has been, how well it runs, and how well they have looked after it.  Let’s take look at the things that private sellers are doing well.

Taking the time

We recommend that dealers spend 30min to 1 hour day 3x a week loading and editing listings.  This is a reasonable amount of time to spend, and you will reap the benefits. You can usually display up to 20 images on your listings – we recommend 10 images minimum which show the exterior and interior of a vehicle. Once the listings are loaded, you can go in and edit them as required. Change around the photos. Add details you may have forgotten. Some vehicle management systems provide features that save you time when loading or editing your stock. For example you may be able to upload multiple images in one go, or load generic information about your dealership onto every listing without cutting and pasting it in one by one, e.g.: “Acme Motors is a family-run industry and has been in Auckland for over 40 years. All Acme Motors vehicles are AA Safety Certified, AA Appraised, AA Serviced, and odometer certified. Delivery can be arranged anywhere in NZ.” Your vehicle management system should enable you to load stock once, and have it appear on your online classified website and your own company website, without having to load each vehicle twice. It is worth asking your VMS supplier about such features which will save you time loading and editing your stock. That bit of extra time spent in creating great listings will benefit you in the long run.

Private sellers may have time to focus on selling one vehicle, but dealers are easily contacted and flexible. A private seller is often at work, cannot be reached all day and cannot show the car at any given time and they are generally slower in following up their leads than a dealer is.

Listing quality

Recently I saw a dealer’s listing for a vintage Mercedes. What did it have in the comments field? Two words –“leather seats”.   Private sellers do not subscribe to the thinking “If people want it – they will contact us”. This just isn’t the case. Buyers search for and compare multiple vehicles online, and are more likely to contact the person whose vehicle has a lot of information and special features listed than one which has a one or two word description. Private sellers put more detail into their listings – they are packed full of features, comments and tell a story about the vehicle. There is a lot of competition on the internet, so you want your vehicles to stand out from the crowd. 

There are free, easy ways to create good quality listings. Firstly, make the most of all the space available to you – fields, comments, photos.  Pack your listings full of key words such as ‘automatic’, ‘turbo’ or ‘economy’ that will be picked up in a buyer’s search results.  Be emotive - tell a story about that vehicle – what condition is it in? How does it drive? List all the features. What special deals or services are you offering around this vehicle?   Vehicles should be treated the same way when advertised online as they are when being sold face to face on the yard. Use classified websites as your ‘digital salesperson, and take the same care and level of detail when listing your vehicles as you would showing that vehicle on the yard. 

Use your levers

Dealers have multiple levers that private seller do not. Private sellers just want to get rid of their vehicle, and have one lever – price. Dealers can use multiple levers when trying to sell the vehicle, such as warranties, finance, price, trade-ins and other comparable vehicles. Dealers also have information on the manufacturer and model of the vehicle that private sellers may not - design changes or important factory information or could offer advice on replacement parts for that vehicle. Promote these benefits and services in listings and when speaking to the buyer to capture their attention.

Promote your knowledge and services

Dealers provide confidence.  Many dealerships offer vehicles that have had full mechanical checks, are AA approved which reassures the buyer that their purchase will not break down a week later, or that they have after sales services available. It is in a dealer’s best interest to make sure that the vehicle is mechanically-sound vehicle and will run OK after sale. Selling a lemon is bad for the dealer’s reputation, so it's in their best interest to sell a reliable, compliant vehicle.

 

 So when listing your vehicles, take a leaf out of the competition’s book – utilize time, motivation and emotion to drive more traffics to your listings and beat private sellers at their own game.