Have you ever bought a shiny new toy and felt let down at the results? I bought a rather expensive digital SLR camera and the initial results we poorer than I expected. I could at this stage have sent the camera back to the (online) shop I bought it from, complaining that this expensive bit of kit didn’t work. However I know that many people can make this camera produce stunning photos, that’s why I bought it.  I saw their results and wanted to join their club.  So I practiced, tested, read-up and generally experimented and the results gradually improved. Sure I will never be a David Bailey but through experimentation and gradual improvement the tool I had purchased demonstrated that it was more than capable of doing the job.

Finance calculators on the web are no different.  Shiny and new on your site you will have high expectations of the results, however much like my adventures with the camera quality results are by no means guaranteed out of the box.

Like all other offers on the web, the effectiveness of your finance offer is significantly linked to the quality of presentation and visibility of that offer.  You may well have the strongest finance on the web but if it’s hidden away eight clicks from the home page, deep on the site then few people will find and interact with it. When your customers eventually find the calculators if it is not obvious how to use them or if the information is unclear or poorly presented you will again alienate them and prevent interaction. Use best practice to present the finance offer.  Test the layout on real customers and use their feedback.  Increase the visibility and accessibility of your finance offers by providing explanatory content and even product videos.

Check your offer.  Try out different rates to find the best compromise between lower rates which will lead to more enquiries and higher rates which will potentially result in fewer.  Selectively display your products putting your best foot forward.  Perhaps show PCP if available, if not show Lease Purchase and fall back to Hire Purchase. Only showing one product at a time may make the information clearer to your customers and encourage interaction.  You could also experiment with the default offer (the offer your customers see before they adjust any figures).

When making changes try adjusting just a single factor at a time. Monitor the results for long enough to get data.  If you have a busy site, a change over the weekend may well provide enough time, if however your site attracts fewer visitors it may take a little longer before the effects of any changes can be accurately measured.  Remember that what works today may not work tomorrow so I suggest continually tweaking your offers.

With effort, practice and experimentation your gleaming new finance offers can drive real improvements in finance penetration and significantly increase vehicle enquiries. Remember, it’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it!

We’ve just added a neat new feature to our finance proposal form.

In order to make it easier for the customer to forward a proposal form to a Dealer, we have made the Bank Details section of the form optional.
As the customer can now skip this section it should be more likely that partially completed finance proposals are submitted.
There have traditionally been two reasons why the customer may not complete the bank details section:

- they are uncomfortable putting their bank details on a website form (even if that form is secure)
- they don’t have their bank details to hand at the time

The Dealer can then make contact with the customer and request the bank details in order for the proposal form to be competed.

Codeweavers are extremely pleased to announce that Volvo Cars UK Ltd have gone live with interactive finance calculations on their UK Used Car Locator.

Designed to provide Volvo web customers with an enhanced experience, the Codeweavers supplied service highlights how affordable a used Volvo can be when purchased with dealer finance. The calculators allow customers to specify their own PCP and HP quotations based upon the Volvo Car Financial Services product rules. The customer can request as many calculations as they wish, allowing them to model different scenarios for deposit, term of agreement, and annual mileage.

Lead generation from the website is important to Volvo Cars UK, so once the ideal finance quotation has been obtained, the customer can then request that this quotation be e-mailed through to their Inbox. Again, the customer can request multiple quotations if desired, with each one being compliant with the new Consumer Credit Directive rules.

Codeweavers worked closely with both Santander Consumer Finance (the supplier of the Volvo Car Financial Services products) and Autotorq (the supplier of the Volvo Cars UK website) to deliver this project. Martin Hill, Commercial Director of Codeweavers, said: “We are proud to be working with Volvo Cars UK and the rest of the project team on this exciting initiative. We are extremely confident that the new functionality will reinforce Volvo Car Financial Services as being the best way for the customer to fund their used Volvo”.

Mazda Motors UK Ltd have gone Live with Codeweavers interactive finance services on their UK Used Car Locator.

Easy to use, clear and compliant, the Mazda Used Car Locator can now allow a web customer to browse all UK dealer stock and then configure their own finance package to suit their needs. As well as enhancing the Mazda.co.uk user experience, the Codeweavers service ensures that vehicles are made affordable through Mazda Financial Services. Integrated finance calculators allow customers to specify their own PCP and Conditional Sale quotations based upon the Mazda Financial Services product rules. The customer can request as many calculations as they wish, allowing them to model different scenarios before making contact with the dealer.

Customers can also request search results by using an amazing ‘payment search‘ tool that offers customers an entirely new way of searching used car stock. This tool represents a radical departure from the traditional ‘model and derivative’ search. The monthly payment range, deposit, annual mileage and term of agreement can all be controlled by the customer, allowing them to get the most choice and value for their monthly budget.

Whether the customer searches by payment or not, the service makes it easy for the customer to take the next step and contact the dealer. The customer can request that their tailored quotation be e-mailed through to their Inbox. The customer can request multiple quotations if desired, with each one being compliant with the new Consumer Credit Directive rules – extremely useful if the customer is looking at several alternative vehicles.

Codeweavers worked closely with both Santander Consumer Finance (the supplier of the Mazda Financial Services products) and GForces (the supplier of the Mazda Motors UK website) to deliver this project. Martin Hill, Commercial Director of Codeweavers, said: “Mazda are renowned for building vehicles that exceed expectations. We are proud to have worked with Mazda Motors UK and the rest of the project team to provide a service that would reinforce this mantra, and we look forward to working with them in the future”.

Ideally, I’m sure you would have your best sales executive sat in front of every customer that you were trying to sell a car to. Similarly, your best business manager would be perfectly suited to present your F&I offering to every customer. However, this isn’t possible in most instances – especially if you have retail sites that are spread over a wide area.

So is there a way of making sure that every customer that visits your website gets a clear and consistent message every time? I believe that this is possible, and one of the best ways to ensure this consistent approach is to use bespoke video content.

In an earlier post I discussed my thoughts on adding video from a search marketing perspective (research shows that you are 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google if your site has relevant video content, and that customers spend 20-40% more time on sites with video) but this month I would like to build the case from a customer education and customer engagement angle.

When you think about it, video content tailored to your business makes so much sense.

How much more effective would a presentation of your service plans or GAP insurance be if you could dictate the message rather than someone else?

Also, by being forced to concentrate on the main features and benefits of your business, you should end up with a more focused message that has less ‘sales spin’.

But controlling the message that reaches your existing and potential customers is not the only benefit. You can also track the number of customer views of the video, and how long it has been watched for. Also, you can use video tactically – for special offers and important announcements, for instance. However it is used, tailored video content will assist in providing the customer with genuine reasons why they should buy from you.

At Codeweavers we have been successfully been producing bespoke video content now for some time. The results from some of our clients are extremely encouraging – some have hundreds or even thousands of views per month, with nearly 70% of customers watching the video all the way through (my video colleagues assure me that this is a very impressive figure!). We have also noticed that customers are viewing the content on many different platforms – iPhones, iPads, laptops – even Playstations and XBoxes!

Quite simply, when you have tailored video across your site you can increase the popularity of your web pages. Most people prefer to watch rather than read, so share your message and create a dynamic website that attracts and keeps visitors.

Codeweavers can help you make this a reality, so get in touch with me to further explore the possibilities that video can bring.