Watch our second vlog to find out about one of the ways we try to remove the stress from dealership life.
Author: Kate Shakesheff
Test drives drive sales
Cooper Solutions highlights the power of the unaccompanied test drive as EV and Hybrid popularity rises
Cooper Solutions is calling upon dealers to recognise the power of an unaccompanied or 48 hour test drive as new research from What Car? reveals more and more consumers expect to test drive more than two models the next time they buy a car. Nearly 32% of car buyers surveyed by daily rate insurance provider, Cooper Solutions, said that an extended test drive would increase the chances of them ‘falling in love’ with the vehicle they were test driving. Despite this, data from Cooper Solutions shows the average test drive offered by dealers lasts just 46 minutes.
Of particular interest to dealers will be the view of What Car? that the rise in choice and popularity of electric or hybrid vehicles will increase demand for test drives of these vehicles, but that it will be a new experience for millions of drivers and they will want to understand what they are buying. This is supported by the findings of the Cooper Solutions survey that revealed 1 in 4 car buyers like to test a car to make sure it fits their lifestyle, which is all the more important if a customer is considering switching from a petrol or diesel vehicle to an electric or hybrid model.
The study also shows that the all-important test drive is more likely to seal the deal, with 43% of buyers saying they would use an extended test drive as an opportunity to show off a potential purchase to friends and family to gauge their opinion and a staggering 89% – admitted that a positive response from loved ones would likely rubberstamp their decision.
Dealers will be concerned to learn that the study by What Car? also showed that 62% of buyers still find contact with dealers difficult. However, the good news is that half of car buyers surveyed by Cooper Solutions said they would feel more positively about a dealer if they were offered an extended or unaccompanied test drive which would help them make a better informed purchase decision.
Dean Pipitone, Director of Cooper Solutions explains: “Those dealers allowing their customers to fully immerse themselves in the driving experience over an extended period of time, are much more likely to benefit. Dealers need to actively encourage customers to go beyond trying out the comfort and the way the vehicle handles in terms of performance, instead focusing on how the car can satisfy their daily needs. Most importantly, it’s the opportunity for other people to admire and envy a potential purchase, particularly if this is an upgrade, where the test drive process substantially increases the chances of a sale.”
*The Cooper Solutions survey results are based on 200 responses from consumers aged 18-55+ conducted by Gorkana Surveys.
Cooper Solutions announces launch of new series of webinars
Our first vlog!
And it’s all about the launch of a new series of webinars.
Motorbike and van appraisal diagrams added to FullAuction and FullAppraisal
Cooper Solutions brings greater specification capabilities to dealers’ fingertips
Van and motorbike dealers can now reap new benefits of FullAppraisal and FullAuction from Cooper Solutions, with the addition of electronic appraisal diagrams. Now dealers can offer the fullest possible level of interior and exterior small damage and repair detail on all of their vehicles, including vans and motorcycles, when assessing them for part exchange or sale.
FullAppraisal, the mobile vehicle appraisal tool from Cooper Solutions, allows dealers to move away from outdated paper-based process to electronic appraisals. Tablet and mobile technology captures vehicle type and customer information accurately for appraisals on the go, helping dealers secure that deal.
Tom Wheeler, Sales Manager for LMC of Farnham in Hampshire comments: “Moving from paper-based to electronic appraisal diagrams when assessing vans gives a better impression when dealing with our customers. We can process information faster and more accurately. Also, by using a second signed appraisal on receipt of the part exchange, we are able to make sure the vehicle is checked properly by the salesman and the mileage updated for remarketing routes.”
This is backed by Lee Sarjeant, Sales and Finance Manager at Vines of Guildford BMW Motorrad who adds: “The team at Cooper Solutions has worked with us to ensure appraisal diagrams and descriptions are specific to bikes only. The process is simple with just a few clicks needed.”
The addition of the motorcycles and vans appraisal diagrams to FullAuction means that is the only vehicle auction platform offering this capability. FullAuction is an alternative route to market for franchised dealer trade cars that minimises transaction costs, attracts hundreds of validated trade buyers and is quick and easy to list, sell and deliver.
“Thanks to the new van and motorcycle appraisal diagrams, dealers using FullAppraisal or FullAuction can share the highest level of specification detail on their vehicles,” explains Simon Whicher, General Manager at Cooper Solutions. “Dealers using both FullAppraisal and FullAuction benefit from vehicle specification details being seamlessly integrated into FullAuction, eliminating duplication, saving time and improving accuracy.
“This latest upgrade is part of our commitment to offering the level of information dealers need to differentiate them from their competitors, whilst enjoy a seamless and powerful online appraisal and auction experience.”
Cooper Solutions Invests In Technical Expertise
Gayan Thilakarathna appointed Software Developer
Cooper Solutions is appointing Gayan Thilakarathna as Software Developer, as part of its ongoing commitment to investing in talent. Gayan brings 10 years of experience in software development and will play a key role in driving forward technological innovations that will help strengthen its Cooper Solutions services to the dealer community.
Gayan’s experience includes coding, as well as design and analysis, which will be invaluable in his new role. Gayan says, “This is an exciting opportunity for me to use my existing skills to design software that supports the specific needs of dealers, by delivering accessible solutions that can be easily integrated into their business.”
Barry Cooper, Managing Director for Cooper Solutions, comments, “Gayan’s appointment to the team demonstrates our focus on continually enhancing our software to deliver the latest solutions. By investing in the expertise of our software development team our customers will gain access to the cutting edge technology designed to assist with the changing demands of the marketplace and have confidence that they are using the latest IT solutions to help meet their business needs.”
Keep more of the profits yourself
Just moving from physical to an online auction platform could more than double trade sales profits
Looking at over 71,000 car sales, our research confirms that physical auction fees are usually bigger than the profits that selling retailers make. That ratio simply isn’t good for business for today’s retailer.
Retailers using physical auctions are usually happy as the results are better than they were used to getting when dealing with local traders, and the transaction is transparent and secure.
What they don’t realise is the stark difference in transaction costs between the physical and online auction route, and this will always reflect in the profits made. Given their business model, the physical auction houses need a high transaction cost to pay for their overheads. With lower buyers fees, sellers tend to see bigger profits as buyers have ‘more in the pot’ to bid with.
FullAuction has sold over 69,000 franchised retailers’ trade cars since it was launched – savvy retailers already use the platform as part of their core disposal strategy.
Specialist Cars Collaborates With Cooper Solutions To Achieve A Seamless CDK Drive Migration
Partnership removes an age old IT challenge for dealers
Specialist Cars, one of the largest privately owned BMW and MINI retailer groups in the UK, has undertaken a seamless DMS migration to CDK Drive, and benefited from strengthened financial and forecasting capabilities, thanks to its partnership with Cooper Solutions.
In addition to the move to CDK Drive, the DMS provider of choice for BMW and MINI, Specialist Cars was able to create a bespoke solution that maintained access to Cooper Solutions’ range of services, including FullForecast, FullCover and FullAppraisal.
“We have been utilising FullForecast for over a decade, and it revolutionised our business from the outset. To this day, it continues to deliver a level of forecasting and accounting that is superior to any alternative solution on the market. So when the time came to switch to a new DMS solution, it was crucial for us to be able to continue benefiting from its real-time financial reporting. Any sustained interruption would have had a significant impact on the business and our daily operations,” explains Clive James, Finance Director for Specialist Cars.
In addition to avoiding disruption to daily financial reporting, Cooper Solutions enabled Specialist Cars to mitigate risk on customer courtesy and demonstration vehicles by ensuring FullCover’s fleet management and daily rate insurance offering was sustained throughout the migration.
Specialist Cars believes that the success of its seamless Drive migration was driven by a team of experts within the Cooper Solutions business, who combine powerful knowledge of state-of-the-art IT systems and algorithms, with a coherent understanding of motor retailing processes. Continues Clive James, “More than just a provider of technology solutions, Cooper Solutions understands motor retailing, delivering bespoke, dedicated services that cater to our needs which strategically support our business. This is why Cooper Solutions continues to be a first choice partner for Specialist Cars.”
Andrew Whicher, General Manager at Cooper Solutions adds, “This successful migration builds on our long-standing relationship of over 14 years. Not only were we able to ensure the smooth, consistent operation of our solutions which Specialist Cars rely upon daily, we were perfectly placed as a consultant to assist them in the mapping of thousands of accounting codes that enabled quick and easy reconciliation of accounts, whilst retaining prior year information.
“This was only achievable because at Cooper Solutions we have a team of passionate motor industry specialists, working with dealers to maximise the benefits of today’s technology in building business profitability, alongside customer loyalty and retention.”
Avoid overspending on unneccesary costs at auction
We launched FullAuction, our online trade remarketing platform, in 2011 and since then Cooper Solutions has grown successfully across many areas of our business. We’ve seen:
• Total annual revenue rise by 133%
• Employees nearly double to 32
• Annually subscribing franchised dealers up from 1247 to over 2000
• Dealer demo and loan cars insured on a daily basis up to over 9000 per day
An excellent record of success achieved through great people working together to develop, market and support software solutions that help retailers’ processes, performance and profitability.
Interesting then to note that during that time FullAuction hasn’t enjoyed the remarkable success we’ve come to expect.
Almost 75000 cars have been sold at an average profit of £159 per car; more than 2000 buyers have registered with us, of which more than 1700 purchased a vehicle in the last 12 months.
However, these numbers are slight compared to those seen by physical auction houses which remain the remarketing channel of choice, despite typically making more than the selling dealer from the transaction because of the high buyers’ fees they charge.
Given the declining profitability of sales departments and dealers in general, isn’t it time to ring the changes with a shift to online auction – it adds as much value, but with a far lower overhead.
Across all our solutions nothing can make a retailer more incremental revenue than FullAuction.
VW Trust Group Streamlines Its Courtesy Car Fleet Operations With FullCover
Cooper Solutions’ partnership boosts customer satisfaction and brings financial gain
VW Trust Group’s partnership with Cooper Solutions is benefitting from utilising the FullCover fleet management system, helping it improve the management of, and insuring, its courtesy car fleet. Thanks to the collaboration, VW Trust’s courtesy car service is also now a profit earning opportunity for the business, delivering real added value to customers.
Operating in the West Midlands, VW Trust Group has a fleet of over 40 courtesy cars across the Group’s 6 dealership locations and FullCover from Cooper Solutions streamlines the entire short-term insurance administration process for the fleet. Complementing the Group’s existing CDK dealer platform, the automated system also validates the driver’s licence details, making bookings much quicker for both dealer and customer, whilst bringing greater peace of mind for VW Trust Group that it is financially protected in the event of an accident. The capability to extract customer data from the CDK dealer platform, eliminates duplication and ensures accurate reporting. FullCover includes a day rate insurance option for customers as standard, enabling the VW Group to benefit from a lower insurance premium for its own motor trade policy.
The Cooper Solutions team provided coaching and training sessions from the outset of the collaboration, ensuring the VW Trust’s customer service team knows how to maximise the benefits of FullCover. Not only does the system’s suite of accountable reports put users in control of their courtesy car fleet, it expedites the claims process, providing a seamless conclusion for the benefit of all concerned. Furthermore, meeting GDPR requirements, FullCover removes the need for the Group to store physical loan forms and copies of driving licences.
“By working closely with Cooper Solutions, we were able to put the spotlight on an area of our business that was not yielding results for us or our customers, crucially, we’ve been able to turn a loss making administration process into a profit earning, added-value customer service,” explains Andrew Hockedy, Managing Director for VW Trust Group.
“FullCover keeps track of our courtesy cars, speeds up bookings and reduces our overheads – not least of which because it protects our claims history and reduces our own insurance premium. These benefits have all been key to us in improving performance across our Group. FullCover has made a tangible difference, backed by ongoing expert support from the Cooper Solutions team.”
Dean Pipitone, director of Cooper Solutions, adds, “We will continue to work closely with VW Trust Group to help them deliver an enhanced customer experience that protects their business. FullCover is designed to put dealers in control of their fleet, offering detailed reports and a streamlined process that generates revenue and boosts customer retention.”
Find Your Vehicle’s Perfect Match On FullAuction
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