Category: FullControl

Cooper Solutions continues to invest in talent with the appointment of Quinncy Dempster as an Account Manager

Posted on by Kate Shakesheff

Quinncy has 17 years’ experience within the automotive industry, having worked for Pendragon as a New Car Sales Executive and Motability Specialist at Evans Halshaw Ford, Milton Keynes.

Having previously worked for Purchase Direct as a Key Account Manager for franchise dealers such as TrustFord and Motorline, and more recently for GEMCO in the same capacity as a Key Account Manager for Manufacturers such as JLR & Toyota, Quinncy has an all round knowledge of the workings of the sector.

Quinncy said: ‘I met Dean Pipitone some time ago through Purchase Direct, and so have been aware of Cooper Solutions and its offering to the automotive industry for some time.  The reputation of the business is very good, and highly regarded.’

Quinncy has joined the FullControl and FullForecast team, focussing on helping shape process and controls in financial and stock management.   Andrew Whicher, Product Director and Head of FullControl and FullForecast, commented: ‘We’re delighted to have Quinncy on board.  With his extensive experience working within the automotive industry, he understands and empathises with the challenges faced by retailers.  He is ideally placed to be able to support our customers as we continue to enable them to increase profitability and performance.’

Quinncy has been enjoying learning about Cooper Solutions’ suite of products, and how they benefit customers in the business’ mission to improve process, performance and profitability.  He continued: ‘Coopers is extremely efficient, and professional, and everyone is very helpful and welcoming, and I’m looking forward to meeting our customers and providing them with proactive Account Management.’

Outside work, Quinncy enjoys playing golf, gardening, cooking and walking with his dog Pippi.

With unaccompanied test drive theft on the rise, PIB’s Motor Trade Practice Group looks at how to mitigate risk whilst keeping customer satisfaction at the forefront

Posted on by Kate Shakesheff

The pandemic and regulations around social distancing meant that the number of accompanied test drives decreased dramatically, whilst unaccompanied test drives increased.

Even before lockdowns came into place, the trend showed that customers found test driving a car without a sales executive far preferable.  In fact, recent research from AX showed that almost two thirds (63%) of drivers want unaccompanied test drives to become standard practice*.

Our analysis corroborates this, where the number of loans has increased by 33% from pre-pandemic to post lockdown**.

Unaccompanied test drives offer a far better experience where a potential buyer can test a car for comfort, equipment and handling when the pressure is taken off them, and many feel more positively about a dealer when offered this form of test drive, welcoming the opportunity to make a more informed purchase decision.

However the freedom presented by an unaccompanied test drive also raises the risk involved for the dealership.  The theft of a vehicle would result in not only the loss of an asset, but retailers will be required to pay an excess which can range from 15% to 25% on the value of that vehicle depending on the insurance solution in place.

As a customer-led industry, retailers cannot ignore the positive uplift in sales following unaccompanied test drives.  This shift in customer expectation means it is vital to protect against the possibility of financial loss.

There are a number of ways where retailers can mitigate this risk, for instance:

  • Consider quality short-term insurance cover for sales demonstration vehicles, so that in the unfortunate event of an incident, the right protection at the right price is in place
  • Ensure sales teams remain vigilant in circumstances, for example, where the customer has arrived at the dealership without a vehicle, and therefore has no asset with them, or the vehicle they arrived on site in differs greatly in terms of value and quality from the vehicle they intend to test drive. Thorough licence checks must be carried out, and second forms of identification cross-checked.

By ensuring these measures are put in place, dealers can enhance the customer experience with unaccompanied test drives and boost their bottom line at the same time, whilst reducing financial risk to their businesses.

James Cooper, Product Director, at Cooper Solutions commented: ‘Our data gives us a great insight into how customer expectations have changed.  It’s clear that unaccompanied test drives are here to stay.  The crucial issue is that retailers protect any financial risk to their businesses whilst providing an excellent customer experience.’

PIB’s Motor Trade Practice Group can support retailers on key measures to help mitigate the risk, whilst supporting businesses maximise opportunities for profitability.  Comprising PIB Insurance Brokers, PIB Risk Management and Cooper Solutions, together they work together to deliver tailored insurance solutions to the automotive industry.

To find out more, please contact James Cooper or call 01926 855055

 

Sources:

*https://www.am-online.com/news/market-insight/2021/07/13/car-buyers-want-unaccompanied-test-drives-post-covid-research-finds

**Cooper Solutions data: sales number of loans July-August 2019 and July-August 2021

 

How can your dealership avoid getting stuck with over-age stock?

Posted on by Kate Shakesheff

It’s a question dealers are faced with every day. Good retailers, whatever their industry, know that efficient stock control is crucial to success and profit. In the automotive industry especially, there are so many factors that can have an adverse effect on profit potential where stock that isn’t being actively managed is harder to sell and worth less.

There are four steps to ensuring the right margin is achieved:
Appraise and buy well;
Prep fast;
Price competitively;
Maximise sales opportunities

We can help you move through these steps quickly allowing you to achieve consistent profitability with your retail car sales.
Want to find out how you can increase your stock turn, volume and retail profitability?  Call us or email us to ask how FullControl can work for you.

Stephen James Beats The Used Sales Race Against Time With FullControl

Posted on by Kate Shakesheff

Cooper Solutions FullControl increases productivity by 20%

The Stephen James Group, an authorised BMW and MINI Group with 7 dealerships across London and Kent, has seen a significant reduction in preparation time after adopting Cooper Solutions’ FullControl.

FullControl is a web based used stock management system and works to give dealerships complete control over used car stock. Analysis by Cooper Solutions has found that 40% of all used vehicles are sold for less than the budgeted profit per unit, and with retailers having just 45 days to make budgeted profit levels on used cars it means they are effectively in a race against time. It is therefore essential that dealers ensure that processes are in place to optimise speed and quality of preparation, helping them to turn stock around efficiently and quickly.

Using FullControl has helped the Stephen James Group successfully reduce its preparation time turn around as well as reducing time spent reporting, which for many retailers can be the difference between successfully achieving better than budget profit per unit or not. The system helps retailers stay on top of business developments with CDK extracts providing automated stocklists and controls at the click of a button. Stephen James benefits from an awareness of what is unprepared, prep statuses and measurement of how long it takes to prepare vehicles. CDK cannot give an indication of when a vehicle is fully prepared, so Full Control helps by providing retailers with a framework to track used stock from day 1 of it landing.

FullControl also helps retailers by reducing unexpected preparation costs, highlighting overage vehicles, providing sale price action history and reducing average order to delivery times. Iain Mackay, Used Car Stock Manager at Stephen James BMW, Enfield says: “Anyone who works in the used car industry can appreciate that there’s always one car that takes much longer to get out to the forecourt. There are many factors affecting how long a vehicle takes to be prepared and sometimes, it really is as simple as a car being blocked in somewhere on the dealer premises. FullControl helps us effectively manage preparation times by telling us the exact date a car came in enabling us to quickly focus on any cars that need to be prepared whilst avoiding overage stock.

“FullControl updates in real time, storing all the information we need for reporting as well as for producing comprehensive stock lists in one place. Using this system has significantly improved productivity and proved a big benefit to how we run our business.”

Andrew Whicher of Cooper Solutions says: “FullControl removes the need to manually maintain stock lists, instead benefiting from a much more accurate and timely stocklist as a result of CDK extracts. Changes made in CDK are reflected in real time in our solution. Newly adopted stock appears on For Sale stocklists sooner, and conversely, confirmed orders are removed immediately, price changes updated and it is quick and easy to differentiate between whether a car has been prepped or not. A general rule of thumb for all retailers should be a 3 day turnaround increasing to 5 days for a car that requires bodywork. It can be a struggle to measure this aspect of used stock.

“FullControl helps in various stages of the sales process. A good example of this is the integration of the FullCover fleet management system that provides date rate insurance for demos against retailer or group stock. Whilst providing management with real time actionable MI to increase stock turn and improve profitability of their used car business.”

June 2017