Dave Brown

Thanks very much for your feedback everyone – we'll compile some responses for a website post first thing tomorrow and probably include some comments in the next printed mag. Have a good evening and stay safe and healthy.

Hi all, the Car Dealer team have been talking to dealer groups about coronavirus. Is there anything you've started doing to help keep everyone safe but keep your business moving? We'd be interested to hear. https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/coronavirus-dealers-midst-crisis/187946

CODEWEAVERS is seeking dealers’ views on forthcoming changes to the automotive industry finance market. It’s all part of the White Paper that the ecommerce platform specialist is preparing for this year’s CDX, whose motto is Looking To The Future. Read more here: https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/have-your-say-about-automotive-industry-finance-market-shake-up/187507

THE team from software development experts Codeweavers will be present at this year’s CDX, looking at all things data. The session, entitled, ‘Why do car buyers want to personalise finance at 4pm but reserve a car at 10pm?’ will be hosted by Paul Boocock, Codeweavers’ head of data insight and Rebecca Boocock, who is the firm’s head of delivery. Rebecca Boocock explained what to expect from the workshop. She said: ‘What we’re looking to do is stage an interactive session that answers a question for the attendees. ‘The question revolves around what online behaviour can tell us about car buyers. We’ll look at what their behaviour tells us in terms of what car they will buy, when they’ll buy it and what their journey might be. ‘We’re hoping to come away from the workshop with some nice insight that dealers will be able to use to tailor their customer journey to attract the right people. ‘And of course, it’s also things like if the weather is nice, people are more likely to buy a convertible. It’s trying to tie all of that stuff together.’ Boocock also explained that, while keeping tabs on data is key, knowing what to read from it is even more important: ‘I think there’s always a danger with data to overstate its value. ‘There are so many ways to interpret data; you really need to know its context. We will be talking about how you can potentially be misled by your data. It is extremely valuable, but you always need to take it with a bit of a health warning, and not let it completely dictate the direction of your business.’ Paul and Rebecca will also take attendees through what it is that leads car buyers to perform certain actions online at certain times, such as personalising a finance quote or applying for finance. They will show how you can find trends within data, start to model predictions of user behaviour, and use this insight to drive improvements to your online car sales. The Codeweavers team aim for its workshop attendees to be prepared to start asking the right questions of their data, with a further understanding of how it can help their businesses. CDX 2019 will take place at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FREE TICKETS!

THOUSANDS of dealers across the UK are using Facebook to their advantage in the areas of sales and marketing – and you’ll be able to find out more about how it can help YOU at this year’s CDX. Researchers from the massively popular social media site recently discovered that two thirds of consumers would prefer to send an online message to a friend or business than pick up the phone or send an email. And that’s where Facebook comes in with its Messenger service. Over the past 18 months, Facebook has developed best practice that enables OEMs and retailers to come together to provide a seamless customer experience through social media that also drives increased conversion rates. OEMs build brand favourability, model awareness and product consideration via Facebook and Instagram, and thanks to Facebook’s ability to track when consumers are showing signs that they are ready to buy, it can ensure your local marketing activity targets the right people at the right time. REGISTER FOR YOUR FREE CDX TICKET HERE This workshop is relevant for franchised retailers and independents who will able to… Discover how Facebook can seamlessly connect OEM and retailer marketing efforts to target the right customer at the right time with the right message; Learn how OEMs have built messenger bots to help qualify customers, and connect them to retailers; Learn how Facebook can then seamlessly transfer the customer to the retailer, to continue the conversation in real time. You’ll also be shown examples of best practice, and how you can upskill your marketing to capitalise on the new way consumers are preferring to interact with businesses. If your contact rate of consumers has been declining in recent years, this workshop will show you how to reverse that trend. It will be presented by Aiden White, client solutions manager, autos, for Facebook UK. Aiden works with the UK’s leading OEMs and their agencies to deliver campaigns across the Facebook ‘ecosystem’ as well as drive closer collaboration with their retailer networks. Another great reason to come to CDX 2019 at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre, on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. VIDEO: Why YOU should be at this year's CDX!

CDX 2019 will be hosting 12 best-practice workshops throughout the day and they’re not to be missed! We are proud to announce the first two of these sessions, brought to you by two of the biggest names in their respective fields. In these workshops, dealers will be able to assess their performance online and consider better opportunities to drive sales with in-market car buyers. The workshops will also feature a dealer partner sharing their own experience and insight with their industry peers. WORKSHOP 1: Why end-to-end online retailing should be the next step for your dealership Presented by Paul Stokes, head of online retailing at GForces, and Katie Newton, group business development manager at RRG Group With GForces predicting the number of cars sold completely online will grow significantly by mid-2020, this workshop will show you why offering customers the option to complete the entire transaction on your website is an opportunity not to be missed. The session will be presented by GForces’ head of online retailing Paul Stokes, who was previously managing director of Rockar. He will explain what the current marketplace position is and why we are seeing this change. His role has been to look at the way GForces reacts to this, and he’ll explain what it has done and how dealers can change to facilitate this for their customers. Stokes will be joined in this workshop by Katie Newton from RRG Group, which has recently adopted end-to-end online retailing on their website. She will explain why they wanted to do this and what sales they have seen already. WORKSHOP 2: The top three digital marketing tricks that deliver real results Presented by Tanesha Stafford, co-founder of Armchair Marketing, and Neil Smith, operations director at Imperial Cars ‘Fifty per cent of your marketing works – the trouble is, we don’t know which 50 per cent!’ Every day, dealers spend money on being seen online, but what is the real value? In this session, ex-dealer marketer and co-founder of Armchair Marketing, Tanesha Stafford, will explain how a powerful, results-driven online strategy can positively boost your offline sales. She will explain how you can get the maximum reach for your brand but in the most relevant context and with the desired impact. This session will give you simple advice that you can take back to your dealership immediately, to not only boost sales by driving in-market car buyers through your business, but also protect those customers from competitors and increase recruitment applications. Stafford will be joined by Neil Smith, Imperial Cars operations director, who will explain how this marketing approach has helped his company expand from six to 13 sites in only three years. CDX takes place at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre on June 12. Get your free tickets and find out more here.

THE latest edition of Car Dealer is now available online – for the discounted price of just 99p! It’s our annual Road Test of the Year issue and this year our team of writers head to north Wales with a selection of cars including a Volkswagen Up! GTI, Ford Fiesta ST, Alpine A110 and a BMW M3 CS. We put them through their paces on some of the best driving roads the UK has to offer and our team of expert testers deliver their verdicts and choose their winner. In issue 128, we also have eight pages of coverage from this year’s Paris Motor Show. We take an in-depth look at Peugeot’s e-Legend autonomous electric concept and chat to the bosses of Kia, JLR and Peugeot about their plans for the future. That’s not all! We have some great contributions from our regular columnists this month. Big Mike tells us why he sources stock by buying privately these days; James Baggott wonders whether his phone is eavesdropping on him and Rebecca Chaplin explains why the car trade could probably learn a thing or two from the hotel industry. We also focus on leading providers of dealer reviews & approved schemes and auctions & trade-to-trade platforms, talking to some of the leading suppliers who can help your business run more smoothly and boost your bottom line. The Nissan e-NV200 is put through its paces and we provide an update on three members of our long-termer fleet – the Citroen C3 Aircross, Seat Arona and Kia Stonic. With the latest car and LCV registration figures from the SMMT, two pages of feedback from our readers and our ever-popular finance, auctions and aftermarket sections, issue 128 of Car Dealer is not to be missed! Click here to get hold of your online copy for just 99p.

Hi all, quick one from the editorial team at Car Dealer. We're looking into rumours / reports of potentially quite big cuts to the Vauxhall network. If anyone would like to chat to us for a potential report on the issue, please get in touch. We can run quotes anonymously if need be. Call me (Dave!) on 023 9252 2434 or have your say here. Thanks.

Morning all, I hope no-one minds but I have just sent a link to this thread to our friends at Lawgistics. They are very busy people but might have something helpful to add to the discussion and maybe clarify things a bit ! Have a good Friday.

The point I found most interesting – apart from the percentages and various breakdown stats – is that the story suggested that fundamentally, the internet might not be the holy grail and the answer to everything. That in itself would appear to contradict a lot of current thinking. Be interested in more views on this one!

We'll definitely include this pic in the next edition of Baa Dealer if that's OK ! (sorry)

Good grief, these are disgusting! We'll publish a couple in the March edition of the mag..!

Thanks for the replies guys, interesting stuff

Hi all.. We're looking at the issue of servicing hybrid cars for the next edition of Workshop, the new(ish) sister title to Car Dealer. In particular, we are looking at the subject from the perspective of independents – and whether there are any issues they face, maybe around training / equipment etc. Are independents missing out on work? Are manufacturers playing fair? Any other issues we should be looking at? All comments welcome! We don't have a particular axe to grind, just looking at exploring the issue in general terms. Thanks for reading! – Car Dealer Dave

Congrats to all the winners at Car Dealer Power last night! A great night was had by all…. Does anyone who was there have any feedback for us? Did the suppliers you voted for do well? ….

Morning all, here's a story we ran on the website yesterday. We just got chatting about the 'blow up gorillas' and 'windy men' John Smyth mentions …. anyone else remember marketing techniques that seem a bit dated now…? And while marketing today is very sensible and process-driven, to coin a phrase, is it as much fun as it used to be? What did you used to get up to?

Morning all, just wondering what people's views are on this story...?

I'm looking into it too. I'd like to add my apologies.... just been slapped round the head by James so I'm on it. We'll be in touch via email.

Happy Friday everyone Interesting piece in the Telegraph, just thought forum people might like to see it! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/car-manufacturers/ford/10988687/How-the-bland-Fiesta-has-become-the-glittering-jewel-in-Fords-crown.html

I think you mean 'Go Fun Yourself' Batch...

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you had a good day.

http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/dealership-use-little-help-mary/82268 OK, so after focusing on the UK's struggline high streets, Mary Portas wants to give car dealers 'some fresh ideas.' Would this help anyone...? Anyone thinking of taking part in the programme mentioned in our story today ? Be interested to know your thoughts! :-)