Autotrader

[umesh 336]

I’ll throw this in and lets see what you guys think !
In reality ALL WE want is to advertise our cars for the cheapest method and get the best return /sales , but business constraints / open market /return on investment etc etc all dictate what can be done for what price.
Also in reality WE Know Autotrader cannot bring down prices , So what can they do to make us all happy ! or how can they help us all ?
magic wand – ideal situation- Fire away and lets see what ideas we can throw in , and just ,maybe just we can gain something from us all….

Thoughts Guys ?

 

[Rosemotors 31]

A level playing field would be nice. I want to compete by quality and value for money, not on advertising budget.

[Daylight 28]

What makes you say they cannot bring prices down Umesh?

[Magenta Motors 0]

They could start by not compressing images and auto-colour correcting to the point where the images look horrific on anything bigger than an ipad/tablet (I'm going to start a new thread on this when I get the chance).

No other sire does this, RAC Cars, Ebay, Motors, Gumtree etc., and they are all substantially cheaper than Autotrader.

The other thing they could do is extend adverts to run for monthly cycles, three weeks is a joke and messes accounts per unit of stock.

Also, the pay as you go represents little value for money – you can't add a strapline to the advert or a dealer logo. Then there is the issue of the worthless weekly stats email which consist of 'your advert has been viewed 80 times', it's totally unhelpful. I don't have enough stock at present to justify one of their 'special monthly plans' and frankly I'm so uninspired by them I will try to avoid this route for as long as I can until things improve.

The above is just for starters...

Was that ok for my first post on this fine forum?!

 

[James Baggott 227]

Welcome to the forum!

[Cornish Guy 45]

What makes you say they cannot bring prices down Umesh?

Huge debts to service!

[James Bush 95]

I think they need to get back to basics and reconnect with their customer......us!! They constantly update current products, introduce new features and redesign the website and much of it isn't required or requested. I don't think any AT employee has any experience of working in a dealer and therefore tend to guess at a customers online journey into buying a vehicle. Also the constant price increases are unwelcome without any justification of what "extra" we are getting for our money.

I think they need to remember first and foremost they are a platform for people to view cars for sale on and then put them in touch with the dealer, I sometimes think they are trying to sell the car for us. I've had several comments from customers annoyed with the pop ups for new cars, finance, insurance, GAP etc and it takes the customers focus away from actually searching for a car.

I'm sure some dealers find a lot of there extra paid for features useful and to be fair I pay for a couple that I see as value but when they launch a new product its almost forced upon us. I think they should simplify the packages and introduce a very simple base level just to advertise a car with no fuss much like eBay, RAC cars etc.

But......my biggest annoyance is there "take it or leave it attitude", we're the market leader so pay up or leave!! and I honestly believe somebody will come to market and offer something a little different and take a lot of their custom. Do you know of any other company that's main core of customers constantly moan about them? I don't think it would take anything ingenious to take a lot of their custom? pay per enquiry or regional model maybe?

[Jack Regan 116]

Prices down that's it !  And cut out all the crap they do to try and justify their prices.

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

What AT should offer everyone is a deal like this - Cancel your contract and we will refund you your last 3 months advertising spend with AT, but if you decide to come back within the next 12 months you pay DOUBLE the price. Hopefully then car dealer will focus on the job a little more once the comfort blanket of blaming AT for everything is taken away. Of course BCA will then be next in the firing line because they sell cars for over CAP Clean.

There is lots AT can do, clearer pricing structure, rep back on the road to work with you, less tangled produces and a simpler approach. Truth is there are car dealers out there doing ok, making money whilst using advertising with AT, there are lots of people searching for cars via AT so it can't be all bad. Motors have lots of cars advertised yet still don't get the response. We are all business people and can make choices how to run our business and need to sometime keep a sensible head on rather then getting wrapped up in the anti AT hysteria which has engulfed the motor trade at present.

[umesh 336]

Gavin , some good points ! WE all have a choice and I've said it more than once - if it ain't working for you - STOP !! its as simple as that , most months it pays for me to be on there I sell more than enough from AT to justify the cost and ROI. 

I don't buy any cars from Auctions but do hear of horror stories of people paying a fortune be it 'cap' or 'Glass's' , CAP Clean means to be 'ready to retail' so why do people keep bidding on cars if they need £500 spend , plus transport +++ then wonder why they are not making a profit?? 

We , small independents  are transparent with our pricing ( well I I am  ) I.E we don't charge for HPI check, admin fees' etc but we're trying to compete with the likes of some supermarkets who's advertised ' headline price' maybe cheaper but the customer actually pays more as they get charged admin fee £150, hpi check £90, Fuel £20 - valet , etc etc , we include ALL these as part of our deal - we just need to shout more about what WE offer the customer besides the headline prices!.

Motors - i agree with you - it just bringing in sufficient leads - it ought to but simply doesn't ! bizarre guy from Abelege just called via motors on my freelander  ! Says he wants to come over tomorrow .....

I've asked about reps visiting ( I don't get a visiting rep!) its simply that there are too many dealers and they don't have the man power (or woman) or visit all, then I guess if they employ more .. more costs incurred who's going to pay - US! ( To be fair my tele rep is very good , never had issues ,always returns calls/emails promptly , so for me they do treat me as a valued customer ) 

Good and interesting points on here - come on guys keep em coming - Good - Bad or ugly I'm sure AT Team will look over these and maybe implement some positive changes !

My observations..

AT Doesn't bring in sufficient quality leads

Motor's doesn't bring in enough leads

eBay brings in the idiots offering lot less than asking prices

Gumtree similar to eBay

AA - Don't hear much , but not enough leads 

RAC Again not enough leads

Facebook - working for some - not others

So is it too many cars , too many dealers , too much choice for customers - confusion or is this just the 'INDEPENDENT' dealers views and the bigger boys / supermarkets having it all their own way ? 

Any thoughts ? 

 

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Umesh I agree with lots of your points, we can use our adverts and our website to push what we offer, we need to be pro-active in how we market ourselves. I see you list AA, RAC, ebay, Motors etc, I'm sure when you add up the spend with these companies whilst it doesn't add up to the same as the monthly AT bill it does still add up.  Motors came in with a bang and like many before them are finding it hard to break AT hold on the market, if there are to sustain their challenge I'm sure price increase will happen.  

You mention admin fee's etc maybe we should focus on this as an area that needs to be cleaned up and that means pushing government officers to look into it. The motor trade and retail motor trade is such a big industry, good, bad and ugly I'm surprised there isn't a direct government office set up to monitor it. 

 

[SC Derby 259]

i'd be so frustrated if I was this guy

https://explore.autotrader.co.uk/forums/forums/topic/thanks-autotrader-great-sarcastic-tone/

 

I've been warning them of these scenarios for years but they don't care a jot.

Edited October 17, 2015 by See Cars Derby

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

To be fair that customer could have got that information from a number of sources as well as AT (Parkers or What Car being an example). It's how the customer has interpreted that data that's the problem. The customer is devoid of reality despite having a P/X price for his car which states it must be in good condition to get that price. Its a perfect example of blaming AT for something which is beyond there control. I'm sure there are cases where a customer walks in with a px valuation which is well under what a dealer was planning to give meaning he gets more profit, do we then rejoice and cut AT in on the extra money that was made??? We have to keep a level head with AT and try and cut through the crap, not everything is a  battle with them !! 

[williamblackshaw 43]

Hi guys, I'm not a massive AT user with regards to the portal, as we use our DMS to feed AT. I believe you will never see massive amounts of leads because I think people will view and visit. 

What I think is the best measurement is the match report. AT sends us the highest amount of referral traffic to our website therefore the leads I get from our website might actually have been AT.

I think packages could be reviewed mind. Eg do we need s regular rep visits? We all know your images should be good and if we've an aged car to check its price / condition

 

[Jack Regan 116]

Is Gavin Rousdon one of Bethany's aliases :)

[umesh 336]

Anybody else have any more thoughts on this topic !  

[Rosemotors 31]

Is Gavin Rousdon one of Bethany's aliases :)

This made me laugh more than it should.

He's my neighbour/nearest competitor. And from what I can tell, does it about right.

[GreenGiant 287]

Anybody else have any more thoughts on this topic !  

You looking at me.....?

Here's the thing: You all have to realise that AT do not now exist to make you rich. The game has been changing for a long time. It is no longer about relationships with their customers and helping you to sell more cars; we are now in an era of Total Corporate Greed. Think Ryanair but also with them running the airports, air traffic control and Border Control. This is the AT vision of our industry. Control of the lot. Everything is monetised and chargeable. There is nothing you are going to get for free, for the greater good of you and your business. Nothing. Nada. Nil. Get used to it. It is not in their DNA.

Ignore all the flowery promises and insincere flattery. Especially ignore all the marketing BS that is spewed out to try and justify their actions. Do not, however, ignore your own instincts and knowledge. You have probably been selling cars for a lot longer than they have been doing what they do. You have certainly sold more cars than any one of them. You are good people and you know what you are doing and everyone will get what they deserve in the end.

I have no patience with them as I can see through the smoke and mirrors, so I will just pay for the bits I need (for now) and source other things elsewhere. As has been said on here and other forums, you pays your money, you takes your choice, but there's no point complaining if you aren't prepared to do anything about it.

However, even in their blinged-up ivory towers, they must now realise that the peasants are revolting.

[Phil H 124]

 Yes but have they got the b@@l's to tell the shareholders to accept less profit in order to stop the peasants revolting or are they too afraid for their jobs? Have they not heard of fair profit  instead of just pure greed?

[umesh 336]

GG  ! you and i know ,  and have probably said it many times !  IF it isn't working for you pull the plug - find better places to get better ROI , Moaning , groaning , shouting against any business be it Autotrader, N.Power, BT , won't get prices down ! Each and every business has to decide what is BEST for them and go with it. 

[Cornish Guy 45]

If you want to see corporate greed look at Epyx Accounts, owners of 1-link

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

 

 

 

 

This made me laugh more than it should.

He's my neighbour/nearest competitor. And from what I can tell, does it about right.

I do try !!!

Iv'e had far better insults thrown at me so I don't mind!!!

Edited October 21, 2015 by Gavin@Rousdon

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

GG  ! you and i know ,  and have probably said it many times !  IF it isn't working for you pull the plug - find better places to get better ROI , Moaning , groaning , shouting against any business be it Autotrader, N.Power, BT , won't get prices down ! Each and every business has to decide what is BEST for them and go with it. 

Its a classic case of increased competition working against us. Autotrader's desire to stay number 1 means they have to offer more and more to get people to come to their product. The issue for us dealers is the end product (the advert) is given the the end user (the car buying customer) totally free of charge. They have to make their free product better the the next companies free product to increase and maintain traffic. All the competition are offering a free product too so the different portals are basicly fighting it out using our money to fund it. Increase the competition and the cost increases. The only way stop it is to starve the supply (the adverts). The problem for us is that Motors, ebay, gumtree, local advertising arnen't  big or good enough to fill the vacuum if everyone deserted AT overnight, its just not worth the risk.

[Rosemotors 31]

If anything was going to convince me to stay, its because Gumtree rang me a couple of weeks ago with too good an offer to refuse, which included 2 month free Ebay Motors pro. And I haven't had a single enquiry yet.

You get what you pay for.

[umesh 336]

i got a great idea guys ..... " He says perched over a mountain ledge in the voice of Michael Caine with the tune of the 'the Italian Job .. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbeXL6AXmi0 .any one joining me ,,,,,  !!