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Using AutoPlay Sales Pipeline At Events

20/6/2018

 
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Events play an important role for many marketers.  According to Lead Liaison (another overseas company in this space), 58% of marketers have used an event lead management solution or lead capture tool at a live event.  Despite this only 34% of marketers use new referrals, quality of leads and sales closure to measure event ROI (Marketing Charts 2013).
 
In addition, over 80% of marketers cannot quantify the data they collect during events, yet 46% of marketers view generating leads as the main reason to attend events and trade shows.  Most damningly of all, some sources suggest 75% of all leads are never followed up with after an exhibition.
 
When you consider that some exhibitors are using paper forms to capture their potential leads at events these figures start to make sense.  Inevitably it’s a lot of work to type out all the details on the form into a spreadsheet, and then distribute that spreadsheet out to their dealer network – not to mention chase up individual dealers and salespeople to see where they got to following up their leads.
 
In the last few years AutoPlay has been working with a number of brands to improve the efficiency of their lead capture at various events, and more importantly making their follow up considerably easier.  There are several approaches on how AutoPlay can be utilised at events to help capture more leads;
 
1.  “Cold walk ins, light touch approach”
WHAT?
Collect leads via a very simple web form that feeds leads into your Sales Pipeline Dashboard
PROS
+ Can design your own custom form especially for this event – making it as simple as you need it to be
+ Web form is a one-way push to Sales Pipeline and as such can work much better when internet is patchy
+ Don’t need the Sales Pipeline on-site.  Can access the web form on any device that has an internet connection
CONS
-  Doesn’t allow for any customer lookup – meaning there is no opportunity to prequalify event attendees
- Cannot link a database to pre-event marketing activity
 

2.  “Pre-qualified, integrated marketing approach”
WHAT?
In conjunction with marketing activity prior to the event you can pre-qualify leads that are likely to attend the event.  These leads can be sent from a CRM to AutoPlay Sales Pipeline – allowing salespeople to lookup pre-qualified leads during the event.
PROS
+  Ties in with pre-event marketing to ensure ROI tracking is linked from start to finish
+  Pre-qualified customers are further down the decision channel and this streamlines the experience during the event
+  Minimises chances of duplicate customers or duplicate leads
+  Enables salespeople to use built in tools such as database lookups, business card and drivers licence scanning
CONS
-  Looking up a database of thousands of leads can require a reliable internet connection – something that is not always guaranteed at events and trade shows
-  More pre-event work required to pre-qualify leads
-  No ability to provide customers with a simplified lead capture form – leads entered manually at the event must be manually entered to the Sales Pipeline
 
Why capture leads with AutoPlay during events?
The most obvious answer is in order to track ROI of how many potential leads are generated during the event.  However, it goes much further than this.  By capturing leads via AutoPlay dealerships and OEM’s benefit greatly in the weeks and months following;
  • Distribution of leads post event to dealerships/salespeople is made easy as all data already exists within AutoPlay
  • Follow up of leads is made easier for salespeople as the lead is immediately visible within their own Sales Pipeline Dashboard
  • Event leads are mixed right in with their normal day-to-day leads – making ongoing follow up over the coming weeks and months part of their natural day-today routine
  • Users don’t need to double handle data – meaning less duplicate leads and customers
  • OEMS and managers gain a fuller picture of success from events as they are not just able to see Sales and Test Drives from the event, but also Appraisals or just a measure of activity via Progress or Calendar Events
  • Many leads that would likely fall through the cracks are all recorded – further increasing the pool of leads the dealerships have to remarket to
 
If you are interested in using AutoPlay for events talk to matt@autoplay.co.nz about the approach that would be suitable for your dealership/brand.

Version 18.2 Is Available Now For Desktop and iOS

20/6/2018

 
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The latest version of AutoPlay is now available for download from the App Store.  Make sure to grab the latest version to take advantage of all the changes listed below.  Additionally, if you use the Desktop Studio make sure to log out, close the browser window and reopen the application to apply the latest update.

  • Automatically clear notifications after 7 days to improve loading speed
  • When Vehicle Appraisal Manager Approval is enabled lock down the Appraisal Form after creation so that the valuations cannot be changed.  In addition managers now have the option of telling AutoPlay to send SMS notifications as well as the standard email notification when there is a waiting Appraisal
  • When Closing Leads As Won users are now able to add a follow up date via a ‘Post Sale Follow Up Date’ field within the Close Won popup.  This will close the lead, but also create a calendar event on the specific day labelled “Post Sales Follow Up”
  • Force users to choose a Type when creating Loan Car Forms instead of defaulting to None
  • On iPad now prompt a message asking user “Do you want to send this assistance request?” when completing an Assistance Request.  This brings it into line with the Desktop
  • When sending Appraisals to wholesalers from iPhone via SMS in addition to the 3 images embedded in the SMS we also automatically generate a google shortened URL to a website with the rest of the Appraisal images
  • Added a disclaimer to the Appraisal Form and Write Up Forms “Vehicle trade price will be confirmed once any outstanding airbag, recall or campaign work is verified to be completed”
  • When using Test Drive Kiosk mode, we now refresh the listings every time the listing popup is opened
  • Added a BACK button to Sales Pipeline Reporting to assist users getting back to the app after using the EXPORT function
  • Fixed ‘Clear Signature’ option in iOS app within the Write Up Form
  • Individual notifications are no longer sent when bulk closing leads and bulk closing now occurs in the background to minimise disruption to the user
  • Closed Leads with no outstanding calendar event are no longer classed as Stalled when viewing on the Dashboard
  • Fixed issue with ‘Manual Load’ tick box not appearing under certain accounts
  • AutoPlay are now able to set up individual Test Drive T&C’s for any “brochureware” yards
  • Middle Name is now weighted in the customer database search that happens when a new lead is loaded
  • When duplicating a Fleet Quote Builder email the Accessories are now copied across to the new email
  • New Role Management setting to give dealerships greater control over who can and cannot Delete Leads.  This is for accounts where users are set up as System Admin but should not be able to delete leads
  • When Notes on a lead are edited by an external CRM or DMS integration this triggers a notification to the lead owner that Notes have been added to their lead
  • Improvements to how searching for customers in the Address Book screen works to gain more accuracy in search results
  • New Role Management setting to enable dealerships to hide the Wholesale Quotes section from users they don’t want to see wholesale quotes
  • When dealers are in an Assistance Request record they are now able to duplicate the record using a ‘Create Duplicate’ button.  This is useful if the request has been declined as a new request can be made with minimal effort
  • Added ‘Next Action’ field to Print List function on the Sales Pipeline Dashboard.  This column shows the whether the Next Action is Overdue/Stalled etc.  Additionally, the Overdue Days field will display negative numbers if the event is in the future
  • On Prospect & CRM Follow Up screen users can now either click the Complete button, or tick the on-screen check box to mark the record as complete
  • When a Wishlist has matching Appraisals, these are now displayed by the most recent Appraisal first
  • Added a filter for Model within the Morning Meeting Report, Email Allocation & Response Time, Overdue Lead Report
  • Preferred Name field has been added to Lead Audit Report
  • Upcoming category added to the Overdue Lead Report
  • Added a column for Dealership Name to the Overdue Lead Report when logged into group/brand accounts
  • Restricted Lead Source pie graph to show no more than 15 labels for lead sources. This has been done to ensure graph remains readable.  Full list of lead sources still available within data table.
  • Closed Notes added to Export Report function within the Closed Lead Report
  • In Market Leads – see /playbook/introducing-in-market-leads-making-buyer-matching-easy

Introducing In-Market Leads – Making Buyer Matching Easy

15/6/2018

 
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OVERVIEW
The new ‘In Market Leads’ screen is located within the 'Sales Pipeline' section in the main nav menu.  The function allows Dealerships and Sales People to automatically match leads captured previous when new listings are added, or the price of an existing listing is decreased.
ROLE MANAGEMENT
The In Market Leads screen is visible to any user with the ‘In Market Leads’ role.  If a user is ticked as ‘Manager’ within the role the user will receive the daily In Market Leads Report email.  The visibility of matches in the In Market Leads screens is linked to the Lead Manager role. 
 
If the user is a Lead Manager they can see matches against leads from users they share the Lead Manager role with. If not ticked as a Manager user sees matches against only leads they have allocated to them.
IN MARKET LEADS PREFERENCES & SETTINGS
The In Market Leads screen can be set up at the Dealership/Yard level or for individual users.
 
1.       If the In Market Leads role is enabled but no Settings or Preferences are established the matching criteria will default to the below;
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2.       The Dealership can also choose to customise the criteria that determines the matching via SETTINGS>SALES PIPELINE SETTINGS>IN MARKET MATCHING.  The settings selected here will become the default for every user within the account.
 
Note ticking the Variant, Body Type, Transmission etc will mean that the In Market Leads will only match when there are exact matches for all of the fields ticked.  If you do not want to risk missing out on matching leads it is recommended you select less rigid matching criteria.  It is also possible to select a range for the Odometer, Year and Price.
 
3.       It is also possible for individual Users to set their own preferences for In Market Matching.  Users can do this via the PREFERENCES button located on the right-hand side of the IN MARKET LEADS screen.  Any selections made here will become the default for the logged in user and will take priority over the dealership/yard wide settings determined in the IN MARKET MATCHING screen.
 
NOTE – All settings screens available on Desktop Studio only.  ​
IN MARKET LEADS
The In Market Leads screen is available via SALES PIPELINE>IN MARKET LEADS.  In Market Leads are those that the dealership/user has determined might be potentially interested in the new listing/price change.  In Market Leads appear in the screen when;
a.  A new listing is added and there are leads that match the criteria within In Market Matching or Preferences (new listings require a Price >$0 to match).
b.  An existing listing price is decreased and there are leads that match the criteria within In Market Matching or Preferences (either Price or Special Price fields).
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MATCHING IN MARKET LEADS
The In Market Leads screen displays the listing that has been added/price decreased and all of the different leads that have matched based on the criteria set in IN MARKET LEADS MATCHING or IN MARKET LEAD PREFERENCES. 
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Users can then choose to either View the Lead (via the > in Desktop or by tapping on the record in iOS).  They can also opt to ignore the lead (user specific) which will remove the lead from being matched against this Listings.
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If the salesperson/manager determines that the customer on the matching lead might be interested in this new vehicle they can opt to ADD AS PRIMARY LISTING or ADD AS OTHER LISTING. 
 
This will make the new listing either the primary listing, or one of the secondary listings.  Any listing that was previously on the lead will be moved to the Previous Listing section.  This information is tracked and will be available in a report in the future*
 
If the lead is OPEN then the listing will be updated with the Primary Listing.  If the lead is CLOSED then a new lead is created with the matched In Market listing.
 
*Initially only available to AutoPlay but can be accessed on demand.  Reporting presentation TBC
​
NOTIFICATIONS ON MATCHING IN MARKET LEADS
The system will trigger an in-app notification whenever there is a New Listing or Price Decrease that matches with the users leads based on the specified criteria.
 
The notification is visible on the Home screen within iOS, and also on the Notifications icon on both the Desktop and iOS from the lead Dashboard.  The Notification will show the user the listing that has been added/modified, as well as the number of potential matching leads.  Clicking on the notification will open up the In Market Leads detail screen.
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If the user is set up as a Manager in the In Market Leads role they will also receive an email every day at 8am with any matching In Market Leads.  This email will show all the listings added or those that had price decreases the previous day.

​This can be turned off by unticking the user as a Manager in the In Market Leads role as this has no impact on visibility of matching leads.  Additionally the user can untick the 'Create Listing Notifications' and 'Send Daily Notifications' options within the Preferences screen.
 
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​If you would like In Market Leads set up for your dealership contact AutoPlay Support on support@autoplay.co.nz or (0064) 9 361 1505.

Top 3 Sources of Leads, Test Drives and Sales May 2018 (vs April 2018)

15/6/2018

 
Overall May 2018 was a strong month for activity at NZ Dealerships with increases across the board for all the KPI’s we measure.  From April to May the number of Leads increased by 21.1%, Test Drives increased by 9.7% and Sales recorded increased by 10.4%.  This represents a significant swing from April where both Leads and Test Drives dropped by over 5% each.

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The usual sources were again generating the most leads with ‘Web – Dealer’, ‘Brand’ and ‘Web Classified’ occupying the top 3 spots.  However, whilst leads from dealerships websites dropped for the first time in a few months (‘Web – Dealer’ down by 13.1%), leads from the ‘Brand’ (up 48.5%) and ‘Web – Classified’ (up 73.6%) both increased significantly.
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In May ‘Web – Dealer’ was again the top source of Test Drives amongst AutoPlay customers, however decreased by 5.3% from April to May 2018.  ‘Direct’ still accounts for the second most leads (up 4.2%) and ‘Brand’ leads generate the 3rd most Test Drives (up 14.4% from April).

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In April the ‘Web – Dealer’ source was again the most common source of Sales, however after a sizeable increase from March to April, the volume decreased by 9.1% from April to May.  The ‘Repeat’ source continues to proportionately account for a larger number of Sales than many other sources and increased by 6.9%.  May also saw Sales from ‘Direct’ contact increase by 18.1% - displacing ‘Web – Classified’ from the podium.
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With Fieldays in early June we are sure to see a surge in Leads, Test Drives and Sales from the Brand reflected in next month’s results.  Make sure to read the next issue of The PlayBook to see what sources of leads were popular in June amongst kiwi dealerships.    
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