Version 17.4 of the Desktop, iPad and iPhone Sales Pipeline is well under way and is scheduled for release on Wednesday, December 6th. This release will be the last for the year excluding any urgent bug fixes. Although this has been a shorter development window of 2 months since our last release, we've still managed to pack in a tonne of new features.
More details on all of these new features will be sent with the release notes on December 6th HTML5 Studio Rebuild & Development Freeze 2018We have started our planning for the rebuild of the AutoPlay Studio into a HTML5 Application. This will be a significant improvement as it will allow users to access the AutoPlay Sales Pipeline on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. At present you are required to run Internet Explorer (at least for the initial software download). Additionally it also means that users will be able to use the Sales Pipeline on Android or Windows tablets and smartphones.
We are completing this work from January to June/July. This is a massive project and as such we will be freezing all non essential development on our current Desktop and iOS Applications. This means that 17.4 will be our last release for approx. 6 months. This is essential to allow our developers to focus on the rebuild of the Desktop Studio/Sales Pipeline. Freezing development over this timeframe is not something we have considered lightly, but we believe this is the best way to ensure the project stays on track, and we can deliver an improved AutoPlay experience to our customers in 2018. We are aiming to deliver our HTML5 version of AutoPlay Sales Pipeline by early July 2018. From late December to July there will not be any new functions added to the iOS or Desktop applications. Development will be restricted to any critical bug fixes over this period. When the new software is launched we will begin to phase out the current Desktop Studio. We will continue to run the iPad and iPhone Apps for a minimum of 12 months after launching the new application (depending on the functionality we are able to replicate from the iOS apps to the HTML5 version). If you have any questions about the 17.4 release, the Desktop HTML5 Rebuild or the development freeze please contact matt@autoplay.co.nz From 1st November 2017 there was a change in the way Registered Motor Vehicle Traders will be allowed to access information about the owners of vehicles registered on the Motor Vehicle Register (MVR). If you already belong to the MTA or VIA then you are already covered. However if you don’t belong to either of those industry associations you need to read the below.
This is important for users of Motorcentral Car Check, Car Jam or MotorWeb VIR reports – whether you run these via AutoPlay Sales Pipeline or direct with your provider. In particular when trying to verify the owner of a vehicle before trading it, as of 1st November, you and your organisation are only allowed to access this information if you are registered with an NZTA-approved industry body, or have been approved directly by the NZTA to access this information. How do I know if I can access this information from 1st Nov 2017? If you have applied directly with and been accepted by the NZTA, you should have received your authorisation letter already. Otherwise, if you are a member of any of the following industry bodies you should have access to owner information using that bodies’ authorisation: • National Automotive Industry Technology Association (NAITA) www.naita.org.nz • Motor Trade Association (MTA) www.mta.org.nz • Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) www.via.org.nz • Financial Services Federation (FSF) • Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) • NZ Bankers Association To confirm you will have access, please check you are on the following list: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/…/Companies-and-individuals-with-au… What if I'm not listed? If you are not on the list of companies and individuals who have already been granted access to owner information and you are a member of one or more of the above industry bodies please check with that body immediately to determine why you are not listed. Otherwise you have the following options available: 1. Become a member of an authorised industry body The easiest way to access the restricted information is to become a member of one of the above listed industry bodies who have already been approved to access this information. During our research, we found NAITA to be the most cost-effective for this purpose, with their annual membership being only $95 per dealership. More information can be found on their website including their 2017 Membership Application Form. (DISCLOSURE – AutoPlay is one of the founding members of NAITA which was formed by technology providers in the Automotive sector) www.naita.org.nz 2. Apply directly to the NZTA for individual authorisation NZTA offer comprehensive information on how to apply directly for access to the current owner information here - http://www.nzta.govt.nz/…/who-should-and-shouldnt-apply-an…/. Please Note: The Transport Agency generally allows up to eight weeks from the time of receiving a complete application (together with full payment) to provide you with a draft decision. You will not be able to access personal information during this time. 3. No longer access this information Having access to this information may not be essential to your situation. Your reports will still work as they currently do, you will just no longer be given the current owners details (name and address) without the necessary authorisation. If however, you believe you know the current owners details (name or driver’s licence number), you can still verify they own a particular vehicle by using the NZTA's 'Check registered person query' online form (https://transact.nzta.govt.nz/…/ConfirmRegisteredPers…/entry). It’s free and returns an instant result that you can then have emailed to yourself. What do I need to do next? If you are already on the list of authorised companies and individuals you do not need to do anything. From November 1st we will automatically allow continued access to owner information via your MotorCentral, MotorWeb or CarJam reports If you are not listed, then on November 1st you will no longer see owner information on your reports. For uninterrupted access to this information, you will need to apply for authorisation either directly with the NZTA or by becoming a member of one of the listed industry bodies. In October 2017, for the second consecutive month AutoPlay customers experienced an interesting scenario where Leads captured increased (up by 6.3%), but Test Drives (down by 4.9%) and Sales (down by 4.0%) both decreased from October levels as dealers converted less of the leads that they generated. Lead sources were distributed across many different channels in October – resulting in drops for 2 of the top 3 lead sources. Only ‘Web – Dealer’ increased by 2.8% from September – making dealer websites the top source of leads in October. ‘Web – Classified’ continued to fall from previous heights to the 3rd most frequent source of leads in October. Following a decrease of 15.4% in September, the number of leads from 3rd Party sites dropped again by 12.4%. In October there was a significant 35.2% increase in the number of Test Drives where the source has been recorded as ‘Direct’ (which is often used by dealerships for walk in Test Drives). Despite this ‘Web – Dealer’ remained in the top spot for the second consecutive month with a slight increase in the number of Test Drives from dealer websites. ‘Web – Classified’ continued to decrease with a further 23% drop from September to October – predominately due to the decrease in the number of leads being received by AutoPlay customers from 3rd party websites. ‘Web – Dealer’ jumped ahead of ‘Web – Classified’ as the top source of Sales in October for AutoPlay Sales Pipeline due to an increase of 3.2% for the former, and a drop of 11.5% for the latter. As always ‘Repeat’ continues to be the third most frequent source of Sales for kiwi dealers and rebounded from a slight decrease in October to grow by 10.6% last month. Make sure to check back in next month’s issue of Autotalk to see how kiwi dealerships fared in November 2017.
Matt Darby works for AutoPlay who specialise in pre-sale lead management tools. To find out more about AutoPlay services email sales@autoplay.co.nz or visit www.autoplay.co.nz |
About UsAutoPlay Sales Pipeline is a pre-sales lead management tool designed for dealerships, dealer groups and automakers Archives +
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