​As winter sets in we’ve seen a noticeable drop in activity by NZ dealers across all the key kpi’s.  April was one of the worst months in memory with Leads decreasing by 22.3%, Test Drives by 31.2% and Sales by 19.8%.

​With Fieldays just around the horizon in June dealers across NZ will be hoping for a bounce back in Leads, Test Drives and Sales in the coming months.  As always make sure to check back next month for the top sources of Leads, Test Drives and Sales in May 2019.  ​

In February we saw slight decreases across the board in Leads, Test Drives, Sales - somewhat expected with February being a shorter month than average.  In March 2019, AutoPlay saw an increase in Leads (by 10.9%), Test Drives (18%) and Sales (15.3%) all increasing from February 2019.

The most common source of Leads in March 2019 was from the 'Web - Classified' source which increased by 15.2% from the previous month and leaped 'Web - Dealer' to become the most common source of leads in March.  Leads from dealers websites ('Web - Dealer') accounted for the second most common source of leads in March - increasing by 7.2%.  The 'Brand' source remained the third most common source of Leads in March, but actually dropped by 17.1% month-to-month.

Test Drives also increased across the board with 'Web - Dealer' increasing by 11.1%, 'Direct' increasing by 28.1% and 'Web - Classified' increasing by 27.7%.  

In March 2019 the most common Source of Sales remained as 'Web - Dealer' which increased by 10.5% from February.  Likewise, 'Web - Classified' accounted for the second most Sales - increasing by 11.2% month-to-month.  However, whilst last month 'Brand' accounted for the third most Sales, in March 'Repeat' increased by 12.3% to become the third most common source of Sales.

As always make sure to check back next month for the top sources of Leads, Test Drives and Sales in April 2019.

​Contact support@autoplay.co.nz if you have any questions.

After a down December saw AutoPlay customers capture significantly fewer Leads, Test Drives and Sales than the month prior, January 2019 saw a significant increase in activity across all key KPI’s.  The volume of Leads (up 16.1% from Dec 18), Test Drives (up 19.5%) and Sales (up 16.2%) all returned to normal levels in January 2019.  

‘Web – Dealer’ regained the top spot as the most common source of leads for kiwi dealers in January 2019 – up 15.7% from December 2018.  This pushed ‘Web – Classified’ down to the second most common source of leads, increasing by 8.1% from the month prior.  In December 2018 the volume of ‘Brand’ leads suffered the most as brands wound down for Xmas – decreasing by 38.8%.  In January ‘Brands’ increased marketing activity back to normal levels and subsequently dealers using AutoPlay reported an increase in leads from this source of 29.7% from December 2018.

With the number of Test Drives captured overall increasing by 19.5% we saw an increase in Test Drives recorded against each Source with ‘Web – Dealer’ (up 10.5%), ‘Direct’ (up 20.1%) and ‘Web – Classified’ (8.7%) sources all seeing increases in Test Drive volume. 

​Continuing the trend, Sales increased across the board in January 2018.  Sales attributed to the ‘Web – Dealer’ source increase by 13%, ‘Web – Classified’ increased by 8.7% and ‘Repeat increased by 6.5% from December 2018 to January 2019.

​Make sure to check back in March to find out the most common sources of Leads, Test Drives and Sales in February 2019.  To find out more about the range of reports available via AutoPlay contact us on sales@autoplay.co.nz or +64 9 361 1505.

Welcome to 2019!  The December results are in and with public holidays and the general December slowdown it was a quiet month across the board for AutoPlay customers.  Overall the volume of leads captured or loaded by AutoPlay customers was down 11.3%.  There were 9.7% fewer Test Drives and Sales were down 11.2%.  Given AutoPlay has a significant market share of franchise dealers in NZ, this represents a pretty sizeable downturn for the month.

‘Web – Classified’ was the only Lead source that bucked the trend with an increase of 0.9% in the number of leads captured in December 2018, vs November 2018.  This is to be expected as whilst the discipline of manually loading leads can lapse around the holiday period, electronic leads from the likes of Trade Me, AutoTrader and Driven are automatically captured to dealers AutoPlay Sales Pipeline.  The ‘Web – Dealer’ source dropped by 9.8% and although still accounting for the third most leads, ‘Brand’ leads dropped by 38.8% as head office marketing drove fewer leads to dealers.

With the overall volume of Test Drives recorded dropping by 9.7% month to month, it’s not surprising that in December Test Drives attributed to most sources took a hit.  Test Drives from ‘Web – Dealer’ decreased by 1.3% and ‘Direct’ Test Drives fell by 3.2%.  As with Leads, the ‘Web – Classified’ source again bucked the trend an increased by 1.6% in December.

​Mirroring the slowdown in Leads and Test Drives, dealers recorded fewer sales across the board in December 2018.  ‘Web – Dealer’ continues to be the number one source of sales despite decreasing by 4.7% from the previous month.  ‘Web – Classified’ decreased by 7.2% and sales attributed to ‘Repeat’ customers also fell by 12.9% in December.

​Make sure to check back in February to see whether the volume of leads bounced back in January 2019.  To find out more about the range of reports available via AutoPlay contact us on sales@autoplay.co.nz or +64 9 361 1505.

After an up and down last few months saw strong growth in Lead and Test Drive volume in October 2018, November bucked the trend with decreases across all 3 KPI’s for AutoPlay customers.  Leads decreased by 2.5%, Test Drives by 5.2% and Sales by 4.1%.

Reflecting the overall trend of a decrease in Lead volume, most sources decreased in the month of November.  ‘Web – Dealer’ leads decreased by 6.8% from Octobers high, and whilst ‘Web – Classified’ still accounted for the second most leads across AutoPlay customers, dealers also saw a decrease in the number of leads from this source by 2.5% from month to month.  ‘Brand’ generated leads continue to provide dealers a reliable source of leads and were one of the few sources to buck the trend – increasing by 4.7% from October to November.

As with Leads, the overall number of Test Drives decreased in November (vs October 2018).  Test Drives from ‘Web – Dealer’ generated leads decreased by 7.8%, but dealer websites still remain the most fruitful place to generate Test Drives.  ‘Direct’ Test Drives continue to firm as the second most popular source of Test Drives with a small 2.0% increase from October to November.  As with October, Test Drives generated from ‘Brand’ leads accounted for the 3rd most Test Drives, but decreased by 11.7% from the previous month.

Sales across all Lead Sources decreased by 4.1% from October to November 2018.  The same three sources accounted for the most Sales in November with ‘Web – Dealer’ decreasing by 1.5%, ‘Web – Classified’ decreasing by 0.5% and ‘Repeat’ decreasing by 3.3%.

​Lead Source reports are just one of the reports available to dealerships and OEM’s who use AutoPlay Sales Pipeline.  To find out more about the range of reports available via AutoPlay contact us on sales@autoplay.co.nz or +64 9 361 1505.

After a down month in September, October 2018 saw a slight bounce back in Sales throughout dealers using AutoPlay for pre-sales lead management – with Sales increasing by 1.0% from September 2018 to October 2018. 
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However, October was a strong month for Leads and Test Drives which increased by 5.6% and 5.5% respectively – giving hope for a successful November.

Test Drives attributed to dealer websites rebounded from a drop in September to increase by 14.1% from September to October. 
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After becoming the second most popular source of Test Drives in September, ‘Direct’ firmed even further as the second most important source of Test Drives by increasing by 12.7% - proving that in this age of electronic and telephony leads that walk in Test Drives still account for a reasonable portion of the dealers Test Drives.  The third most popular source of Test Drives is still ‘Brand’ with a slight increase of 1.5%.

Make sure to check in next month to find out the top sources of Leads, Test Drives and Sales for dealerships in November 2018.  Lead Source reports are just one of the reports available to dealerships and OEM’s who use AutoPlay Sales Pipeline.  To find out more about the range of reports available via AutoPlay contact us on sales@autoplay.co.nz or +64 9 361 1505.
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​Over the past 12 months you might have noticed our Dealer Solutions Manager Jackie Hingston in your dealership as we’ve made a concerted effort to get around and visit all our customers.  As part of Jackie’s visit she was conducting a review of each dealerships strengths and weaknesses.  However, the good news is that you don’t need to wait until AutoPlay visits you in order to conduct your own self review.
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LEVEL 1:
If you feel like your dealership is below average at utilising the AutoPlay Sales Pipeline then the areas to focus on that will provide you with the most improvement are;

·         Tell us what you did (i.e load leads and update the Progress)
·         Tell us what you are going to do (i.e use the Calendar)

You can measure the number of leads loaded by each salesperson by using the Lead Summary and Conversion or Daily Activity Reports.  Simply open the report, select your date range and open the salesperson section to have the report display by salesperson.

The Sales Pipeline Report will give you a breakdown of whether your dealership is progressing the leads being loaded.  The goal is to ensure that there is not a disproportionate amount of leads sitting at Awaiting Action, and also allows the dealership to identify areas where the leads are stalling through the road-to-a-sale.

The Morning Meeting Report can be used in order to report back on how well the sales team are using the calendar.  It will give managers an instant view of how many calendar events each salesperson has created for the day, and how many are complete.

LEVEL 2:
Once you’ve mastered Level 1, it’s time to advance to Level 2.  Whilst Level 1 focuses on simply what you’ve done and what you are going to do, Level 2 ups the game.  If you can achieve mastery of Level 2 you will be a competent user of AutoPlay Sales Pipeline;

·         Are you using the Test Drive Forms AND making sure to mark your Test Drives as DONE when the customer finishes the Test Drive?
·         Are you using the Appraisal Form and benefitting from the MotorWeb/MotorCentral/CarJam integration?
·         Are you using the Calendar effectively to minimise the amount of leads falling into Overdue or Stalled?
·         Are you using the Morning Meeting Report to help with your daily one-on-ones with the sales team?
·         Are you using the Sales Pipeline Report to identify the areas in the road to a sale where your leads are stalling?
·         Are you using the Lead Summary and Conversion Report to determine your conversion to Test Drive and Sales?

LEVEL 3:
If you can answer yes to all the questions in Level 1 & Level 2 then congrats – you are more than likely using the Sales Pipeline effectively.  That said, it’s time to take it to the next level;

·         Do you enter salesperson Lead, Test Drive and Sales targets and measure against this month and last month using the Daily Activity Performance Report?
·         Do you enter Lead Source and Lead Campaign costs to measure ROI in the Lead Source and Marketing ROI reports within AutoPlay reporting?
·         Have you compared the number of leads at Awaiting Action to your normal Test Drive and Sales conversion figures to determine how much money is sitting in your captured data?
·         Do you take advantage of Live Leads to target the captured leads you have yet to sell to?  Live Leads allows you to build an audience based on your previously captured leads, and automatically schedule follow up based on their interaction with your email.
·         Have you got into In Market Leads yet?  In Market Leads is a great way to immediately link potential interested buyers when the dealership loads new listings or lowers the price of existing listings.

The weather may have taken a turn for the worse recently, but Lead, Test Drive and Sales activity remains buoyant.  Following a strong May, June 2018 saw the number of Leads generated increase by 6.2%, Test Drives increase by 5.9% and Sales by 1.2%.

For the second consecutive month the number of leads from the ‘Web – Dealer’ source decreased – by 1.2% from May to June.  As expected with Fieldays activity we experienced a 30.8% increase in the number of leads generated to dealers by their ‘Brand’.  After a significant increase in leads from ‘Web Classified’ sources last month, this source again accounted for the 3rd most leads and increased by 5.7% from May to June 2018.

After the volume of Test Drives from the ‘Web – Dealer’ source decreased in May, the source rebounded to increase by 17.3% from month to month.  Test Drives attributed to the ‘Direct’ source again occupied second spot and increased by 7.8% from May to June.  Test Drives from ‘Brand’ generated leads did increase – by 4.9% - but perhaps less than expected from the higher volume of Fieldays leads.  This potentially means that Fieldays activity has been a bit slow to translate to Test Drives, and potentially means we may see a proportionate increase in Test Drives from the ‘Brand’ source in future months.

In June 2018 there was a change in the status quo for Sales tracking.  Whilst ‘Web – Dealer’ retained the top spot and increased by 8.9% from May to June 2018.  However, whilst in May ‘Repeat’ and ‘Direct’ accounted for the 2nd and 3rd most Sales by source, these sources were overtaken by ‘Web Classified’ (up 27.4% from May 2018) and ‘Brand’ (up 32.9%) respectively. 

Make sure to check in next month to find out the top sources of Leads, Test Drives and Sales for kiwi dealers in July.  Lead Source reports are just one of the reports available to dealerships and OEM’s who use AutoPlay Sales Pipeline.  To find out more about the range of reports available via AutoPlay contact us on sales@autoplay.co.nz or +64 9 361 1505.