Welcome!

Spring 2013

Honda Used Vehicle Newsletter

aving been using Manheims stock Management system - eBusiness Centre for some time now, we hope that you have experienced the benefits

of using the systems functionality. We would like to take this opportunity however to remind you of the Key features of the platform to ensure you are utilising the system to its full potential!

Maintain your used vehicle stock that appears online through the stock area. Functions found within include adding vehicles, removing vehicles, adding stock to trade area, exporting stock to third party agencies, editing vehicle details

Ability to search for stock locally and nationally

Present stock to customers through the showroom area

Option to export stock to third party portals

Facility to print or email detailed vehicle leaflets and stocklists as required point-of-sale materials locally

Ability to search and purchase stock from Honda CVO stock

Change details around your opening hours as well as configure your dealer price margins through the Admin area

Access to detailed reports on stock profile and how stock is performing online

We would also like to remind you that it is essential to make sure your email address is correct and up to date within eBC2. This enables us to keep in contact with you going forward. You will find this under Centre set-up on the Admin drop down menu from your homepage. If you do need to amend this, please contact the Manheim Client Support Department.

Reminding you of the benefits of eBusiness Centre

his newsletter is dedicated to giving you an overview of recent activity across the

network as well as information on upcoming activity.

Our relationship with Manheim Retail Services has continued to develop and grow and as such we have seen several positive developments across our systems. Last year saw Manheims online chat facility Live Advisor rolled out across the network, and then at the end of February a new image upload tool was introduced within eBC2.

Also more recently an Alternative Stock search feature was added to Dealer websites, and the Honda Used Car Locator Homepage has had a brand new redesign, from which we have already seen an improved number of page views and bounce rates reduced!

As well as providing you with all the details of these exciting changes, we are also pleased to confirm dates for a series of Dealer seminars in conjunction with Manheim, which will be taking place throughout May.The seminars which will be taking place in venues across the country

will offer you valuable advice and guidance on used car best practice, as well as an insight into the local market evaluation.

As such we hope that you will join us at these exclusive events as they will prove extremely beneficial to the Honda network. We will look forward to seeing you there!

Best wishes

Lorraine WilsonFranchise Standard & Used Car Programme Manager

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Did you know that according to research by Motors.co.uk Vehicles with 9 images have more than double the click through rate compared to vehicles with no images. This impressive statistic confirms why vehicle photography is now more important as ever!

Quick fact about Vehicle Photography

Geoff Bland view...Spring 2013Just how good is your on-line showroom?

t the end of February a brand new way to upload your vehicle images was introduced within eBC2. The new image tool allows you to select and

upload multiple vehicle images at a time, making the process quicker and more efficient.

This fantastic new enhancement which has improved the overall process has already proved to be a valuable asset with QA image failures being reduced by 10% since the new tool was implemented.

Embracing the new Image upload toolA new look for the Honda Used Car Locator Homepage

ollowing a recent announcement we have been pleased to unveil a new refreshed design of the Honda Used Car Locator Homepage.

With a new vibrant style and design mirroring the Honda UK main website, consumers can now experience a seamless, fully integrated search process.

Amongst the enhancements a new animated banner now automatically activates upon landing on the Homepage, creating new interest for first time visitors. A new concise layout which has seen Homepages features moved above the page fold, also promotes easier navigation and less page scrolling!

To check out the new design please view the animation below or visit www.usedcars.honda.co.uk

You may well have noticed that this particular newsletter talks more about your virtual showroom than your real showroom. Fact is, whilst your real showroom will undoubtedly remain vitally important to your used car success, your customers will do more and more of their shopping on line. Im pretty sure that you and your families continue to buy more and more items on line via company websites and Amazon and the like and I bet the average value of things you are willing to buy is getting higher and higher all the time as well.

Until a while ago, I always figured that used cars would be somehow immune from this on-line trend, in that people would absolutely need to see, touch and feel the product before buying. Well, that probably is still the case...however, research suggeststhat now they may well have done all of their research, sifting through of possible vehicles, colours, specs and the like on line and the only time they will pay you a visit is when they have chosen your particular vehicle and are on their way to buy it as long as you agree a sensible deal and the vehicle condition is as described on your website.

This really says that your business cannot afford to relax a single standard within your on-line showroom. A really obvious example is referred to in the newsletter it says that adverts that include just 2 pictures of a vehicle rather than no pictures are twice aslikely to be considered. The chances increase with the more pictures or views of the car that are available. Effectively, here we

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Live Advisor rolled out across the network

hen visiting your individual dealer websites customers can now search for approved non-franchise vehicles and non-approved Honda

vehicles, using the Alternative Stock search functionality.

When a customer performs a search and selects All or Alternative Stock from the Range drop down menu, this will return vehicles that are non-approved Honda vehicles (any age) as well as approved non - franchise vehicles (less than 5 years old). All vehicles displayed will be those held at the dealer site only.

This feature was introduced across the network to promote improved customer engagement and encourage consumers to stay within the Honda network for longer when performing their used car search.

Alternate stock search feature now available on your dealer websites

ast year saw the online chat facility Live Advisor rolled out across the network. The new facility allows your customers to immediately chat with you

direct from the vehicle view pages of your website.

Acting as an instant communication tool the facility allows you to talk to your customers at the very second they begin their search process for their next vehicle.

Providing valuable insight into your websites performance, the in-built analytics tool also allow you to track and monitor customer activity the minute they arrive at your site.

have the customer making that showroom/forecourt visit, having a good look around your vehicle from the comfort of their living room. Truth is that they will be doing more and more of this as we head forward in time. Hence, your virtual showroom will become arguably even more important to your business than your real one.

So, please make sure that you are just as fastidious with showroom standards on line as you are in the flesh!

...Step forward the 2-year-old Honda JAZZ CIVIC-RV! Have you ever come across a 60, 11 or 61 plate one of these? Thought not. At the moment, there are about 6,500 used Hondas out there in the network with a pretty even spread of age range....with the exception of 2 year old cars. This age range co-incides with that rather difficult year we had (some might say annus horribilis...but not me!) following those natural disasters. This age of Honda is in desperately short supply....so if you see them about, Id recommend that you snap them up to stick on your forecourt (both physical and virtual!).

Actually, more than half of the HUK cars we sell this year will be coming from our HUM factory car fleet and these vehicles happen to be an average of 2 years old, some older (not a lot of people know that!). Id therefore recommend you all do yourself a favour by hassling RBS and Phil for these cars and make sure you get one of your team to join our weekly Wednesday 2pm on-line auction where you will discover a veritable feast of these rare cars to buy. Fill your boots while stocks last!

And the winner of the most sought after used vehicle is....

WL

n conjunction with our Used Car Marketing partner Manheim, we are holding a series of Used Car Best Practise Marketing seminars throughout May utilising several venues across the U.K.

The aim of these seminars is to ensure you are up to date with the latest consumer research/buying trends around Used Cars and are to help you maximise your online representation within Honda.co.uk.

As part of the seminar Manheim Market Intelligence will share important knowledge of the wider used car market, which will be presented by Motors.co.uk who is part of the Manheim family. There will also be presentations from other representative speakers throughout the day providing valuable insight into the local used car market.

The dates for the seminars are as follows:

Glasgow Monday 13th May (pm) Wednesday 15th May (am) and (pm)

Leeds Thursday 16th May (am) Thursday 16th May (pm)

Adlington Monday 20th May (am) Monday 20th May (pm)

Bruntingthorpe Tuesday 21st May (am) Tuesday 21st May (pm)

Colchester Friday 24th May (am) Friday 24th May (pm)

Bristol Friday 17th May (am) Friday 17th May (pm)

Poyle Wednesday 22nd May (am) Wednesday 22nd May (pm) Thursday

23rd May (am) Thursday 23rd May (pm)

Ireland Wednesday 15th May (pm)

Register Now!

If you havent already registered and would like to come and join us at this exclusive event for Honda dealers, simply email your details to:

Honda-seminar@manheim.co.uk or telephone 01625 300 015.

Continued support from Manheim.

Finally we would like to remind you that as part of their support to the Honda network, Manheim Retail Services have a dedicated Client Support team which are available to answer your questions any day of the week including weekends!

For any queries, questions or concerns, you can contact them on:

01625 856 100 or email honda-support@manheim.co.uk

Regional Used Car Marketing seminars taking place in May

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