Fuel revenues during the March plate change. Reach more customers for less cost

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1 Fuel revenues during the March plate change Reach more customers for less cost

2 With the vehicle registration plate change on March 1st 2013, contacting your customer base now could really drive sales. UK car sales have suffered in recent years from the effects of the recession and new and used car sales remain challenged. An uncertain financial climate, high fuel costs, rising VAT levels and interest rates, plus penalties for higher polluting cars, have all kept consumers away from the forecourts. And while trends indicate that the sector is beginning to show small signs of stability and improvement, there remains significant pressure on dealerships to reach out to their customers. To make sure that dealerships are in a position to reap the benefits of any uplift in demand next year, dealers will need to market to customers and prospects early with a message that resonates. In the past, consumers were more loyal to local dealerships. Today, the explosion of technology-enabled communication channels has given consumers more access to competitor information than ever before, making it tougher for dealers to remain front of mind. Dealerships must now reach out to their customer base with compelling communications that resonate. If a message is well considered, it can positively impact loyalty and drive revenue. This will not only increase revenue following a number plate change, it can increase revenue throughout the year. Even with decreasing budgets, organisations still waste large amounts of spend on incorrect data. In fact, 63% of respondents say that 5-30% of their marketing budget is wasted as a result of bad data**. Did you know Around one in six households plan to purchase a new car in the coming 12 months and a quarter of households intend to purchase a used car, suggesting that the market for new car sales may be set to strengthen*.

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4 How to identify your target audience with greater accuracy Customer information changes all the time as people sell and scrap cars, move house and change phone numbers. Keeping accurate records of your customers is a growing challenge as individuals circumstances are constantly changing, meaning some consumers are unreachable because their contact details have changed. Customers will likely be receiving marketing they don t want to or isn t intended for them, creating a negative attitude towards your dealership. An inevitable result of this use of poor data is further database erosion, as more people are likely to opt out of receiving messages or be uncontactable. Are customers still loyal? 61% of men and 62% of women go to more than one dealer to buy a car Cleansing your data, whether as part of a regular process or as a one off exercise, has far reaching benefits for your business. Research has indicated that 73% of organisations worldwide believe inaccurate and incomplete data costs them money in terms of wasted resources, lost productivity and/or wasted marketing spend: On average, 20% said their database is inaccurate A fifth have lost customers due to inaccurate data input 27% have wasted budget by mistakenly sending multiple mailings to the same address^. By cleansing their vehicle database, one of our AM top 100 clients realised massive savings on their Welcome Packs, MOT and Service reminders through data cleansing. At the same time, the improvement to the quality and timeliness of their customer communications ensured that this dealer was able to realise significant saving and increased marketing ROI by reducing wastage on their Welcome Packs.

5 7 reasons to cleanse your vehicle database Buck the trend By maximising car sales opportunities ahead of the number plate change on March 1st. Improve ROI By ensuring you re able to target the right customers who are most likely to want your product/services, with campaigns that resonate. Reduce costs and wastage By avoiding contacting individuals who cannot be found or are no longer relevant to you. Increase sales opportunities By sending follow-up campaigns with relevant offers like MOT and service reminders. Build positive relationships By making sure that your communications target the right customers and contain the right information. Protect your dealership reputation By keeping up to date vehicle information such as mileage, registration dates and information on any scrapped vehicles. Keep your data compliant By making sure your customer information is accurate, up to date and meets data regulations. Did you know Automotive databases deteriorate on average 10% a year+. Everyday in the UK, 18,000 people move house, 1,600 die and over 20,000 used vehicles change hands++.

6 The benefits of clean data in the automotive industry Whether you re a small dealership or part of a larger group, giving your vehicle database a cleanse ahead of the plate change is a quick, easy way to detect and correct inaccurate records and append new information to existing customers. This ensures that you are in the best possible position to maximise car sales next March. Here is how you can cleanse your vehicle database and keep your vehicle data compliant in just 4 steps: Step 1 Step 2 Identify Get a free health check of your vehicle information database and customer records to see the percentage of gone-aways, deceased persons, TPS, MPS and FPS. You ll discover what changes are required and the potential cost savings you could make. Step 3 Step 4 Enhance Add additional information to your customer records to really understand their circumstances such as their family status and affluence. With a deeper understanding of your customers you can contact them on their preferred channel, with more relevant messages that resonate and increase return. Correct Update your customer records with the correct address and phone number and see if the last vehicle the customer bought from you has been scrapped or changed ownership. This will help you know who is most likely to be looking for a new car, and help you save money on marketing to people who ve recently re-purchased elsewhere. Maximise See the number of vehicles in your information database that have been scrapped or changed ownership and append your data with the date of first registration to anticipate MOT and service dates. Vehicle database checklist... ü Correct misspelt addresses ü Update a change of address ü Get new telephone numbers ü Remove gone-aways and deceased records ü Flag duplicate records ü Flag keeper change ü Flag scrapped vehicles ü Append registration dates to your records

7 Get a free Experian health check of your database Data Cleansing Customer data has a short shel data with Experian can solve th and correcting inaccurate recor costs and keep your data compl Our dedicated team will provide a free health check of your database, including a detailed report illustrating what changes are required and the potential savings that can be made. If you decide to go ahead with any element of the cleanse, your data will be processed and typically returned to you within five working days. We can also use our consumer prospect data to show you the number of consumers in your area with matching profiles to your existing customer base, and the number of businesses near you who use a fleet of cars. If you decide to go ahead with the cleanse, we ll give you the full contact details of each prospect. Why Experian? Experian has a unique ability to provide you with a wealth of consumer, business and automotive data so you can build a complete picture of your customers. We have a greater breadth, depth and quality of data than any of our competitors giving you greater insights to make better decisions. * Mintel Car Buying Report, March 2011 ** Experian QAS August 2010 Sample graph from a customer data audit, summarising the results of an Sample address graph cleanse. from a customer data audit, summarising the results of an address cleanse. Number verified as correct Number that are unchanged Number Number updated verified by as Experian correct Number that are unchanged Number updated by Experian Summary graph from an audit Summary displaying graph data from that can audit be displaying suppressed data as that a percentage can be of the suppressed whole database. as a percentage of the whole database. 10% 2% 20% 11% 3% Gone aways Deceased persons TPS MPS FPS Why cleanse your data? Everyday in the UK, 18,000 1 people move house, 1,600 1 die and over 20,000 2 used vehicles change hands. These changes cause customer data to rapidly decay, which can have a huge impact on the accuracy, effectiveness and cost of your marketing campaigns, as well as compromise your reputation in the eyes of your customers. The benefits of data cleansing Cleansing your data, whether as a part of a regular process or as a one off exercise, has clear benefits for your business. It will reduce the costs associated with contacting individuals who cannot be found or are no longer relevant to your campaign and will also reduce the risk of annoying customers with irrelevant communications. Cleansing can help your business comply with data regulations and also improve your response rates and return on investment by making sure your campaigns are targeting the right customers. 1 NOP world data quality white papers. 2 From SMMT data W Th Ex le bo co Cl th In da in al ca als Au da yo oc in es ex ca yo pr ta ^ Experian QAS Global Research, From SMMT data Inchcape Case Study NOP world data quality white papers and SMMT data Mintel Car Buying Report, March 2011 For more information about all the different aspects of our data cleanse and choosing the right options for your dealership, contact us on or us on automotive.enquiries@uk.experian.com.

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