Best wishes for 2025!

The first blog of the year – 51 more to go before we can evaluate 2025. Then we’ll see which New Year’s resolutions were achieved and which ones were quickly forgotten…

2025 is starting in a strange way for me! At the Ligier Store Doesburg – Experience Center, I’ll be working alone this month. The entire sales team is no longer with us. This was partly planned, but not entirely. A setback, but that’s part of being an entrepreneur. It gives me the opportunity to determine what I really want to do as an online car dealership with a physical store – and, more importantly, what I don’t want to do.

Not good enough at aftersales/service!

First, I need to be honest with myself: I’m not good – actually, I’m terrible – at aftersales. I can provide good service, but I lack insight, management, structure, and profitability. With only one mechanic, it’s difficult – especially when he doesn’t speak Dutch. As a result, everything is focused on the front end: sales. But that team can never fully concentrate on its core task: handling leads. Even during my time as a SsangYong dealer, aftersales wasn’t my strong suit…

Workshop only for internal work

However, I do need the workshop to prepare vehicles. Since we process more than 20 sales orders and deliveries per month, I don’t want to outsource these tasks. The maintenance and service for microcars is improving every quarter, but many of our customers live far away. This means we don’t regularly serve a large number of them in our workshop. It’s time to make choices.

We have decided to use the workshop only for our own work: deliveries and service for local microcars. Warranty on used cars will now be handled by Autotrust Warranty, so customers who live further away can be assisted in their own area. Better for them – and better for me!

New microcars

For new microcars, we now offer 36 months of warranty, instead of the usual 24 months. All used cars come with a 12-month warranty via Autotrust. This gives me peace of mind and allows me to focus on the front end: sales.

On the sales side, things are going well. The lead-to-sales conversion rate exceeds 15% for all gross online leads and incoming sales calls. The highest conversion comes from our own websites (Ligier Store and Experience Store Doesburg), and the best-performing channel is the incoming sales call. Most leads come via Marktplaats.

Sales calls

Based on these insights, I will focus exclusively on incoming sales calls. These will receive my full attention. Service and warranty calls are immediately transferred to our call center, CARMEN Automotive BDC, so I can handle them when it suits me. Or they are forwarded to WhatsApp. Warranty claims go directly to Autotrust. Leads from our own websites go straight to the salesperson via Calldrip. This ensures total focus!

Alice, our virtual sales assistant, handles the many leads from Marktplaats. She qualifies the leads and schedules concrete appointments. Her long-term follow-up is better than any salesperson could do. This allows me to stay focused on leads that have already engaged, either via incoming calls or Calldrip.

This month, I’ll be posting a daily vlog on the LinkedIn page of Ligier Store Doesburg, where I’ll share how my adjustments are working.