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In several countries around us, it is quite normal for the automotive portal to give an indication of the asking price of the car. For example: ‘good price/average/too expensive’. With all the data the portal has at its disposal, that should in theory reasonably be possible. In the Netherlands, Autoscout24 made a brave attempt a number of years ago to launch this in beta and the market exploded in their face. With the result being the creation of VASS Netherlands. Afterwards, the project was put aside for several years. But of course, it will come back somewhere at some point.

That is the key question we are going to answer during the upcoming #DCDW Events on March 31 at Hotel Van der Valk Antwerp and on April 1 at Hotel Van der Valk Houten. Our keynote speaker is none other than Russell Richardson! He is perhaps the most well-known social media influencer in our business […]

What would I actually do as a dealer with my own CCC? That is much simpler to explain and also easy to organize. I speak to many dealers who would like to have their own CCC to follow up on active online leads. I am not a fan of that myself, because what is the […]

It is Tuesday as I write this, and I am at one of my favorite business places: my store in Doesburg, the Ligier and Experience Store Doesburg. And there is nothing happening. Just like the neighbors and the dealers I talk to. Since Saturday, it has been quiet… in sales, that is! Of course, dealer […]

I’m not really into New Year’s wishes. In fact, I actually find them two terrible (holiday) days, which I prefer to put behind me as quickly as possible. On to a new year, new opportunities and new possibilities. And it’s those possibilities I want to talk about today. LEF and Calldrip For quite some time […]

I have now been the owner of the Ligier and Experience Store Doesburg for 42 months.42 months in which I have learned an incredible amount: about the microcar market, the used car market, running an automotive retail location – and about myself. If we look purely at the microcar market, then honestly we can be […]

You read it correctly: this article is about 45 days and 2 weeks. Not 14 days, but 45 days and 2 weeks: a substantial difference in the follow-up of online leads for new and used cars.

Last week, at the invitation of a major automotive brand in Belgium, I gave two presentations about lead follow-up. Great to do; it always gives me energy. And although I am not a born speaker, motivator or trainer, it goes quite well, judging by the reactions afterwards.

Now that I am increasingly guiding and helping dealers and importers both domestically and abroad with the issue of lead follow-up, I am increasingly shocked by the apparent carelessness with which opportunities are handled. The past few days were no exception: I visited a large importer in Belgium and spoke with many dealers who all more or less have the same issues: how do you get your salespeople aligned so that they do what you believe they should do, rather than the other way around?

I was often asked this question in my first years in the automotive industry. Whether I was really sure that I wanted to become an entrepreneur. Whether I had thought about all those sleepless nights, the stress, the uncertainty, and everything that comes with being an entrepreneur. My answer was always the same: YES.