Nigel Falkiner, marketing director at Sandicliffe Motor Group, has some great tips for dealers on IT-based sales aids.

He advises: “It is expensive to make DVDs to display on plasma screens so we use PowerPoint presentation screen savers on everyday PCs as a simple way to get messages across. They can be used to support tactical messages.”

As far as websites go, Sandicliffe Motor Group puts a lot of effort into search engine optimisation and closely monitors use at all its sites.

Falkiner comments: “We have a target that every customer who contacts us via the website is replied to within four working hours.”

However, Falkiner says the real benefit of IT in marketing is to be gained by measuring performance.

Sandicliffe Motor Group captures information on how many customers come into a branch and when they come in.

In addition, leader boards for the service, customer care and sales teams are updated in real-time.

Everyone can see what everyone else is doing, and this promotes healthy competition. Falkiner continues: “This is marketing but it is internal. Everything is written into Excel spreadsheets and this allows us to identify trends. It is important to make sure that your marketing department gets on with your IT department and this can be tricky as technical and creative people often do not mix.”