As Digital Marketing Manager at the Dutch dealer group Wensink Automotive, Leon van Davenhorst supports the company’s more than 40 local outlets with digital marketing services. Leon manages both the CRM team and the online team.
In January 2022, the company was the first dealership in the Netherlands to introduce Phyron’s software solution for automated, AI-enhanced video ads.
Hi Leon. First, do you really to sell more cars, or sell cars faster? Everybody is talking about the short supply?
I am proud to say that we don’t have that problem. In 2018 we initiated a program to increase and secure the supply of cars, so the effect of the recent supply crisis has been minimal. Having said that, we always want to buy and sell more cars. A good decision, and lucky timing.
Why automated video?
All car dealers essentially sell the same things, the difference is in how we serve our customers. So we have always promoted our services, but the most important issue for the buyer is to find out everything about the specific car that he or she is interested in. It’s a matter of trust. Honesty and transparency, and video is the most honest way to present a product. But with more than 40 outlets, and some 2,400 cars in our catalog that is updated every day… it used to be impossible.
So…?
Automated video makes it possible.
At the same time it’s about efficiency. Video is an extremely efficient way to sell a car, and with a fully automated process, every car in our catalog is presented in the same effective way. We have only been up and running a couple a weeks so it’s too early to report any figures, but our sales people do look happy.
Did you try working with sales videos before?
Oh yes, we contacted several external video companies, but all they could offer was manual video filming, which was way too time-consuming. We also developed a program where our own local sales staff were supposed to make simple videos of the cars, using their mobile phones. But this didn’t work out at all. The results were no good, it took a lot of time, and soon they felt that they had better things to do.
You sell both new and used cars with video?
Every used car is unique, for example in terms of mileage and general condition. So a potential buyer really needs to look for specific information about that vehicle. But even with brand new cars there are endless model versions and extras that may or may not be included in the car that the buyer sees in an ad. So, to give the consumer the right information on first sight, we use the Phyron solution for cars, new and used.
Wensink started out as a Mercedes dealer, right?
Yes, that was in 1986, and we still are one of the top Mercedes-Benz dealers in the Netherlands. But since then we have added Ford (2013), KIA (2018), Citroën (2018), and multi-brand outlets in several locations. In total we are now in more than 40 places in the northern and eastern parts of the country, many of them with several brand rooftops. This makes us one of the top-10 dealerships in the Netherlands. We are also the largest seller of trucks.
Do you sell trucks online as well?
When I first came to Wensink, they said it was impossible, but after a couple of weeks, I sold my first truck. Online. It’s just like car videos. If it makes sense, you simply have to find the right way.