Reimagining the Role of Value-Added Products Successfully

The past year has been challenging for the motor retail sector. The withdrawal of all GAP products from the point of sale in Q1 2024 was a notable test. It led Mon Motors Group to reimagine the role of VAPs positively and effectively; it’s a case study that should be of interest to other retailers.

Founded in 1971, Mon Motors is a family-run business and one of the largest dealer groups in South Wales and the West of England, a position bolstered last year when the company acquired seven sites from Heritage Automotive. Today, it represents Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo, Skoda, Seat, Cupra, and Ford across multiple locations.

Moving to a Single VAP Supplier – the Importance of Consistency

Following its expansion last year, Mon Motors decided to rethink its approach to VAPs. Central to their change was the move to a single product supplier aimed at creating consistency and improving efficiency.

Following a rigorous tender process, Mon Motors chose to continue work with AutoProtect Group, with whom it had worked with since 2010 for some of its products and notably for its compliance expertise. Finding the right partner was, as Rhys Diment, Group Compliance and Process Manager at Mon Motors reflects, a crucial decision;

“Working with a mix of VAP suppliers and processes across the Group created inconsistencies and compliance risks. We were committed to enlarging the VAP portfolio, so the uniformity offered by a single supplier made absolute sense. AutoProtect, with its extensive portfolio of products, strong compliance proposition and track record of support and collaboration with us previously, were a clear choice.”

A new product portfolio has been developed, enabling the business to offer SMART, tyre, alloy wheel insurance, obligor warranty, MOT and assistance products at the point of sale. Additionally, GAP insurance has been reintroduced to customers through AutoProtect’s DigitalPlus B2B2C re-solicitation service.

Customer Compliance Led

Compliance was at the heart of Mon Motors’ approach to VAPs, offering customers products they understood and valued.

Traditionally, dealers offering VAPs focused on one or, at most, two products (some offered none at all). However, there was and still is apparent demand for these products.

Mon Motors recognised that with a broader VAP selection promoted in a high-integrity, transparent fashion, customers could choose products whose value they appreciated. SMART insurance, with its potential to protect customers from any end-of-finance agreement damage charges, was an obvious opportunity. The same has proved to be valid for tyre and alloy wheel products.

Training – Consistency

Central to Mon Motors’ new VAP model is making it easier for customers to buy products and consistency amongst the sales teams. Training and ongoing coaching on the products, claims process and compliance are areas where AutoProtect’s team has significant strength.

A rapidly deployed initial training programme to bring everyone up to speed on the products and processes has been enhanced with coaching, an ongoing Monthly Sales Academy and specialist product days to guarantee product knowledge and a customer-centric ethos are embedded.

Product knowledge is a key focus, challenging ingrained beliefs that all VAP products are fundamentally very similar and that promoting VAPs could endanger the core car sales.

Details on AutoProtect’s claims process, data, and customer reviews enhance product knowledge. The fear of losing car sales by promoting VAPs has been addressed positively, for example, by highlighting the budgetary certainty that VAPs can offer. This has proved powerful to the many car buyers who have faced the shock of rising inflation and interest rates on their finances for the first time in recent years by de-risking their motoring costs.

Consultancy – Evidence-Backed

The quality of the relationship and commitment to collaboration were central to Mon Motors’ decision to partner with AutoProtect. Monthly reviews are a cornerstone of this process, reviewing and benchmarking performance at group and site levels. However, they have also proved to be an opportunity to share best practices, claims, and customer review data and discuss the evolving compliance landscape.

Claims evidence and the effectiveness and speed of AutoProtect’s app-based claims journey have proved particularly valuable.

The Impact to Date

Four months on from relaunching with AutoProtect Group, the impact to date has been:

• Products live and all sales teams fully trained within four weeks.
• Four brand new products integrated across all sites.
• Q1 2025 sales 5x higher than Q1 2024.

Reflecting on the impact, Dean Connolly, Director of Strategic Partnerships at AutoProtect, observes, “Success has been a combination of great products, processes and technology, but above these, it has been about the relationship between our two organisations and shared long-term commitment to mutual success for our businesses and customers. On a personal level, I’m delighted to be continuing our partnership with Mon Motors and look forward to what the future brings.”

For Mon Motors, Rhys concludes:

“We needed to diversify our approach to VAPs and continuously deliver greater quality and consistency in everything for ourselves and our customers. Today, we are in a far better place than we were after the withdrawal of GAP last year, and we have turned a threat into an opportunity by pleasing our customers with a far broader VAP portfolio.”