Followers of my Twitter feed know that I have lately been looking at mobile apps, to see if anyone can present protection products on an iPhone. I wrote about this three years ago and, according to my informal survey, the field is still open.
I don’t think anybody has a good way to present a menu on a consumer web site, much less an iPhone.
Not only is the iPhone a restrictive form factor but we must assume that the customer, not an F&I person, is operating it. We would like to apply our Best Practices for Menu Selling, but the app must be able to apply them on its own.
For example, if we want to retain the package concept with the carefully chosen payment intervals, we can use an accordion control. I proposed this for a client once, in an F&I context, but it doesn’t make sense for consumer use.
No, the best way to “present all the products, all the time,” is simply to make one long column with everything in it. The iPhone presents challenges, but there are offsetting advantages. We can show fifteen products in one column, and the customer has his leisure to scroll through them.
I prefer scrolling to swiping for a few reasons. In the prototype shown here, we have the obligatory vehicle photo. After the first scroll, that’s gone and the screen space is devoted to products.
The prototype shows monthly prices for the vehicle and the products. This assumes the finance process is settled, and the app can choose products matching the finance term. Touching any of the products will open up a full page with details, coverage choices, and a “sales tool” as in the earlier article.
I recommend using analytics to determine the sequence of products in the column, and even to A/B test the format of the product blurbs. I have in mind a few different formats:
- Text with graphic and price, as shown here.
- No price ‘til you open it.
- Lead with the sales tool.
I discuss analytics here, but I am not a fan of the full “ownership survey.” Of the eight standard questions, maybe you can sneak in one or two elsewhere in the process. Apart from that, we’re counting on data points found in the deal itself.
I also think “less is more” when confronting the customer with choices. As you can see in the mockup above, there must be no complicated grades of coverage (or deductible). If you’re configuring the app for a specific dealer, you may want to filter some options out of the dealer’s product table.
Depending on who’s managing the app, the products themselves may be rethought. If you want to offer chemical, dent, key, and windshield as a combo product, then that’s a single choice. Alternatively – since we have unlimited column space – you can offer each one individually. What you do not want is a product having fifteen different combinations.
Coming back to my informal survey of mobile apps, and the workflow given here, I believe there are already good examples of vehicle selection, credit application, trade valuation, and payment calculator. Menu selling has been the only missing link, until now.
Virag Consulting 