Notes from the meeting room: Real World Analytics

Meeting chaired by: Neil Murphy, Real World Analytics COO

Why was the meeting called and who was in attendance?

The purpose of the meeting was to respond to a request from a customer to help them price used cars using Auto Trader data. In attendance were project manager Annette Lawlor, customer success manager Martin Franks and business development manager Paul Counter.

What was top of the agenda?

To take feedback from Neil and Martin who had run a workshop with the customer to discover their needs. The customer is a large franchise dealer group across the south of England.

What was decided as a result of the meeting?

The customer had been achieving an average price of 98% of the market price based on Auto Trader data for their region.

Whilst this represented an improvement of 15% on the price they were getting six months ago, it was felt that with the pace that the market was increasing, they were leaving margin on the table by not having timely information. It was decided to set a target price of 103% of the market.

To do this the Real World Analytics algorithms needed to be connected to the Autotrader data and integrated with the DMS data to measure the actual prices achieved.

Any other business?

Sourcing used vehicles from the auction houses was an additional challenge identified by the customer. It was recognised if the data showed the prices achievable now by model, trim and age then the buyers would know what they could pay.

It was also decided to use the data to locate the right cars in the right dealership to maximise the selling opportunities.

When is the next meeting, and what is it about?

The next meeting is in February to review our management accounts reporting suite which many of the financial controllers in the retailer groups have been looking for.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

• Company: Real World Analytics (RWA)
• Head office location: Dublin
• Principal business: Business intelligence for dealer groups
• Number of employees: 43