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The Features and Service Of Nihon Cars
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Introduction
Standard Features
New Features
Extra Services
Nihon Cars, the Company
Introduction
By working with Nihon Cars you will…
· Be able to manage your customers and sales online regardless of your location.
· Put your IT concerns in the hands of experienced professionals.
· Create a powerful online presence for generating sales.
· Have more time to develop customer relations and business strategy.
Key Features of Our Service
· Nearly every auction in Japan available in one place.
· Superior interface and functionality.
· More complete translation of data than any of the auction houses provide directly.
· Superior support and consulting service.
Definitions
Auction Stock - the collection of all auction vehicles being auctioned in Japan. This website is updated every day with the data and images from all of the major auctions in Japan. Nihon Cars enables an exporter to show auction stock to customers on the exporter’s own website 48 to 36 hours in advance of each auction.
Dealer Stock - vehicles available directly from the exporter. There is no auction date and the vehicles usually come with more detailed inspections, notes, and photos. Nihon Cars enables an exporter to show dealer stock on the exporter’s website.
Bid - the price offered on an auction vehicle during an auction. Nihon Cars does not place bids.
Proxy Bid – maximum auction price for a vehicle that a customer is willing to pay. Nihon Cars enables an exporter to collect proxy bids from customers.
The Service of Nihon Cars
Nihon Cars enables an exporter to present auction stock to its customers on the exporter's own fully personalized and branded websites. The customer can search auction stock using the powerful features described below. Once a customer chooses a vehicle, he or she can request that vehicle from the exporter by entering a proxy bid and purchasing notes. The customer will do all of this on a website controlled exclusively by the Exporter. The website will run under the Exporter's own URL, with the Exporter's name, logo, contact information, and customized website text.
Nihon Cars also enables the exporter to display any other stock online using the same website. Normally this stock would be owned by the exporter, however there are no limitations. The addition, deletion, and management of stock are done with an intuitive webpage and there are no limitations on the number of photos or the types of information that can be displayed.
The full features of the website are described below.
What Nihon Cars Does Not Do
Nihon Cars‘ website service cannot place bids, because it has no direct connection to the auction houses. Proxy bids are placed by customers on the website and then read by the exporter. Once the exporter approves a proxy bid, one of its employees will then do the bidding either directly with the auction house or through third parties.
Nihon Cars does not buy or sell cars. We only help those people who do.
Because we do not sell vehicles ourselves, our customers can completely trust us to protect their customer information, sales data, and business processes.
The Design of Nihon Cars, the Website
This website is designed for speed and utility. It is based on years of software and website design experience and many more years of experience as a user of the Internet and e-commerce.
Today’s web users are facing nearly constant distraction. They usually just want a website that works well, works intuitively, and works quickly. A simple and fundamental rule of online commerce is that frustrated customers represent lost sales. It is vital to design a website that does the following two things very well.
1. Make it easy. Many companies try to impress their clients with extremely flashy websites or complicated interfaces. Nihon Cars strives for simple, intuitive interfaces that require the least amount of navigation, but the most amount of flexibility. We create websites that work well on different computer screen sizes and in both Internet Explorer and the Mozilla family of browsers such as Firefox.
2. Make it fast and reliable. Nihon Cars is hosted on powerful web servers in the USA with redundant Internet and power connections. The danger of lost sales greatly outweighs the extra cost for the web server. Nihon Cars also keeps the size of its files low, to make navigation faster for people on slower Internet connections.
We are very flexible, though. After we have given you our best and honest advice, we will provide exactly what is requested.
STANDARD FEATURES OF ALL NIHON CARS’ WEBSITES
Below are the features that each website created by Nihon Cars is capable of.
Features for customers:
Personal ID and Password. Used for secure access to personal accounts.
Auction Stock. View and bid on nearly 500,000 used vehicles being auctioned weekly at nearly 50 different auction sites from all over Japan. Data for each auction is available 48 to 36 hours in advance of the auction.
Dealer Stock. Search Dealer Stock with the same natural and easy to use interface as auction stock.
MyStock. Once a customer purchases a vehicle, he or she can see it under MyStock.
Find Cars Easily! Use the powerful but easy advanced search tool or simply browse cars by make and model. Reuse your most common searches easily and quickly by selecting from a list of your past searches (not available on this demonstration site). improved!
Useful Search Results. Vehicle information is returned quickly in lists that permit easy comparison. Similar to spreadsheet files, the lists can be sorted by any column with a single click of the column’s heading. Place your mouse over many items to reveal more detail information.
Proxy Bids. Place each bid with specific instructions to the Exporter explaining any special conditions or concerns regarding the bid.
Favorites. Don’t worry about forgetting which cars you are considering. Just put a check mark next to any car that you want to remember. Later, find all cars on your checklist with a simple search option.
Don’t worry about making your list too long. Checklists can also be filtered just like all stock, making it possible to create very large lists.
Market Research. Research the past sale prices of similar vehicles quickly and easily with a link directly on each car's information details page. new!
Local Price. Choose any currency to view prices in. Set a custom exchange rate.
Message System. Get feedback on your bids and discuss a particular car with the sales representative by exchanging notes directly on the car's information details page.
Preview Images. Choose to view search results with preview images or without. Images can make color and car type selection easier, but some experienced car buyers may enjoy the extra speed of searches without images. Also choose from large or small preview images.
Spreadsheets. Export a list of bids as spreadsheet files with 1 simple click.
Features for exporters:
Personalized and Branded Website. Use any website address that the exporter owns or purchases and use any logo, text, or graphics that the exporter chooses. We will help the exporter completely customize the website to represent the company correctly.
Standard pages include the Terms of Service, Terms of Bidding pages, and Contact pages. However, there is no limit. Nihon Cars can also help the exporter develop the graphics and text; look under Extra Services.
Configure Auction Data. Choose exactly which auctions are included on the website.
List of Proxy Bids. Securely access a convenient view of the proxy bids placed by staff or customers. There are three standard views: My Bids, My Customers’ Bids, and All Bids. The list of bids has intuitive check-off boxes for indicating which bids have been processed by sales staff.
Message System. Communicate with your customers before and after bidding is complete by exchanging notes directly on the website under each bid. Use message templates to quickly send standard notes about auction results. E-mail notification of new notes is automatic. new!
Auction Results. Auction results are collected for all auctions for sold and unsold vehicles including the final bid price. You have complete control over what information you share with customers.
Customer Activity. View the searches your customers are making and which cars they are looking at. Use this information to help them find the cars they want and improve your sales. Also detect who is using the system the most or the least. new!
On Site Recommendations. Easily create customized lists of desirable auction vehicles and recommend them to any number of your customers. When you do, they will see a special link on the website that says, "You have recommended vehicles!". new!
E-mail Vehicles to Customers. Send either a list of vehicles, or the complete details and photos of one vehicle, directly from the website to your customers. There is no need to use a separate e-mail program. Save valuable time and increase your sales.
Bulk E-mail. Send any e-mail from the website to many customers at one time, but each customer will only see his or her own name in the address. This is far better than using the typical BCC method, and customers will assume that you are personally e-mailing only him or her. Choose addresses from your website's customer database, or enter other addresses.
E-mail Templates. Create your own e-mail templates and save time when sending common messages to your customers from the website. new!
Automated Signup Forms. New customers can sign up directly on your website with ease. You can approve new customers and give them their own personalized account with one click of your mouse.
Customer Database. Instantly create secure logins for customers. Create complete customer profiles with notes and information about each customer, stored in a secure customer database that is accessible by you at any computer at anytime.
Control Privileges. Determine for each customer what privileges and rights he will have. For example, decide for each customer if the customer may view inspection sheets, auction location and vehicle lot number, or bid results.
Preview Accounts. Entice potential customers by allowing them to preview the system before they are allowed to make bids. Users with Preview Accounts can only view past auction data, to learn about the types of vehicles being sold every day in Japan, but without a chance to look at future auctions. One choice could be for the exporter to require a deposit on the first purchase before allowing full access. new!
Sales Rep Assignment. Assign each customer to the personal Sales Representative responsible for that customer. A sales rep can see his customer’s bids with a search under My Customer’s Bids.
Stock Management. Quickly and easily copy a vehicle from an auction into your dealer stock or your customer’s personal MyStock list. This will most often be used if you have purchased that vehicle from the auction. Update it at anytime with more detailed photos and notes. If a customer purchases the vehicle, move it into the customer's personal MyStock list.
Dealer Stock. With an intuitive interface, easily upload and manage any vehicle into the Dealer Stock section. Your customers will be able to instantly find your vehicles using the same website and simple interface that they use for auction vehicles.
Unlimited Photos and Descriptions. Use unlimited photos and descriptions with dealer stock. Make photos as large as needed because smaller preview images are made automatically for all photos. The smaller preview images make it easier and faster for customers to use the website.
Content Management System. Powerful yet simple tools that let you create and edit your web pages easily, quickly, and from any computer with a web browser. In addition to keeping all of your content completely up-to-date, use this feature announce special deals on your website with ease. The tool was used to edit this very page and keep it always up-to-date. improved!
Multilingual. Create translations of any text on your site both quickly and easily. You can directly edit the webpage yourself with only your web browser, or we can do it for you.
Company Logo on All Vehicle Photos. Place any images or text of your choosing on stock or auction photos automatically, for example your logo and website address. This feature is demonstrated on both the Dealer Stock and Auction Stock photos of this site.
E-mail Addresses. If needed, an exporter can have an unlimited number of e-mail names for its staff at any website address that the exporter owns or purchases.
Personal ID and Password. Each staff member is given a separate login, providing access to the special management features.
Terms of Bidding. Each time that a customer places a proxy bid, require him to clearly indicate that he agrees to the Terms of Bidding (or Terms and Conditions).
Stock Categories and Stock Lists. Place any of your dealer stock cars into one or more categories. Create any category you like and use them as custom stock lists. See the examples on this website.
Region Customization. Create any number of regions and then assign customers to those regions. Usually these regions will be based on the geographic location of your customer, but you decide. Make Dealer Stock cars visible only to customers in certain regions, or all regions. Choose to customize any web page or information by region.
Regionalize Pricing. Optionally set different prices for different regions.
Front Page Specials. Display cars on the front page of the website. Update the front page as often as you like.
Exchange Rates. Show the current exchange rates for major currencies on your website.
Online Contact Form. Avoid spam overload by not keeping your e-mail address off of public web pages. Instead, your customers can use the online contact form to contact you directly from a web page, without using your e-mail address. When you reply, the customer will learn your e-mail address. new!
Spreadsheets. Save any list of vehicles as a spreadsheet file with 1 easy click. Works for auction vehicles, dealer stock vehicles, and auction bids.
Free Advice and Tips. Get help with general IT needs from trained IT professionals.
UPCOMING FEATURES OF ALL NIHON CARS’ WEBSITES
The following features will be added to the website in the upcoming few months and be available at no additional cost to people who sign up now. Don't wait for them. Excite your customers as they see all these new features come online.
Upcoming features for customers:
New Car Search. The auction houses process data at different rates and at different times. New Car Search lets a customer save time by searching only vehicles he or she has not searched already. Customers will appreciate this convenience and decide to check the website earlier and more often.
Favorite Searches. Save commonly used search filters for faster and easier searches.
Final Cost Calculation. See the final cost of a vehicle, complete with service fees.
Reverse Cost Calculation. Enter a maximum final price to see the maximum bid possible.
Auction Complete Alert. Get emailed automatically when an auction is complete for instant notification of bid results.
Auction Research. Improve the chances of making a winning bid by doing research. Find the selling price of similar cars from past auctions and see a calculated average price.
Auction Vehicle Alerts. Create special e-mail alerts that are sent when certain types of cars are available. Receive notice the instant that a desired car is available for bidding without having to visit the website repeatedly.
Dealer Stock Alerts. Choose to receive a notice whenever additions are made to Dealer Stock.
Message Center. Keep communication with the exporter stored conveniently in your account.
Much More. These are just some of the features coming in the near future.
Upcoming features for exporters:
All of the features that customers may use plus the following.
Bid notice. Get notified by email when new bids have been placed.
New Stock Showcase. Display newest additions to Dealer Stock on the front page.
Website Message Display. Display special messages to customers when they first login. Require acknowledgment from the customer if needed. This is perfect for changed policies, special sales, or other important announcements.
Staff Privileges. Choose which staff members have access to the different management features.
Bulk E-mail. Send out newsletters or other marketing material to many customers at one time, but personalize each message for the recipient.
Live-Support. Customers will be able to chat directly with sales staff through the website.
Dealer Auction. Exporters can run their own auctions for their own stock on their website.
Pricing Rules. Create custom pricing to show a final cost to customers inclusive of charges and fees.
Regionalized Pricing Rules. Set different pricing rules for each region or even for each customer.
Inventory Tracking. Keep track of inventory from the auction to the foreign port.
Financial Tracking. Keep track of finances from deposits to invoices to final collections.
Much More. These are just some of the features coming in the near future.
We value the input of exporters and will make features requested by them.
EXTRA SERVICES
Nihon Cars can provide service that ranges from an enterprise-level IT Department up to a complete offshore business process center. The following services can also be available for negotiable fees.
- Native English editing of any text by an American or a New Zealander.
- Translations from English to Japanese and from Japanese to English.
- Custom graphics and website design.
- 24-hour customer support representatives for the 24-hour global market, at a much lower than expected cost.
- Auction sheet translation services.
- Data entry and accounting staff.
- Any business process that does not require a physical presence in Japan. Read below to see why.
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ABOUT NIHON CARS, THE COMPANY
With combined American and Japanese management, Nihon Cars brings the critical advantage of premium IT capabilities to exporters of all sizes. Most importantly, we deliver this advantage at a small fraction of the cost historically spent by large companies for these same capabilities.
The formula for our success is simple and yet nearly impossible to match:
· Simple, because we use high quality labor from low cost countries, and we centralize the needs of several companies.
· Impossible to match, because we have a unique combination of resources, talent, and experience.
A few more of our advantages:
· Several years of experience working for a vehicle exporter.
· 10 years of expertise in information technology.
· Native level fluency in Japanese and English.
· A desire to please combined with a very flexible, dynamic, and professional business philosophy.
For any questions or to discuss anything, please contact us.
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