Carsales Instant Offer Strategy to 3x Revenue
The challenge
- Instant Offer is an alternative way to sell your car to the traditional classified ads and dealer trade-ins. The dealer buys your car, and you walk away with cash (instead of a car, a la a trade-in).
- During the initial stages of the pandemic, Instant Offer sales and revenue grew exponentially. Our execs wanted to replicate that success.
- A working group of 8 experts from different disciplines pitched how to 3x revenue to the exec team. I was one of them.
- It was the first time Design was represented at this level for Instant Offer, so I had to put the energy into relationship building, clear communication and standing my ground.
- Off the back of the pitch, Design got funding and I lead a program of work to reshape the entire product.
Design approach
Complete reverse brief
When you talk to the C-Suite, you want to ensure you’re aligned from the start. We documented the goals, format, audience and logistics from the initial discussion and sent it to them to sign off and hold both of us accountable.
Relationship building with expert partners
The Product Owner and I were the newest members in the expert group. They already had existing Senior Leadership relationships, product intel and strategies.
We conducted stakeholder interviews to understand their needs, knowledge and game plan. It was about building trust as much as it was a knowledge-building exercise.
Devise lean strategy
I'd used secondary research and conducted expert interviews proactively in the background of my day-to-day work to create a lean customer journey map. The idea was to identify knowledge gaps and where the pain points were concentrated.
I consulted multiple research sources:
• NPS data
• Analytics funnel data
• Competitor analysis
• Usability studies
• Dealer interviews
• Ops data
• Heuristic analysis
I consulted multiple research sources:
• NPS data
• Analytics funnel data
• Competitor analysis
• Usability studies
• Dealer interviews
• Ops data
• Heuristic analysis
Negotiate and collaborate with expert partners
Initially, the expert group were hesitant to have me present at all. I had to stand my ground and think on my feet to persuade them in multi-party meetings.
There were differing opinions about how we should structure the hours long presentation with the C-Suite – who should speak first, who should speak last, whose content should we cut?
I got their buy-in for my point of view during our pre-reads. A lot of it came down to communicating with complete conviction, that what I was proposing would increase revenue.
There were differing opinions about how we should structure the hours long presentation with the C-Suite – who should speak first, who should speak last, whose content should we cut?
I got their buy-in for my point of view during our pre-reads. A lot of it came down to communicating with complete conviction, that what I was proposing would increase revenue.
Refine the pitch with Design Leadership
My work got ripped apart, but in the best possible way. I distilled everything down to two slides into a McKinsey-style presentation and refined the tone-of-voice of my pitch to suit our exec team.
Tony, our Head of Design had a lot more face-time with the exec team, so his feedback on key messaging was crucial.
Tony, our Head of Design had a lot more face-time with the exec team, so his feedback on key messaging was crucial.
Practice, practice, practice
I was up til midnight the night before practicing. I was the new kid on the block (along with the Product Owner) and I wanted our exec team to know that I was entirely invested in making this product successful through my delivery and clarity of thought.
View Instant Offer prototypeOutcomes I drove
• Secured exec funding for strategic design research in collaboration with our Head of Design – the first investment of its kind for Instant Offer.
• Executed strategic product research in collaboration with our new research team - the first time this was completed for the product.
• Redesigned entire product in collaboration with UI specialists.
• Executed strategic product research in collaboration with our new research team - the first time this was completed for the product.
• Redesigned entire product in collaboration with UI specialists.
• Launched A/B test experiments to reduce drop off at key stages of the funnel.
• Defined the redesign delivery releases and product roadmap to inspire the team into action instead of uncertainty.
• Achieved buy-in from the C-Suite and challenging stakeholders for the design roadmap, redesign release plan and new ways of working
– e.g. Story-mapping to determine project scope upfront so that budgets don't blow out.
• Defined the redesign delivery releases and product roadmap to inspire the team into action instead of uncertainty.
• Achieved buy-in from the C-Suite and challenging stakeholders for the design roadmap, redesign release plan and new ways of working
– e.g. Story-mapping to determine project scope upfront so that budgets don't blow out.