The car sales market is not going through its best moment. In the first ten months of 2021, car sales in Spain have fallen by 33% compared to the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, with a total of 709,998 units. The shortage of vehicles and delays in deliveries as a consequence of the lack of chips is hitting the industry, a circumstance that adds to the electrification process of the sector and the doubts that many citizens have when deciding to buy an electric car or one with more sustainable technology.
In this context of uncertainty and a declining market, each potential car buyer is a treasure for brands, which seek to optimize their sales systems and convince the customer not only by explaining the virtues of their cars, but by offering a better buying experience. And the buying process, irremediably, nowadays begins on the Internet, which is why startups like the French MeetDeal are becoming increasingly relevant. MeetDeal has just started its operations in the Spanish market with the opening of an office in Barcelona, which it will also use as an operations base to channel its international expansion process.
And, what does MeetDeal do? The company has developed a technological platform that allows "to accompany the consumer and humanize the buying process" that starts on the Internet and can culminate on the manufacturer's or seller's own website or in a traditional physical dealership. "90% of users refuse to communicate their phone number in a form to receive an offer throughout the vehicle purchase process," explains Emilio Godes, director of MeetDeal in Spain. According to Godes, the omnichannel solution developed by the startup aims to prevent potential buyers from giving up because they do not want to fill out a form. Instead, they are contacted directly through a "human chat," meaning that the person speaking remotely is not an automated robot but an expert trained in that automotive brand who can resolve all the customer's doubts. This chat is available seven days a week, between seven in the morning and twelve at night.
"Our digital solutions allow us to streamline conversion and the path to effective sales thanks to our ability to break the coldness of the process with advice from specialized experts," explains Godes, who points out that with MeetDeal, brands also obtain more relevant and qualified information from potential buyers. According to MeetDeal, in France, the company already provides its clients with "more than 10,000 qualified leads monthly." Among the startup's clients in the French market are brands such as Seat, Cupra, Audi, Toyota, and Nissan, with a total of fifteen companies including manufacturers, distributors, dealerships, and digital marketing agencies that work for the brands.
Meet Deal was founded in 2017 by Frédéric Torreilles and is headquartered in the city of Rivesaltes, north of Perpignan. The company, whose general director is Jérémy Clanet, currently employs 70 people at its headquarters, although this figure is expected to grow by 40% by the end of the year, when it is expected to reach a workforce of one hundred people. In parallel, MeetDeal is now opening offices in the Poblenou neighborhood that will allow it to launch the business in Spain and also open other European markets, according to Godes, who will be responsible for this expansion process from the Catalan capital.
"The idea is for the Barcelona office to be a mirror of the one in France; we will duplicate MeetDeal's current structure to install the nerve center for international growth here," emphasizes Godes. The executive assures that the number of hires "will depend on the response of the Spanish market." "We will not reach the hundred employees in France for now, but the idea is to replicate that same structure here. Now that fewer cars are being sold, automotive brands need solutions like MeetDeal's more than ever," he concludes.
Before joining this French company, Godes had developed his career in the automotive sector in areas related to marketing and advertising, in companies such as Volkswagen Group España and Havas Media.