Are You Available When Your Customers Are?

The internet has changed our world. The concept of "business hours" has been turned on its head. People are buying things online at 2 in the morning. They're researching vehicles after the kids are in bed. They're planning out how to drop off their vehicle in your service department and still get to work on time at 4am.

When they have questions, are you there for them? Chances are that you do not have a receptionist there to answer questions by phone overnight. A contact form or email simply won't fulfill all of their needs in the timely manner they expect. This is where 24-hour chat comes into play.

In the example above, we described the person who wants to know about your service department and how she'll get to work. This isn't a hypothetical. It actually happens. We see chats all the time inquiring about hours and transportation. If you're not there to answer their questions, you're missing out on potential business. She can't wait until 7am to decide where to drop off her car if she has to be at work at 8am. Answering her questions at 4am when she's inquiring is the key to getting that business secured.

Many people like to do the majority of their web surfing at night when there are no distractions or responsibilities. Those who do not have 24-hour chat miss those opportunities when people are surfing their website late at night or early in the morning and they have questions that they need answered.

There's a reason that many companies do not offer 24-hour chat. It's not easy to maintain a properly trained chat operator staff that can be there at all hours of the day or night, so they talk about how "real" buyers only inquire during business hours. We've seen that the exact opposite is true, that people who are researching during off hours are often easier to convert into a lead than someone who is researching during the day.

When your customers come knocking at your virtual door, are you making your dealership available to answer their questions?

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Comment by Ganesan Ramaswamy on September 16, 2014 at 11:22pm

Good Morning,

We need to be available as much as possible to max. no. of customers when they knock your virtual door or expecting something from you in any way/form to meet their requirements. 

From there, we begin our bonded business relationship, hospitality, one to one approach, etc. 

Offlate, every customer is busy with their schedule/appointments, etc., we need to attend them on call. eg. Pizza Hut, B2B. Further, customer wants everything/services at their doorstep.

This is being implemented in automotive dealership and applicable to every business set up. Eg. Hospital industry. In India, it is flourishing business now.

Customer expects total solution/services. 

Rather, We take it is a passion, proud, opportunity to attend them religiously. CSI would improve to max!.

Bye,

Comment by steven chessin on September 16, 2014 at 4:26pm

Seems like a "No-Brainer" --- but people can rationalize being wrong.

Of course I understand that your interest is selling the chat service itself  -- fine -- but I hope they make sure the chat team has a full-range of assistance available when people need help. Tow and taxi for example. And what to do if neither can recover a stranded customer or the next call is 911. Better for the dealer to be the hero.

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