Comments - 87 Car Dealers That Suck At Lead Conversions & How You Can Crush Them! - DealerELITE.net2024-03-29T05:56:28Zhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=5283893%3ABlogPost%3A488926&xn_auth=noJames - This is my favorite p…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-11-14:5283893:Comment:4894612016-11-14T06:44:27.007Zsteven chessinhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/stevenchessin
<p>James - This is my favorite point that you made :</p>
<p><em>when you do something - trying to look thru the eyes of a retail car shopper, be honest....would you know how that even feels? I don't. I know too much now (to my own detriment in this area) </em></p>
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<p>James - This is my favorite point that you made :</p>
<p><em>when you do something - trying to look thru the eyes of a retail car shopper, be honest....would you know how that even feels? I don't. I know too much now (to my own detriment in this area) </em></p>
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<p></p> Jim two things come to mind,…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-11-10:5283893:Comment:4889612016-11-10T19:19:56.914ZJ. Michael Zakhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/JMichaelZak
<p>Jim two things come to mind, 1st great research and article with lots of reminders and valuable tactics to put a dealership ahead of the majority of the dealers. 2nd, scary results however after listening to several recorded sales conversations from dealers through out the country I am not surprised just disappointed.</p>
<p>However I do have a question, you mentioned the 2.2% the national conversion to sale rate. What is that based upon? It seams awfully low. Is that internet sales only…</p>
<p>Jim two things come to mind, 1st great research and article with lots of reminders and valuable tactics to put a dealership ahead of the majority of the dealers. 2nd, scary results however after listening to several recorded sales conversations from dealers through out the country I am not surprised just disappointed.</p>
<p>However I do have a question, you mentioned the 2.2% the national conversion to sale rate. What is that based upon? It seams awfully low. Is that internet sales only regardless of new or used vehicles?</p> Hi Jim, great article. I sold…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-11-10:5283893:Comment:4889592016-11-10T16:34:41.570Zjeff sternshttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/jeffsterns
<p>Hi Jim, great article. I sold cars for 27 years so I have to admit that I personally would never know how to change my DNA or reprogram my brain to that of a car shopper that never sold cars. Now as a 5 year vendor to the industry with hundreds of personal dealer contacts and many daily conversations, even if I'd never sold cars before ...again I'd personally have difficulty looking through the eyes of a consumer with no industry knowledge. I've never been one in my adult life so, I can't…</p>
<p>Hi Jim, great article. I sold cars for 27 years so I have to admit that I personally would never know how to change my DNA or reprogram my brain to that of a car shopper that never sold cars. Now as a 5 year vendor to the industry with hundreds of personal dealer contacts and many daily conversations, even if I'd never sold cars before ...again I'd personally have difficulty looking through the eyes of a consumer with no industry knowledge. I've never been one in my adult life so, I can't know what that must feel like. Excitement, fear, what I'd want, etc.</p>
<p>Everything that I ever did as a dealer (that I tried to do as I thought a shopper would want) seemed to not help business (or even their satisfaction for that matter. Let's face it....shoppers like kids will take desert before dinner on a preference ;) )</p>
<p>Since I am now in the chat space (and got into it as an evolution of using many in my store ...and then one that worked...) I feel the need to chime in on a couple comments that seem overly general. Like leasing...it's neither good nor bad...it's all subject to the alternative (heavy miles, trading every 2 years? Keep it forever otherwise?). Chat is neither good nor bad. Done wrong (as you describe above) is not best in my opinion.</p>
<blockquote><p>This is ironic because the main reason people use chat is to remain anonymous.</p>
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<p>I agree that this is the main reason. This is why we see requirement of contact info as an opener as a bad practice. That said, same as at a social function...we have found that a warm conversation can lead to a shopper unoffended and happy to leave contact info for the proper person to contact them. Positioned as a receptionist, this can be acceptable. Shoppers don't get offended when the phone receptionist doesn't know a specific but connects the shopper. We've case studied many times and in our case, <em>perhaps counter to the industry</em> or your general research, do not increase bounce.</p>
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<blockquote><p>Every managed chat that we engaged used predictable, scripted or manipulative tactics to persuade us to give them our contact info.</p>
<p><b>For Example:</b></p>
<p><i>“May I have your contact information so I can get back to you if we get disconnected”</i>.</p>
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<p>Jim, you have our 100% agreement here. A trick like asking for info in case of a disconnect or to send a transcript only confuses the shopper when the store calls ("I never asked to be contacted") and burns out the human capital inside of the store... calling or emailing a certain number of people who never raised their hand to be contacted. Great point and not a good practice in my opinion.</p>
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<blockquote><p><i>“I don’t have access to that information. Would you like to make an appointment to negotiate with a salesperson?”</i></p>
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<p>Obviously poor wording. Of course what we don't know is if this is a stupid chat provider script, a rogue operator or an in-store employee managing the chat (bringing those well regarded phone skills to the chat :) ). I for one always felt <em>wonderful</em> (SARCASM ALERT) after listening to my staffs recorded inbound sales phone calls!</p>
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<blockquote><p>I clearly understand the benefits of managed chat. Chats often occur after business hours and many sales consultants claim to be “too busy” or they’re reluctant to engage chats for fear of missing an UP.</p>
<p>For many dealers managed chat is profitable because they do convert a percentage of their leads. But, I can’t help but wonder how many people are turned off by chat and bounce to a competitors website to get the information they need to make a decision.</p>
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<p>Jim, I assure you that managed chat done right is better than tying up sales staff. Remember the average chat is 8 minutes...lead or not. In our world, 40% of every chat is for parts and service. Some sales payplan spun people in stores get their moods down after a few of those chats at 8 minutes a whack! Further, remember that the only time (in my opinion) that internal staff should chat at all is if the dealer is happy with the recorded phone ups because this skillset is what will convey to chat (but you'll still need to continually inspect for spelling, grammar, typing in caps, etc). In my own store, me letting go of my ego and allowing a good managed provider take over the chatting from my staff literally doubled the retails sourced to chat (of course part of that was the overnight bump that you'd earlier mentioned). Further, taking my staff off of 100 chats per month at 8 min each allowed us to dig further back in CRM and make more calls. It was a synergistic boost.</p>
<p>I'd mentioned prior about bounce. You know, you'd laugh at how many shoppers click the banner icon (placed next to the phone number) to ask for the dealership's phone number! Bounce from crappy chat? I'd bet on it. Same as bounce off the asphalt from any crappy practice! Of course you're right.</p>
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<p>I hope that this came across as intended and that is that I saw some terrible chat practices mentioned and we are against all that you seem to be against! I was hoping to not have a dealer not lose out on the tremendous shopper support ("I bought my car 2 weeks ago and need help with...." or "Can you show me the credit app page?" or "I'm looking for a job" or "What is the service manager's name?") or the added website shoppers that can be shepherded to the showroom and Gosh-willing into a vehicle or service dept job if it's done right and handled right by the store once the message is forwarded to a hand raiser. Some will assuredly bounce from crappy chat and some will bounce from this <em>often</em> <em>expected communication channel</em> not being present.</p>
<p>Shoppers will communicate thru the site ( a form, chat) or phone or social medial or how they like. All must be covered.</p>
<p>Adapted from what I used to tell guarded card shoppers in my showroom (stolen from a sales trainer, of course :)...<em>"please allow me to apologize for the experience you had with the other chat provider"</em></p>
<p>A final warning: when you do something- trying to look thru the eyes of a retail car shopper, be honest....<em>would you know how that even feels?</em> I don't. I know too much now (to my own detriment in this area)</p>
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</blockquote> You've highlighted some very…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-11-10:5283893:Comment:4889562016-11-10T15:20:48.567ZJoe Webbhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/JoeWebb
<p>You've highlighted some very clear principles that dealers should have already adapted to, but sadly, not near enough have. Understanding a customer's needs at every single touchpoint they have with your dealership, your people, your website, your inventory, and your information is key to delivering a great customer experience, before during and after the sale. Well done.</p>
<p>You've highlighted some very clear principles that dealers should have already adapted to, but sadly, not near enough have. Understanding a customer's needs at every single touchpoint they have with your dealership, your people, your website, your inventory, and your information is key to delivering a great customer experience, before during and after the sale. Well done.</p> So how do we make money with…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-11-10:5283893:Comment:4889542016-11-10T15:03:35.320ZRoger Sowershttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/RogerSowers
<p>So how do we make money with this "best price" paradigm? Internet "best prices" are generally losers to the sales department.</p>
<p>Best price seems like a way to become so successful that you go out of business. Good news we sold 500 units this month. Better news we only lost 50k this month. Last month we lost 75k so we really made 25k? Sounds like what the airline industry accomplished. </p>
<p>So how do we make money with this "best price" paradigm? Internet "best prices" are generally losers to the sales department.</p>
<p>Best price seems like a way to become so successful that you go out of business. Good news we sold 500 units this month. Better news we only lost 50k this month. Last month we lost 75k so we really made 25k? Sounds like what the airline industry accomplished. </p> Thank you - I thought I was a…tag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-11-09:5283893:Comment:4888522016-11-09T03:50:19.349Zsteven chessinhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/stevenchessin
<p><strong>Thank you</strong> - I thought I was alone in hating the standard practices. You have done a great job of pointing-out flaws. Most of the stores you surveyed are probably part of major groups, The reps are merely following specific doctrines dictated by sales managers using old-school, hard-sell, heavy-handed auto sales techniques. </p>
<p>You are very right about video -- I have always found the results to be superior to text formats --- and I am familiar with the technology you are…</p>
<p><strong>Thank you</strong> - I thought I was alone in hating the standard practices. You have done a great job of pointing-out flaws. Most of the stores you surveyed are probably part of major groups, The reps are merely following specific doctrines dictated by sales managers using old-school, hard-sell, heavy-handed auto sales techniques. </p>
<p>You are very right about video -- I have always found the results to be superior to text formats --- and I am familiar with the technology you are using -- although - it is a lead management tool not lead generation - so more is needed. And while I used to be the #1 proponent of nicely shot and edited video I am now seeing that live streaming video has the strongest "concierge" strength when used properly. Several years ago Lincoln tried but lacked the necessary insights about what customers wanted to see and hear. And one more thing --- the road to the digital sale seems to be the same for so many without the slightest question that it might not be "best practices". </p>
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