Selling cars is a tough, competitive business. Case in point, the brother of one of my associates submitted a lead to three dealers and then purchased from someone else entirely. Why? He felt the follow-up response from all three dealers was inadequate.
Statistically, what happened was not all that unusual. According to a Dealix/Cobalt study, only eight percent of third-party leads that resulted in a sale, closed at the dealer who received the original lead, which means that more than 9 out of 10 deals closed somewhere else. We know many people buy within 72 hours of submitting a lead and even more buy within 30 days. That is the good news. Unfortunately, they usually buy from the competition and often—but not always—because of price.
The same industry study found that second only to the price, the other most common reason for buying a vehicle from a specific store was the dealership’s “good and quick” response to their inquiry. Profit margins for most dealers remain small. So, if a dealer must choose between either lowering price or improving their response to sales leads, the superior ROI comes from doing the latter. That is what I’d like to talk about in this article: additional ways dealers can respond to new leads.
The speed and the quality of a response can make the difference between a done deal and a lost opportunity. How you follow-up and how often you do it can be equally as important, however.
Beyond email
Beyond email auto-responders, here are four other follow-up tools for dealers to consider:
•    Voice messaging—This is an automated voice message that is triggered based on rules you define. A quick, personal and efficient way to follow up to a lead, voice messaging frees up your sales reps to focus on closing deals that are much further down the sales pipeline. An added benefit of voice messaging over email is in the sound of a voice: enthusiastic, friendly, warm, inviting, professional. A smiley icon is no match for the emotion behind a human voice—and for most consumers, buying is an emotional decision.
•    Text/mobile messaging—Did you realize that more than 60 percent of consumers use text messaging? This channel enables you to reach those prospects instantly via their mobile phones without intruding or disrespecting their privacy and time. Consumers don’t leave home without their cell phones, so don’t leave out this option from your follow-up response plan.
•    Automated call return—In addition to your Web-leads, you want to follow up immediately to prospects who contact you by phone. The combination of a nationwide toll-free number and an automated call return mechanism enables you to deliver prompt and professional responses.
•    Live chat—This tool can quickly turn the curious into the sold. Live chat allows you to start an instant conversation with prospects that are interested online but who may not be ready to visit your showroom.
Testing the weak follow-up theory
Another associate, looking to purchase a new vehicle, volunteered to do some non-scientific research for me on how dealers respond to a sales lead. I asked the associate to try searching for a vehicle on third-party sites and on local dealership sites.
Of the four third-party sites used, in two cases the associate received an instant email; one of the non-immediate responses promised to contact her within one hour by phone and did. In a different case, the response claimed that the nearest dealership was more than 600 miles away, which surprised my associate since she lives in a metro area with a population of close to two million.
The responses from online visits to local dealer sites were more promising. In one case, for example, her inquiry was sent at 9:44 and she received an email response at 9:51—and it was not an auto-responder message but a personalized response. Of the nine leads she eventually submitted, however (four via third-party sites, five directly to a dealer) and the follow-up contacts promised, so far she has received only two phone calls.
This test is nothing more than a single anecdote, of course. It does indicate, however, how some sales agents depend on an auto-responder or an email template. Even if those reps are busy, it doesn’t have to turn out that way. There are automated follow-up solutions beyond email that can help a dealership maintain “good and quick” contact with a prospect.
Many contacts + multiple channels = more sales
In the recent words of Jon Osborn, research director at J.D. Power and Associates, “It is now more important than ever for dealers to cast as wide a net as possible toward the limited supply of vehicle shoppers.”
Casting a wide net usually means leveraging keywords or exposing your inventory on multiple Websites, but another way to cast a wide net is by communicating with prospects and customers through multiple channels. Simply put, one buyer contact—or even a few—over one channel may not be enough in these mobile days of IM and iPhones; and if you’re not actively following up on that lead every way you can, another store is ready to take the deal away from you. Casting a wide net should result in more sales, not just more emails.
Al Babbington is CEO of OneCommand, previously CallCommand. He can be reached by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , call 877-999-9158, or visit www.OneCommand.com.