Many dealers struggle as their sales and Internet departments battle for leads and split deals. Unfortunately, they typically work from two different pages in the dealership playbook and they hardly see eye-to-eye. Why not add a process to your playbook allowing you to drive unsold phone-ups and unsold floor-ups intentionally back in as Internet leads?
I know it may sound like blasphemy to a strong desk manager, but remember the key word in this process is intentionally. Let’s face it: Because of disjointed databases and processes, this often happens without us even knowing about it, so why not plan for it?
Many stores have great processes and talented people in the Internet department who knock the cover off the ball. Why should they be forced to handle low-quality leads from third-parties? How strong would it be to see showroom, phone-up or service drive as lead sources in your Internet department?
If you use dedicated Internet salespeople, I can promise you they will appreciate the quality of the leads and the accompanying historical information from the existing customer database. More importantly, a steady diet of these “free-range” leads will allow you to cut back on your intake of the more expensive, lower quality, third-party leads.
How can you find your “free-range” leads?
1. Break down the quantity of leads you received last month into four distinct buckets:
o New organic leads
o New provider leads
o Be-back organic leads
o Be-back provider leads
2. Divide the leads you receive organically (from your Website or microsite) from the leads you purchased or received from a provider.
3. Determine if the leads are existing customers in your database or brand new records. Preferably, you are matching all of your leads with your CRM (customer relationship management) database that contains all of your DMS data as well.
If you track stats from each of these categories, you will quickly see the easiest to control are the be-back organic leads.
What does a be-back organic lead look like and how do you bring them in?
These leads consist of second time buyers, frequent service customers and even multiple time walk-ins. These leads are free for the asking if you can drive them to your Website.
One of the biggest benefits of working be-back organic leads is that you can manage the flow of these leads to focus on new or used vehicles. How many prospects were in your showroom in the last 120 days looking for a new truck? How many were over in your pre-owned center looking for an economy car because of the rising gas prices? Your CRM should not only supply you with the answers but should give you the tools to park the be-back bus right on your keyboard.
CRM technology is always evolving. The trick is to find a CRM tool that provides you with an easy way to target prospects, send information and track their progress through the sales cycle at your store.
So what are you waiting for? Take advantage of your organic free-range leads—they will be great customers and they don’t even know it yet!
Bryan D. Anderson is the founder and president of Autobase, Inc. He can be reached at bryan@autobase.net or call 888-398-5911.
