Posts Tagged ‘lead management’

A Kiss With a Fist is Better Than None

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Easily one of my new favorite lyrics floating around on the music charts, “a kiss with a fist is better than none” can easily be translated to the idea that contact, even with a negative attached, can be better than no contact at all.

One of my weekly routines is to mystery shop the internet departments of my dealers, their local competition, and other dealerships that claim to “do it best”.  This is something I do, not just to ensure my clients are following the processes I’ve put in place, but to keep their neighboring dealers honest.  Follow-up best practices and templates are stolen regularly from one area to the next so you must constantly stay innovative.

What surprises me most while mystery shopping, though, is how often it is that dealers don’t respond.  Shocking.  In today’s time, there should be more focus on taking care of customers than a decision to simply not respond to an inquiry.

Leads are not contacted back by our Internet staff for two reasons.  Sometimes it is just that the staff is cherry picking, looking for the easiest sale and disregarding the other.  Other times it is simply because their only response would have to be a negative one.  Instead of letting the customer know the vehicle isn’t in stock and offering similar vehicles, it is just as easy to blow the lead off and not follow up.  Our staff asks themselves “why waste my breath and tell the prospect the disappointing news?”

What I urge Internet Sales Managers to do is to take the extra minute to offer back a reply letting them know that, due to the popularity of the model (or – if used – the great value of the vehicles on the lot), “this particular vehicle is no longer in stock/available.  However, I’ve done some additional research on your behalf and found some other great vehicles that is sure to meet your needs.”  Then, depending on your technology, you can decide to either insert details/pictures of those specific vehicles into the email or wait for a response back.  I recommend the former.

So don’t get scared that you are going to disappoint a customer or hurt their feelings by telling them the bad news.  It is better to be upfront and offer alternative options than go without answering the customer’s questions.  You and I both know that they are likely to purchase a different vehicle anyway so why not approach the possibility sooner rather than later… or never.  Your prospects may not thank you for it, but, at the very least, they will keep you in the running because you didn’t completely ignore their inquiry.  So as Florence + the Machine likes to sing, sometimes “a kiss with a fist is better than none.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog | No Comments »



Joe Webb “On Video” with Cars.com

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009


In this filmed Interview with Cars.com filmed in early 2008, I discuss just one of the many ways I employed video in my internet lead management process at my former dealership.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Videos | No Comments »



Response Received

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Article from Dealer Advantage (Cars.com newsletter). Written by Brian Hannan after our interview on how to achieve quality, consistent responses from internet leads.

 

 

Email Tactics to Deliver the Customer Replies You Want

Ever wondered why those carefully crafted emails sit unanswered in prospects’ inboxes? So has Joe Webb, and he has a theory.

“Customers over-educate themselves and start going crazy,” says Webb, president and consultant for DealerKnows LLC. “I’ve had a customer break into tears because he had contacted and received quotes from 83 Toyota dealerships. It was the worst car-buying experience he ever had.”

Although sympathetic, Webb recognized the shopper’s plight as opportunity to help the dealership where he worked at the time. He knew he couldn’t buck the trend of car buyers researching online; he needed to set his store apart, in consumers’ minds, from any competitor.

“You have to contact them at the right time, quickly, with the right information in a conversational-style format,” Webb says. To shed some light on the process he developed, Webb shared three tips to help your email cut through the clutter and get the response you want.

1. Ask questions. Many salespeople do most things right,” Webb says. “What they don’t do is try to build rapport with the customers anymore. They try to answer their questions like a clerk as opposed to trying to build up rapport and strike up some kind of conversation.”

An effective response to shoppers’ inquiries does that, he explains, through a needs assessment. The questions can lead to yes-or-no answers, so long as they keep you in communication with the buyer. For example, you might ask:

  • Who’s going to be using the car? 
  • Have you had an opportunity to have your trade appraised? 
  • Since there are new incentives available from the manufacturer, would you like any information regarding lease or finance rates?

In a given market, Webb estimates this strategy is overlooked by most sales professionals – even the top performers. “Maybe one out of 10 will ask questions that a customer will want to give information back for,” he says. “Any question that a customer wants to answer can help you get a dialogue going. They want to hear that you are trying to, through asking questions, offer them even more information. As soon as a person thinks that you’re going above and beyond for them, you’ve usually built a relationship.”

2. Do what you say you’ll do. With your initial email, Webb recommends laying out for the customer your sales process – and then following it to a “T.” He suggests including an offer – one you intend to keep – to call shoppers in a half hour so you can review their request and answer any questions.

“A lot of people will email back or call you just to prevent that call from happening,” Webb says.

3. Be creative. Rather than simply adopting other dealers’ proven tactics, Webb recommends adding something new that makes it your own. Among the techniques he developed:

  • Be the last autoresponse. While competing stores focused on an instant response, Webb realized a fast one would be more effective. Knowing that most people read their email from the top down (i.e., they begin with the most recently received), he configured his replies to go out five minutes after his nearest competitors.
  • Craft a clever autoresponse. For business hours, Webb wrote messages that began with a casual hello, included a commitment to provide the requested information and closed with questions (e.g., What color would you not consider? Is a test drive important to you?). The clincher? He appended “Sent Via Blackberry by AT&T” to each of his replies, five words that drove his response rates to upward of 50 percent.

“I want somebody to think that I’m busy enough, walking the lot,” Webb says, “but that I care enough to get right back with them. It isn’t framed as an autoresponse, but a personal contact.”

  • Recruit the car. Looking for help from your satisfied customers to help drive referral business? Instead of directly asking them to connect you with their friends, family and colleagues, Webb suggests a more subtle approach. On the first anniversary of a sale, he sent buyers a thank you email from the vehicle they purchased, as if their vehicle was the thankful party. Very often, the messages were forwarded to the desired audience because the recipient thought they were cute.

“Since I don’t have hands, just tires, I needed the nice internet guy down at Arlington Toyota Scion to help type this,” the message concluded. “He told me if you are thinking of getting me any brothers or sisters to spend time with in the garage or outside in the driveway, you can rescue them right from his lot.”

Are you following this advice and still coming up empty-handed? Kathy Kimmel, a Cars.com manager of automotive consulting and dealer training, recommends that you mystery-shop your store. You may be surprised to learn the problem stems from how a message is delivered to shopper’s inbox. If your lead management and customer relationship management systems aren’t communicating, even your best efforts will fail to impress.

“‘Dear [Customer Name]‘ may seem like a simple problem of a template field not being populated, but it tells prospects to stop reading and move on to the next dealer’s response,” Kimmel says. “Although we often rely on these automated tools to do our jobs, we must stay in control of the sales process. Shoppers buy from people they recognize as professional and believe have a personal interest in helping them.”

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog | No Comments »



Who is Selling Whom?

Friday, March 6th, 2009

We have a serious problem in the automotive industry. No, the Internet is not destroying the car business as the old-timers like to say. The problem is simple. Internet customers, in many cases, are more knowledgeable on the models than the people selling the vehicles.

Sure, you can point fingers and say salespeople should take a vested interest in the brand they are selling. You can train and train and train. The repetition of a hundred test drives may not be enough. You can give up and believe clichés such as, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” or “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”

It comes down to the fact that many salespeople are relying on their selling skills above their product knowledge to appease their customers. With the large majority of customers having done significant research on builds, options, pricing, invoices, and trade-in values, salespeople are at a significant disadvantage. How does a dealership overcome this epidemic?

An Internet sales professional (ISP) is the answer
If ISPs do their job correctly, they should be as researched and prepared as any customer (Internet or otherwise) that visits the dealership. Quality ISPs should be able to match wits with any customer that steps in front of them.

This is not always the case. With so much information available online, just a click away, customers are walking in with all of the information necessary to make the best deal for them. Internet sales professionals must be more familiar with these sites than the customers utilizing them. Ownership and management of every dealership should strongly encourage their ISPs and salespeople to take time out of their day to sit down and research all of their models through the Internet. My mentor, and marketing manager, John Photopulos, made it a point when I became Internet sales manager to send me to every best practices training, phone skills class, and product knowledge course available. I visited web site after web site to learn all they had to offer. By training yourself with all resources available, including the Internet, you know where the customer is coming from, you understand their expectations, and, best of all, you have the knowledge to dispute any of their errant beliefs.

How often do you run into a customer who believes he has a firm understanding of the vehicle’s base price and invoice, only to find he is not in the same ballpark? This is a common occurrence and one that is easily overcome providing the ISP has dedicated his time to understanding these sites. How many customers believe they can purchase a unicorn (a mythical vehicle that has never been seen, except as a part of someone’s imagination built on a wishful web site)? Hopefully, the ISP can utilize these sites to correct the customer for the benefit of the dealership. With a little practice, you will quickly learn how to navigate through the sites. This will give you the wherewithal to inform your customers without turning them into shoppers by overeducating them.

If any web site and its content are explained to a customer the right way, dealer profit will remain and customer service ratings will increase. No longer will the buyer feel their questions are being talked “around,” but instead, talked “through.” Knowing the intricacies of the web sites that your customers are requesting their information through will only put you one step closer to a closed deal with a happy customer and a reasonable margin of profit.

An example: When a client is in your store and wants Edmunds Excellent Value for his trade, take time with him. After a silent walk-around of the trade, build it out on Edmunds. Make sure the customer rates its condition with you. Read the detailed explanations of each value category. Once this is done, go one step further. Build out his new vehicle with him. Make sure to click on the tabs that mention the regional advertising fees being legitimate (though he never expected to have to pay that before). Click on the explanation of dealer holdback and view the TMV (true market value). I don’t know about your dealership, but most busy suburban Chicago dealerships would be content offering a good trade-in value provided the customer pays TMV. In a market like ours, flooded with over-aggressive dealerships, most would be happy to accept this deal. It is a daunting task for a customer to give a reasonable explanation to you, a professional, why the value of his trade is correct on a web site, yet the price that others are paying for a new vehicle is not a legitimate number.

If you are working Internet leads, or any customer for that matter, and you did not know the basic information above, this entire article is dedicated to you. I believe Internet sales professionals must take it upon themselves to learn and understand the sites their customers are surfing. Furthermore, I believe the ISP should train his sales staff how to use these sites to their benefit. My Internet sales coordinator (and right-hand man) Jason, only months into the business turned to me and said, “I can’t believe more salespeople don’t use the Internet to their advantage. Instead, they consider it more like a roadblock.”

As an ISP, you should change the perception of Internet sales, thereby changing the culture of your dealership for the better. In my last article, I mentioned how Internet sales professionals should differentiate themselves from normal salespeople on the floor. It is imperative for an ISP, above others, to function at a high level. We are all a team, though, and it is a good feeling when the sales staff around you is successful too. Share some of your knowledge, experience, and time with them. Do not let them walk into a situation where they are overmatched. Teach them the new selling tactics for today’s car shopper and make a progressive difference at your dealership. And, most importantly, know how to overcome customers’ objections using the very same source where they gathered the information.

In the simplest of terms, the Internet offers knowledge to the public. In our industry, knowledge is power. If a customer knows more than the salesperson, he has the ability to sell you on his beliefs, opposed to the correct way, where you are in control and you do the selling.

Just remember who is selling whom. There is only one answer.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Blog | No Comments »



The Lead

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

- In this clip I wrote and filmed, you will see the three ways that dealerships are handling leads. You will see the wrong way, the DealerKnows way (the correct way), and the worst way.
to adapt smart lead management and positive first responses in your store, contact DealerKnows.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Videos | No Comments »



Seeing Double

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

Seeing double is never a good thing. Not in any circumstance, short of hold cards in a Texas hold ‘em tournament. Seeing double can be dangerous and very costly. More and more Internet Sales Managers, though, are seeing double on a regular basis. Duplicate leads are an expensive problem for all dealerships.

 

With dealers trying to acquire as many internet leads as possible and vendors fighting tooth and nail to obtain the leads on behalf of dealers, duplicates are more prevalent than ever. Not only do lead generators sell the very same leads to more than one lead provider, but those lead providers are passing that customer’s information along to the same dealership. And a duplicate lead is born.

 

The other way a lead becomes duplicate is by the internet shopper visiting more than one website to acquire quotes. Often, the customer first visits the dealer’s website and then requests quotes from a third-party site to keep their dealer honest. Otherwise, they shop multiple channels because they actually believe three quotes from Edmunds may not be as aggressive as three quotes from Cars.com, or vice versa.

 

Problems arise when more than one individual is handling leads. An ISM cannot remember the names of all of their active prospects. Even then, the duplicate lead may not attach to the original if the address, first name (spouse’s name), vehicle, phone number, or any other variable doesn’t match.

 

Since lead aggregators obviously aren’t aware what other leads companies are sending you, dealers are being double-billed. If you already are actively working a lead generated from another source, whether it originated from your website or a third-party site, you shouldn’t have these duplicate costs. Lead providers don’t actively try to send you duplicates, but it is revenue so they are not actively trying to train their dealers to prevent and catch them either. As Stephen Stauning, eCommerce Director for the Asbury Automotive Group says, “While duplicate leads will always be an issue for dealerships, it’s important to recognize that the big three aggregators have done a very good job of self-policing.”

 

As a dealer, if you have not yet recognized the problem of duplicate leads, you are paying far more than necessary to generate e-business. There are several ways that you can track the duplicates and make sure you are credited for those leads.

 

Stephen Stauning believes “the best weapon any dealership can employ against duplicate leads is a great ILM tool that will not only de-dupe, but will also generate one-click duplicate lead reports that the dealership can easily submit to the aggregators for credit.”

 

Majority of CRM and ILM tools do actively search for duplicates, but some are more pro-active than others. Webcontrol AVV and Contact Management, I know from first-hand experience, do catch a decent amount of inbound duplicates. IMagicLab DealerCRM has developed a software that takes a more complete approach, not only focusing on the capturing of duplicate information, but assists in the crediting of said leads. Tom Harsha, Vice President of Training for IMagic Labs, says “Anyone that has worked Internet leads knows how frustrating and incredibly time consuming the ritual of checking every lead each month can be. In most cases salespeople don’t have the time to perform the manual review of leads and still sell cars so the leads go mostly unchecked. The real beauty of fully automated duplicate and bad lead checking is that is allows dealers to finally purchase third party leads with confidence. (The right CRM) will allow a dealer to know that each lead is checked, rejected and automatically credited so they don’t pay twice for the same customer opportunity.”

 

It is nice to know that today’s best ILM and CRMs are attempting to shoulder more responsibility of keeping lead costs and internet advertising budgets down for their clients. As any ISM or Internet Director that has handled a significant amount of leads and utilized these systems as their sole means of catching and crediting duplicates will tell you, no system is perfect on its own. That is why there are companies forming such as ILead Control whose product performs as a filter between all lead providers and your own CRM. Their solution is capturing a greater percentage than the CRMs since they are searching for a wider range of variables that will trigger an alert of a possible duplicate. Their reporting software provides the necessary documentation to provide the lead aggregators for credits as well as the exact amount to short-pay the invoice (so you don’t have to wait a month for the credit, but have it deducted before the invoice is sent). Bill Hilbun, owner of ILead Control, estimates lead duplication rates are around 12% to 15% for most dealers that are active with internet leads. He states that “duplicate leads are a fact of life…overpaying for them and waiting for credit doesn’t have to be! Use tools that save you time and money and puts the pressure back on the lead providers to send you quality leads.”

 

If all dealers make it a point to be credited for duplicate leads, then the lead providers will focus their attention (and own advertising) on making sure theirs is the first site visited by each and every automotive internet user. Duplicate leads are the large problem, but there are also bad leads (incorrect information) to worry about as well. One training company, Automotive Internet Management (AIM), spends time training their dealers on how to classify leads. Chris Olsen, Director of Sales for AIM, promises to argue justification about leads that don’t provide correct phone numbers and email addresses on behalf of dealers. Bad leads can be close to 10% of all leads – close to the same percentage of duplicates.”

 

So there you have it, folks. You just learned that for every 100 leads you receive, 20 are bogus. And you are likely paying for those 20. Simple math – 20 leads at an average $20 per lead means you are paying $400 more than you should. If you are a larger store receiving 1,000 leads a month like mine, it could add up to $4,000. Most ISMs would love an extra $4,000 to spend toward more, legitimate leads. All you have to do is utilize the right tools, CRM solutions, and dedicate your time to the problem. Pay attention and save your dealer money. They will love you for it. The easiest way for me to put it is…be careful what you pay for.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Articles | No Comments »



Will Your Internet Department Sink or Swim?

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

An Internet Sales Professional should be a life raft. You can stop an internet customer from drowning in a pool of builds, specs, and prices. You can save them from visiting one salesperson-flooded dealership after another.

 

Now ask yourself…are you a life raft or are you an anchor?

 

A life raft will answer a question quickly and, more importantly, competently.

An anchor will attempt to drag the customer into the store by giving them either as little information as possible or by flooding them with prices. A life raft offers quality answers after the initial email and gives customers realistic expectations and fair offers. An anchor promises the imminent arrival of a vehicle they have little chance of obtaining.

 

One thing that an Internet Sales Professional (ISP) can be sure of is the internet-savvy consumer knows a price waits for them right around the corner; one website away. More and more, customers demand to have all their questions answered… and sooner rather than later. Vague answers are no longer adequate bait to lure today’s consumer.
 

 

Save them from vague answers, repeated urges to visit, and automated follow-up responses. If you want to be competitive, you have to answer their questions on the first email. Please notice… “email”. Don’t be the person that calls them immediately, even if it is under the veil of “Did you receive the information I sent you?” They are sitting at their computer with their inbox open! They know you did not send anything! You can always call later; but you can’t change a bad first impression. Send a personalized email first.

 

Internet Sales Professionals have the opportunity to separate themselves from the typical salespeople on the dealer floor. These are the very people the consumer fears and want to avoid speaking to in the first place. And let’s face it, we ISP’s are all just glorified sales reps with good word tracks, better organizational skills, and fast fingers. However, customers have higher expectations of us. Johnny Car-Buyer doesn’t want to believe he is talking to a Sales Rep that can type. Nor does he want to be conversing with a technician from a computer store. He wants to believe he is speaking to a knowledgeable friend that is looking out for his best interest. Johnny needs a life raft.

 

Any ISP worth their weight in leads will tell you that directing an internet customer to act is just as easy as a walk-in customer. We all have the same job duties. We all are fighting toward one goal. “Get the customer in.” How we go about this and how we view our job description, though, is what separates you from the next ISP a few miles away. How do you direct an internet customer, you ask? Your first email will rarely spur someone to hop into their car, drive to see you, and drive off with the exact vehicle quoted. Not anymore. A few years ago this was a little more common, but people want all of the information nowadays. They don’t do this solely by collecting prices. Internet customers ask follow up questions. It is how you respond to these questions that determines your worth as an Internet Professional.

Build trust by moving the internet customer one step at a time. Build the relationship, connect with the customer, and move them toward you. This is how you differentiate yourself from other ISP’s and endear the customer to you. Customers want to be guided on their car-buying process. Replying to customers’ questions will give you the opportunity to direct them to the dealership. If handled correctly, you can guide them straight to your lot. You don’t need to light a fire under them in the first email. You simply need to give them reasons over time to see you. It is a process.

 

Some dealers operate by inundating their internet leads with mass amounts of information, whether it was requested or not. This is called the “Info Anchor”. The anchor drowns the customer with builds, specs, and prices, hoping to look like they are being upfront with their information, but, in reality, just trying to save themselves time from following up. You don’t need to purchase ALL of the leads possible. You simply be more thorough with your leads so your closing ratio increases.

 

Like everyone else, I shop my competition. Their initial emails with amazingly low price quotes, attached list of all features and options (and even discounted warranty prices!) are absurd. Even though they are not being vague, they are supplying the customer with too much  information: The Info Anchor. However, try to ask them a follow up question and wait for a response. Continue to wait. Take a nap. Take a trip. Take a coma. You will keep waiting because they hardly ever answer follow ups. They give it their one shot and they’re done. That is when Life Raft (me – and not just because of my size) floats in and saves them. I keep them headed toward land by answering any remaining questions they have. I don’t make their vehicle purchase seem like a too-good-to-be true mirage, but a tangible and reachable goal. An overflow of information will simply numb them from realizing the difference between a fair deal and a nit-picky deal. You will just send them shopping. Doing this is creating your own worst enemy.

 

Here is my request to all ISP’s. This is what I am asking you to do.
1) Do not give the lowest possible price for a vehicle. Offer a competitive price that reflects the value their vehicle deserves. You are selling something of value. You are selling a motor vehicle that will be carrying their most important commodity – their family.

2) Don’t offer to beat everyone’s deal. You will only send them scavenging for quotes. In latter emails, simply tell them you will stay competitive with other offers.

3) Build value in what you do. Buying a vehicle can be a painful process. You are saving a customer from going through a potentially-frustrating and painstaking process of visiting an endless number of dealerships to get the same questions answered.

4) Tell them the truth. It is a lot easier to remember what you have said to them in the past.

 

If a customer feels that you have saved them time, energy, and a little money…you have already become their life raft. You have become a real Internet Sales Professional and you have earned the sale.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Articles | No Comments »