Get faster: The secret to boosting car sales

This article was originally published in the Autofile Magazine - August 2016 issue. 

You could be losing customers without even realising it!

A recent Lead Response Management study suggested that making just one change to your sales approach, could increase your chances of turning an enquiry into qualified leads by as much as 60 times.

The same study found that by not implementing this one simple tip is likely having a negative impact on your potential customer base, without you even realising.

So, what is this one simple thing you need to do to achieve these amazing results?

Respond to your online enquiries within 5 minutes of receiving them. That’s right, to potentially gain 60 times as many qualified leads as you do now all you have to do is respond to your online enquiries within 5 minutes of receiving them.

Consumers expect instant replies 

Why? Because consumers have the same expectations of you when they enquire online, as they do when they visit or call you.

That includes getting an immediate reaction when called upon. They are sitting in their lounges browsing vehicles looking for answers, and if you can give them those answers straight away, they’re more likely to respond back to you and interact with you – then and there – whilst they have the time.

Sounds too easy, doesn’t it? But unfortunately an experiment conducted amongst car dealers here in New Zealand, showed the average response time to a trial web enquiry was closer to 420 minutes. Even worse half of the dealers queried didn’t respond at all!

Of course the problem is that it’s sometimes impractical to be answering enquiries late at night or on the weekends. It can also be difficult to manage and track the progress of these enquiries, especially when more than one staff member may be responsible for responding to them.

An automated response tool is the answer

Whilst there is a multitude of options available for solving these problems (hire more staff, work nights, create rosters), the cheapest and simplest way is to utilise technology.

Smart auto-response tools can automatically respond to your web-based enquiries within minutes, providing information and calls-to-actions to the user that allows them to further their own quest immediately. They can also act as a lead qualification process, asking recipients to progress further into the purchase cycle by requesting information like contact numbers, trade-in details, requests for test-drives as  well as applications for finance. You need to ensure you give your customers a professional automated response to their incoming email enquiry, including further information about the vehicle, your dealership and with built-in calls-to-action.

How do they work?

Auto response tools work by sending a custom-designed email automatically back to any enquiry originating from your website or other online advertising agents here in New Zealand like Trade Me, Need A Car or Auto Trader.

A good auto-response tool will allow you to:

• Answer enquiries 24/7 - (or only outside of your office hours if preferred).
• Establish credibility - the customer is already interested in the type of vehicle you are offering. Use this opportunity to wow them with your professionalism. Let them know they can purchase their  referred vehicle from a credible dealership. Introduce yourself, your point of difference and your people.
• Tell your prospects about your other products and services - if they know you offer car insurance for example, they’re much more likely to enquire about it.
• Give your prospects a way to progress - make it easy for them to book a test drive, capture the first time slot they’re available to look at the car.
• Get your prospects phone number - a phone call is a much more effective medium to closing the sale.
• Get the finance process underway - a large proportion of enquiries relate to finance approvals. Get the process started right away and save yourself and them the time and wait involved otherwise. If you get  all the details online you can get the application processed and an answer back to them before they look much further.
• Capture all your enquiries in one place along with their current status so nothing gets overlooked.
• Remind you when enquiries haven’t been followed up.
• Provide an indication of the level of interest each enquirer has - someone who spends time filling in a finance application or clicks around the email is probably a lot more interested than someone who gives it a quick glance only. If you’re short of time you can at least put that time towards your best enquiries.

As you can see a great auto-response tool will allow you to quickly show customers that you value their business, by immediately responding regardless of what time they enquire.

It can also enable the sale process to progress further on its own without any immediate intervention from your end, which is why it is important to ensure it is in place across all of your online advertising mediums.

You probably were already aware that answering enquiries as quickly as possible can increase your sales success and may even have valid reasons why you can’t achieve the response times you want. However, recent technology has removed a lot of these barriers and made it affordable, time-efficient and simple to be on top of all online enquiries.

Combining this with recent trends in consumer behaviour online and the ever-increasing use of the Internet may lead you to the conclusion that investing in these technologies could be the best next move for your dealership.

A cost-effective solution

Motorcentral has a tool called Auto Attendant which achieves all of this. It gives your customers a professional automated response to their incoming email enquiry, including further information about the vehicle, your dealership and with built-in calls-to-action.

To find out more about this tool please call us on 0800 623 687 or email the team at dealersolutions@motorcentral.co.nz.

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Disclaimer:
The Motorcentral blog is intended for educational purposes only. All writers opinions are their own and nothing published on this blog should be interpreted as a recommendation or advice in any way. Motorcentral is also not responsible for and does not verify accuracy of any of the information contained within this blog.
In the event third parties are referenced within this article, Motorcentral is not necessarily affiliated with those third parties.