Learn how to drive sales through your Facebook page. Josh Vajda, Director of Inside Sales at AutoUSA, gives three tips for driving in-market customers to your Facebook page.

What would happen if four customers walked into your dealership but only three salespeople were available to help? Would the fourth customer be ignored and told to come back another time? Or would a manager, or someone else, step in to help? One thing’s for sure: if nobody stepped in to help, you would lose a potential sale. And if this happened repeatedly, well, I wouldn’t want to be in that sales meeting.

Of course, you’re probably thinking that the likelihood of this happening in your dealership is slim. Yet it does happen in most dealerships every day. The only difference is the customers are currently Internet leads in your CRM and not in your showroom.

Not the same, you insist? Think again.

The results of Pied Piper’s recent 2012 Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) study indicates that nearly 25%, or 1 in 4 customers, who submit Internet leads are not contacted by the dealership within 24 hours. Another 16% of inquiries received only a simple automated response, followed up by a personal e-mail from a salesperson.

The best-performing brands in the Pied Piper study were Lexus, Infiniti and Acura. According to Pied Piper CEO Fran O’Hagan, these brands performed the best because they have processes in place to ensure that Internet leads are handled properly.

I’m betting that, if I asked you if your dealership had a documented Internet sales process, you would say “Yes, absolutely.” Yet the study proves that these processes are not always being followed. Sales Managers can see when a salesperson drops a customer on the lot without a T.O., or skips from the Meet and Greet to the Write Up without stopping to build rapport or land the customer in the right vehicle. It’s a little harder—but not much—to see what steps are and are not being followed in your Internet process.

If you want to improve your sales performance, improve your Internet lead response with the following steps:

1) Ensure your written processes are being followed. Hold salespeople and managers accountable for the e-mails, phone calls and follow up required to turn Internet leads into showroom visits. Regular meetings with the manager are the best way to accomplish this.

2) T.O. every lead, just as you would a showroom customer. Don’t let salespeople close out Internet leads in the CRM. Require that a manager review each lead and then close it out for the salesperson. Have the manager send out an e-mail to every lead that is closed out asking about their experience and asking them why they didn’t buy. You might be very surprised at how many customers will say they were never contacted.

3) Consider a technology like an automated virtual assistant that can engage and re-engage a large volume of Internet leads. The assistant passes hot leads to the salespeople so they can focus on phone calls and setting appointments with in-market customers.

How do you ensure that processes, both in the showroom and in the Internet department, are being followed?

Josh Vajda, Director of Inside Sales at AutoUSA, shares tips on how dealerships can turn more leads into shows.

When you’re planning your dealership’s online marketing strategy, is location a factor? Maybe you’re located near a river, mountain or near the border of a state with no sales tax. Maybe you know there are desirable customers who come from a zip code near you, but those customers have to drive by another same-brand dealership in order to get to your store. Or maybe your OEM program doesn’t give you the flexibility to target certain areas that you’d like to target — but you know your biggest competitor is getting those leads.

The good news is, location doesn’t have to be a problem. If you know where your customers are but you’re not getting the amount of leads you’d like from those locations, there are a few things that you can do:

1) Work with your independent lead provider to come up with a custom, geo-targeted territory that will produce leads from the areas in which your customers live. Drawing a radius around your dealership is not always the best marketing strategy; especially if there’s a geographical obstacle like a river or mountain near you. This is also a major advantage that an independent provider can give you over your OEM; with independent lead providers, you are not restricted in the areas that you can target!

2) In every single e-mail template or phone call, give customers a reason to visit you. Tell your brand story. Does your service department have a great reputation and good user reviews? Tell that story. Are your sales people friendly and honest? Tell that story. Is your dealership involved in your community and does it support local charities or the Little League team? Tell that story. Customers will drive out of their way to shop somewhere if they feel good about the people, the store, the reputation, or the product.

3) Consider an incentive marketing program. Have you ever received a gift card for a restaurant or retail outlet? Chances are you’ve redeemed it, even if you had to drive across town to a place you normally don’t frequent. Gift cards provide real incentive for customers, and they will drive right past a same-brand dealership in order to redeem them at your store. Yet the nominal amounts are not incentive enough to attract people who aren’t in the market for a vehicle. Incentive marketing programs like ShowPro are producing great results for many dealers, and may be worth trying. Here’s how it works: http://youtu.be/_fMVwduSe5Q If you’re attending Digital Dealer, stop by Booth #801 for a demo! Is location a challenge for your store? What other best practices or tips do you have for attracting customers?