I’ve often advocated in my blogs the benefits of quoting a price to customers who submit leads with a price inquiry. If the customer is submitting leads to more than one dealership, not providing the price will likely eliminate you from consideration.

 

Yet, according to CNW Marketing Research, 70.5% of people finance their cars. That means the vast majority of Internet leads will take the price quoted to them and then try to determine what their monthly payment will be. As we all know, monthly payments can vary based on the consumer’s credit score, the dealership’s finance programs and the specific vehicle the customer wants to buy. So the customer searching for the lowest priced vehicle today may still not end up with a vehicle that fits within their monthly budget for the next 60, 72 or even 96 months!

 

If we can move the conversation from price to payments, we can identify the right vehicle earlier in the process, saving the customer time and aggravation, and saving the dealership gross. One way to shift the conversation to monthly payments is to offer and promote payment—and shop-by-payment—marketing tool on your dealership’s website. A shop-by-payment tool allows consumers to search your inventory based on what their ideal monthly payment is and displays inventory based on real, credit-qualified payment quotes. An estimated or teaser quote can set the wrong expectation, but one based on the customer’s actual credit and the dealership’s finance programs sets both the customer and the dealer up for success.

 

Allowing consumers to shop-by-payments on your website offers the following benefits:

 

1)    Keeps Customers on the Dealership’s Website. Customers come to your site to find answers, not more questions. If you are asking the customer to provide all their information, such as what their credit score is or what interest rate they may qualify for, they may have to go off of your website and find the information on another site. A shop-by-payment tool allows the customer to see all the inventory on your website that they qualify for, without having to look for the information somewhere else. The tool is also interactive, enabling the customer to adjust payment ranges, down payments and other information so that it engages the customer, keeps them on the website longer and results in higher conversion rates.

 

2)    Protects Customers’ Privacy. Real payments can be quoted to customers without requiring them to enter in personal information, such as date of birth or Social Security Number, and without having a negative impact on their credit score. This is appealing to customers and allows them to play around with various terms and different vehicles, further engaging them and bringing them that much closer to the sale. Since most good-credit customers don’t want to affect their credit score until absolutely necessary, the result is often more leads from customers with higher average credit ratings.

 

3)    Credit-Analyzed Leads Close at a Higher Rate. The ability to analyze a consumer’s credit online brings them one step closer to the sale. Closing rates for these leads are typically much higher than for unqualified leads, often exceeding 20%.

 

4)    Streamlines the Sales Process. Providing real payment quotes on VIN-specific vehicles sets the customers’ expectation on what they can actually afford to buy, versus what they would like to buy. This eliminates unnecessary time that salespeople spend trying to sell a car that the person can’t afford, while also eliminating the “embarrassment” factor for the customer if they can’t afford the car they really want.

 

5)    Keeps Dealers in Control of Financing. Providing real payment quotes shifts the customer’s focus from what the bottom-line price is to what they can afford to pay every month. This allows dealers to set their own prices and financing terms and gives them more flexibility in negotiations, unlike lead services that force dealers into price wars in order to deliver the lowest price for the consumer. Ultimately, this results in higher gross profit margins for the dealers.

 

 

Providing a shop-by-payment tool helps to engage customers, keep them online and bring them closer to the sale. Today’s payment marketing technology delivers real benefits to both dealers and consumers, resulting in high-quality, credit-analyzed leads that close at rates much higher than traditional Internet leads. To see a demo, visit www.anywheremotors.com

Fort Lauderdale, FL – May 20^th, 2013 — AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions (www.autousadealers.com) today introduced Shop-By-Payment for Payment Pro^SM, powered by DriveItNow, a patent-pending next generation payment marketing tool that offers consumers a new way to shop on auto dealer websites. When a customer visits a dealer website with Shop-By-Payment, they are given the option to search inventory based on their desired monthly payment. The customer is prompted to enter in their name and a few details—no SSN or DOB required. Shop-By-Payment searches the available inventory based on their actual credit, the dealers’ current finance programs and returns a list of new and used vehicles that match the desired payment.

 

“Shop-By-Payment for Payment Pro revolutionizes the online auto shopping experience,” said Phil DuPree, President of AutoUSA. “Instead of searching for vehicles based on make, model or price, customers can now view and choose from all the vehicles they know they can afford based on the monthly payment.”

 

After displaying a list of vehicles that match the customer’s payment range, Shop-By-Payment allows the customer to change criteria such as monthly payment, down payment or the bottom line price they are willing to pay. The inventory displayed instantly adjusts to the new criteria selected by the customer. When the customer narrows the selection of vehicles, they click on a button with the desired monthly payment. That information then becomes a credit analyzed website lead and is sent to that dealership.

 

Shop-By-Payment for Payment Pro offers dealers the following benefits:

 

·      For the majority of car buyers, it is all about the payment. According to CNW Research, 70.5 percent of car buyers finance their vehicles. Shop-By-Payment instantly engages these customers by offering an easy, interactive and immediate way to view the vehicles they can afford, instead of viewing the vehicles they want and not knowing if they can afford them.

 

·      Because no Social Security Number or date of birth is required, Shop-By-Payment protects consumers’ privacy and credit reports. Payment Pro delivers payment quotes based on the customer’s credit without negatively impacting the credit score.

 

·      Payment Pro delivers accurate monthly payment quotes based on the customer’s credit, the dealership’s finance programs and the specific inventory available, producing high-quality, credit analyzed leads. With customers this far down the sales funnel, the next step is for the customer to visit the dealership and take delivery of the vehicle.

 

Shop-By-Payment is initially available to car dealers who are currently using AutoUSA’s Payment Pro. To see a demonstration of Shop-By-Payment for Payment Pro, visit www.AnywhereMotors.com.

 

Dealers interested in learning more about Shop-By-Payment for Payment Pro can call AutoUSA at 800-509-8714.

 

About AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions (www.AutoUSADealers.com)

AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions brings the best-in-class tools to increase Internet sales and lower costs for automotive dealerships. Leading products include Payment Pro^SM, a payment-based pre-qualification tool for dealer websites; ShowPro^SM incentive program, proven to turn more leads into shows; Leads&Listings^SM, providing the highest quality, new and used car email and phone leads from 100+ sites; PowerListings^SM 2.0, helping dealers increase traffic to—and leads from—their social media sites; and AVA Virtual Sales Assistant, helping dealerships manage more leads at a reduced cost. AutoUSA products are currently benefiting thousands of active dealers all across the U.S.

 

For more information, visit AutoUSA’s web site, subscribe to our blog at http://blog.autousadealers.com, follow us on Twitter @AutoUSALeads and “Like” us on Facebook at /AutoUSADealers

 

About DriveItNow® (http://www.DriveItNow.com)

DriveItNow® is a patent-pending monthly payment marketing technology service of Automobile Consumer Services, Inc. (ACS). ACS is a leader in developing innovative online shopping technology with the initial launch of LeaseCompare.com in 2000. LeaseCompare.com continues to be one of the top destinations for auto financing and leasing in the industry.

The broad term “Internet Marketing” encompasses a fast-changing industry. In the past two years, “new” developments such as mobile, social and reputation management have quickly become mainstream, while the effectiveness of “old” methods such as banner ads and e-mail marketing have been debated.

 

While dealers should be aware of the latest technologies, ensuring that perceptions about the Internet and its capabilities is extremely important too. Here are three things every dealer should know about Internet marketing:

 

1) The Internet Creates Buyers, Not Shoppers

 

Given a choice between greeting a showroom customer and working an Internet lead, most salespeople would choose the former; simply because they believe they have a better chance of closing the showroom customer in the short term. Many dealers (and salespeople) still view Internet leads as “Internet shoppers” who are potentially difficult to work with or even reach.

 

The reality is that, whether they’re in your virtual showroom or your physical showroom, they’re a buyer. Maybe not today, but statistically the Internet customer is highly likely to buy within 90 days.

 

94% of car buyers begin the process online, according to recent estimates, yet most dealerships attribute less than 30% of actual sales to Internet leads. Why the discrepancy? Most consumers do research online but instead of submitting a lead, they decide to call or walk into a dealership when they’re ready to buy. Because of all the research they can do on their own, though, customers today visit only 1.4 dealerships before purchasing a car, down from 4.5 in 2005, according to J.D. Power.

 

And, according to a recent study by CAR-Research XRM, only 25% of people leave showrooms because they are “still shopping.” The rest leave because of inventory, financing or some other issue. These customers are ready to buy, the only question is, are they buying from you?

 

2) Internet Marketing is More Than a One-Person Job

 

If I asked you, “Who is in charge of your Internet marketing,” would you answer, “The Internet Sales Director?”

 

To be effective, Internet marketers need to have knowledge of and take advantage of all facets of the Internet. This means managing the dealership’s website and SEO, e-mail marketing campaigns, and being the resident CRM expert.

 

In addition, Internet marketers should know how to properly leverage and manage the dealership’s presence on independent auto shopping, research and review sites, the manufacturer website, social media sites and reputation management sites. Finally, they need to keep up with the latest trends and create strategies for search marketing, payment marketing, mobile marketing, banner advertising, e-mail marketing and video marketing.

 

That’s a lot for one person to keep up with, let alone the time needed to work the leads that come in as a result of all that work. To stay competitive, dealers need to allocate the appropriate budget, training and resources for their Internet departments. According to a recent article in Ward’s Auto profiling the top 100 e-dealers, successful Internet dealers typically spend 40% or more of their overall advertising and marketing budget on digital.

 

3) Evolve Your Communication

 

Most dealers are probably not Internet gurus; nor do they want to be. Several years ago, the perception was that this was okay. Hiring an “Internet nerd” who could run the Internet operations was the norm. But staying competitive today—and maybe even survival tomorrow—depends on how successful your dealership’s Internet marketing program is.

 

Every manager needs to understand that customers can engage with the store and its sales staff anywhere online. They need to stay abreast of trends, direct strategies, manage processes, hold teams accountable and respond to customers’ online concerns and opportunities—wherever they arise. One click, one call, one person doesn’t work any more.

 

What do you think dealers need to know about Internet marketing?

Since more than 80% of your customers are likely to finance or lease a vehicle, when is the right time to bring up this potentially touchy subject? Is it better to pre-qualify or not to pre-qualify your Internet leads? Josh Vajda, Director of Inside Sales for AutoUSA, shares some tips. www.autousadealers.com

 

In October, we facilitated a panel called “The Five Things in Common That Successful Internet Departments Share” at the 13^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas. We were thrilled to have over 200 attendees and want to thank our panelists for doing a great job. We decided to share some tips from our panelists for the benefit of all who couldn’t make it to the conference in hopes that you’ll find it as helpful as the attendees did.

 

Our panelists included:

- Greg Coleman, Director of Business Development & E-Commerce Director, Lexus Store of Lexington & Toyota of Nicholasville

- Justin Brun, E-Commerce Manager, Acton Toyota of Littleton

- Richard Tolsma, Internet Manager, Dan Wiebold Ford, Idaho

- Ray Fenster, President & CEO, RayFenster.com, LLC

- Dennis Colome, Vice President Sales & Marketing, eXteres Auto

 

Here’s a summary of some tips from their discussion:

 

1)      Boost your phone call volume without paying additional money: “Make your phone number prominent on every website page. In addition, include your phone number in the website page title and description.” – Ray Fenster

 

2)    Relevance is content, not just keywords. “Don’t ‘keyword stuff’ your website search terms, i.e. don’t go after every city in the state. Google is onto this and no longer allows it.”  – Dennis Colome

 

3)    All leads are created equal. “Our dealership uses a strict 180-day process for follow up. Once a lead reaches 60 days with no contact, then the process becomes automated.” – Richard Tolsma

 

4)    Turn your “dead” leads into service opportunities. “If a customer isn’t ready to buy a car, give the lead to fixed ops to market and see if they can get that customer in for service. Something like 80% of service customers will buy a new car from that dealership. The closing percentage goes way up.” – Ray Fenster

 

5)    Don’t be afraid to share pricing, just be smart about it. “Be up front in your pricing, but be sure to give the customer several pricing options. Give them the price for the vehicle they inquired about, then follow up with second and third pricing options that are lower.” – Dennis Colome

 

6)    Generic responses don’t add value to the conversation. “Respond to specific questions and concerns in the customers’ initial e-mails. Also acknowledge the source from where the lead came; for example, if you get a lead from ZAG American Express, mention something about the program and how exclusive it is and how happy you are to be working with them.” – Justin Brun

 

 

7)    Have a pricing strategy. “When responding to pricing questions, use a “we start as low as” strategy and show the customer the option, i.e. a Toyota-Corolla. Giving them the lowest price on the lowest model will set their expectations and they usually upsell themselves. The vast majority of our customers buy a different vehicle than they originally inquired about.”  – Greg Coleman

 

8)    Be patient. “Third party leads typically research five to six vehicles on the third-party sites because they are looking for unbiased info. When they submit leads they are often three to four months out, so work with them for a while. True ROI has to be measured over time.” – Dennis Colome

 

9)    Know Your Market. “We perform a competitive analysis via e-mails and mystery shopping websites and third-party sites, and build a pricing matrix based upon the information gathered. On new vehicles we found our competitors are just showing the MSRP; so by displaying that number minus any available rebates, we automatically show a lower price than what’s in the market.” – Greg Coleman

 

10)Trends are worth more than ‘snapshots’. “When you report to management, they want to see results. Whatever program or product you are reviewing, show 30-day, 60-day and 90-day snapshots so they can see trends as to what’s working and what isn’t. Don’t be afraid to get rid of what’s not working. Not all products work for all dealerships.”  - Ray Fenster

 

Which is your favorite “top tip?” What are you doing in your department that works? What’s your “top tip” to share with other Internet sales personnel? 

 

So far 2012 has been a good year for vehicle sales, with a SAAR surpassing 14 million. Good news for auto dealers but with increased sales comes increased Internet lead volume. In this video Josh Vajda shares a few best practices to help Internet departments deal with every lead so none fall through the cracks.

Fort Lauderdale, FL – July 9^th, 2012 – AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions (www.autousadealers.com) today announced a milestone for the company; based on the total number of leads that AutoUSA has delivered from independent auto shopping web sites and the average closing percentage collected from AutoNation, AutoUSA’s Internet leads have contributed to the sale of an estimated 1.3 million vehicle sales since the year 2000.

 

“The demand for our leads has stayed pretty consistent over the years, mirroring the market but demonstrating that independent leads continue to offer proven results and add revenue to the bottom line,” said Phil DuPree, President of AutoUSA.

 

In a survey that AutoUSA recently conducted of more than 180 dealership Internet marketing personnel, 89% of respondents indicated that their dealership purchases Internet leads from at least one independent (third-party) provider; and 31% of respondents reported that more than 30% of their total Internet leads come from independent (third-party) providers.

 

AutoNation’s dealerships have been using leads delivered by AutoUSA since before the auto retailer purchased the company in May 2000. “The value in independent leads lies with the fact that you can capture customers who visit independent sites for research, and who might otherwise not find your dealership,” said Mark Taylor, Director of Business Development at AutoNation. “Our company is very focused on results-oriented marketing with measurable results, and AutoUSA’s leads have always delivered proven ROI.”

 

In addition to an improving economy, DuPree observes that more dealers are investing increased time and budgets into online marketing, staff training and process improvements. “The investment is paying off as Internet sales metrics continue to improve,” said DuPree. “More dealerships are embracing new technologies that help to increase their show and close rates, and drive more traffic to their web and social media sites.”

 

About AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions

AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions brings the best-in-class tools to increase Internet sales and lower costs for automotive dealerships. Leading products include Leads&Listings^SM, providing the highest quality, new and used car email and phone leads from 100+ sites; ShowPro^SM incentive program, proven to turn more leads into shows; PowerListings^SM 2.0, helping dealers increase traffic to—and leads from—their social media sites; and AVA Virtual Sales Assistant, helping dealerships manage more leads at a reduced cost. AutoUSA products are currently benefiting thousands of active dealers all across the U.S.

 

For more information, visit AutoUSA’s web site, subscribe to our blog at http://blog.autousadealers.com, follow us on Twitter @AutoUSALeads and “Like” us on Facebook at /AutoUSADealers

Josh Vajda compares salespeoples' lack of response to Internet leads with ignoring showroom customers, and gives three tips to ensure your Internet customers don't get ignored.

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.