Let’s talk leads, specifically inbound internet leads. What makes them challenging and how do you overcome those challenges to drive success?
The reality is there’s gold in those leads, lots of gold, and if handled with energy, excitement, and the right communication strategies you will find internet lead success and make more deals. And that will turn you from a good salesperson into a great one.
I am so tired of seeing dealers converting internet leads in single digits, this is too important, and we have to stop winging it! You have to get the attention of those leads without a phone number, those who have ghosted you, and those you want to dismiss as fake or bad leads.
But we give them one last shot—why? Because there are real shoppers behind those leads. It is up to you to turn them into buyers—and it’s June, who doesn’t want to buy a new vehicle now?
The Two Factors That Cause You to Blow off Leads
That being said, several factors cause you to feel comfortable blowing off leads. First, you are under pressure to close deals and most stores have this many leads with this much capacity to handle that load. This can lead to being overly critical of leads and dismissing those you don’t think are a good fit. You may need more information about the lead, or it’s just a bad day.
No matter the reason, you have to remember that not all leads are created equal. However, just because a lead doesn’t seem like a good fit right away doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future. Also, many of these leads won’t have a phone number, these are customers who aren’t comfortable talking on the phone like we are, they are more introverted and prefer to communicate from a distance with text or email; it doesn’t mean they are fake. Pull them out of their shell, send them a video, and tell them why you are the professional salesperson THEY want to work with.
Secondly, how fast you respond is everything. According to TrueCar, if you answer an Internet lead in less than five minutes, you have 100x better opportunities to speak with them.
Internet leads come from people actively searching for a car, but their attention spans are short-lived, and they aren’t comfortable on the phone. Catching people while their brains are in shopping mode makes all the difference, and that’s what the five-minute clock represents.
It is Vital to Understand your Customers’ Journey
Dealerships in the U.S. receive well over 2.5 million leads a month and spend 10 times more on digital advertising than any other form of marketing. When was the last time you went through the journey from Google to your website, to a vehicle description page?
Or checked out your inventory on cars.com or Autotrader? If you have not, why not? When a buyer reaches out, they expect a response from a professional, you are the experts, most of you sell more vehicles in a month than that person will buy or lease in their lifetime; so, let’s be the professional they expect you to be guiding the customer through your process. Then you can confidently address their questions, open up their inventory, hook that trade, and set that sticky appointment.
Be the dealership professional who works every lead, and every customer to the bone. This is your money, don’t throw it away!
is the General Manager of Alan Ram’s Proactive Training Solutions. With expertise in BDC Structure/Management, Sales Management, Fixed Operations, Marketing, buy/sells and Operations, Michael has worked for both franchised and independent dealers. He brings his breadth of experience across the dealerships to help clients improve their bottom-line results.
