In today's fast-paced digital landscape, customer expectations are higher than ever. A recent survey highlighted that an overwhelming 74% of customers expect a response from a dealership either on the same day of their enquiry or by the next working day. This shows the need for dealerships to prioritise prompt and efficient communication.
Furthermore, the survey revealed that customers are actively shopping around, with 77% comparing prices at three or more dealerships before making a decision. This highlights the competitive nature of the motor market and the importance of dealerships differentiating themselves through exceptional customer service.
To stay ahead of the curve and capture valuable sales, dealerships must adapt to the evolving needs of their customers. Implementing strategies to ensure quick response times, successful phone calls, consistent follow-ups, and comprehensive lead management is key to building strong relationships, and ultimately driving sales.
Lead Management Tips from Alan @
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Always attempt more than 1 point of contact for optimum results e.g. a phone call followed by a WhatsApp/SMS/email following up on the phone call. More and more customers are not listening to their voicemails anymore so simply leaving a voicemail is no longer enough.
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An average response time of 30 minutes or less should be the goal for sales enquiries to maximise appointment conversion.
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It’s essential to prepare for the call before making it. Review customer requirements, know about their trade in and reference the specific items from their enquiry.
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The goal of the initial point of contact should be to try to “sell” an appointment not to sell a car. You must give the customer a reason to engage with you more. Too many initial calls are un-researched and lack compelling reasons for the customer to commit to an appointment.
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For used car enquiries, you should know the competition. Use DoneDeal.ie or AutoMate’s price comparison tool to compare the market in seconds before contacting your potential customer.
Get more conversions and elevate your business with AutoMate's suite of solutions. Schedule a demo by contacting Alan Gilligan at alan@automatesolutions.ie or via WhatsApp at +35314362498 today!
How can DoneDeal help effective lead management?
Enhance your lead management with DoneDeal's suite of tools, metrics, and reporting, including call tracking, Whatsapp leads, Email open rates and our exit survey. Discover more about each feature below:
Call tracking:
For all dealerships, tracking leads coming directly to your business number or reception can be difficult. It's challenging to pinpoint the source of these callers, making it impossible to measure your return on investment. Our DoneDeal call tracking solution allows you to add a unique tracking number to all your DoneDeal ads. This gives you access to valuable data on call volume, call duration, and missed calls, providing insights on potential missed opportunities and allowing you to optimise your lead management.
Leads via WhatsApp
In 2024, we launched Leads via Whatsapp to give dealerships a faster and easier way to communicate with potential customers. This feature lets customers start conversations with your business using WhatsApp, which may be helpful if your sales team finds email too formal or has trouble connecting with customers via phone or email. Dealers already using this feature report that it helps speed up the sales process, makes it easier for customers to send trade-in details, and improves customer responsiveness overall.
Email open rates
If your dealership manages leads by sending them directly to individual sales contacts, you may benefit from analysing our personalised DoneDeal Email Open Rate data. This data provides insight into the number of email leads DoneDeal sends to your business and how many of them are successfully opened in your sales inbox. At DoneDeal we believe every dealer should strive for a 100 percent email open rate as an unopened lead cannot be responded to and may result in a missed sales opportunity. Some email settings such as group inboxes or lead management systems may affect the accuracy of this data but it can still help identify areas for improvement.
Exit Survey
To monitor and enhance customer experience, we send a closing survey to every customer who submits an email lead to your business. The survey is sent a few days after the initial lead, and it gives customers a chance to share feedback about their experience with your business. This feedback is not shared publicly.
Dealerships with strong lead management processes tend to receive higher ratings and more positive feedback from customers, with more customers reporting that they purchased a car and gave a 5-star rating. On the other hand, dealerships with poor processes often receive feedback that the customer did not get a response.
Contact your account manager to discuss your business's performance in this closing survey and identify areas for improvement.
To further optimise your lead management and secure additional sales opportunities, contact your account manager today or review the insights provided in your personalised quarterly lead management newsletter!
