Probably the most common question I get from dealers is “How do I get more leads?” Leads are the lifeblood of automotive retail and when I hear dealers requesting more, I know we can help.
With well over 80 per cent of consumers now starting their shopping journey online, there’s a real opportunity to drive more of these customers to your website and potentially convert them to a lead. The key to increasing these opportunities is Website Optimization — designing a website that is simple to use, easy to navigate, and above all, promotes conversion. Since many consumers will simply show up at your dealership if they’ve had a positive online experience, giving your website regular “health checks” is absolutely crucial.
It’s a combination of overall traffic — website leads, phone leads and showroom traffic — that will help you measure the performance of your website and online presence. That’s where the focus should be.
OPTIMIZING FOR E-LEADS
For most dealers, website leads typically perform best and should have the highest closing rate of your e-Lead sources. The key to maximizing this potential is to ensure that your site is designed for engagement and conversion. When I say engagement, I’m referring to the overall “stickiness” of your site and how the information and content is presented. Customers are coming to your site for a reason — primarily to purchase or lease a new or used vehicle, schedule service maintenance and/or purchase parts. So make this information available without overcomplicating the process. Understanding how people engage with your website and the psychology behind conversion will help increase your e-Leads and phone calls from your virtual showroom. When our Retail Performance Group reviews websites we look at some of the key areas that drive conversion:
1. Website Design: Don’t make your customers think! By keeping the design simple and intuitive and aligning with a “mobile-first” design, you will provide customers with a better experience and keep them on your site longer. Simple = Pleasing. Google Analytics (it’s free!) provides the data (time on page, bounce rate, etc.) that will help you know how well your site is performing.
2. Website Engagement: Help your customers make decisions. Customers who are coming to your website have a purpose, so make it easy for them find your inventory, book an appointment, schedule a test drive, call your dealership, or even get directions. Think of engagement as your virtual sales team — your forms, live chat, Vehicle Detail Pages (VDPs), pop ups are all working to sell the conversion to a qualified lead. Google Analytics will help you identify what forms/pages are selling (converting) and those that need a little coaching.
3. Mobile Experience: Give your customers information at their thumb tips. With mobile use (including tablets) continually on the rise and phone sizes increasing, your mobile shopper is becoming the new norm. Optimizing your online content and providing “one-click” navigation to new and pre-owned vehicle inventory, click-to-call, and addresses for navigation will provide the rich, adaptable experience this new class of shopper demands. When developing your website and mobile strategy, you’ll want to keep two terms at the top of your list:
Responsive and Adaptive Web Design. These new platforms allow your website to “adapt” or “respond” to the mobile device being used (desktop, laptop, tablet, Smartphone, etc.) and provide a better user experience. Your ever-increasing mobile shopper will reward you in more leads, phone calls and showroom visits.
4. Vehicle Detail Pages: These are your virtual closers. When online shoppers make their way to your website, the majority are shopping for a vehicle. Like shopping for other large-ticket items, customers want to know the specifics and see (from many angles) the actual vehicle they are buying — especially when shopping for pre-owned vehicles. Give them lots of real photos and videos of the vehicles! Now this may seem intuitive to many, but you’d be surprised at the number of websites we review that miss the mark completely on this one key point. Trust me on this one — real VDPs, photos, and videos, equals more quality leads!
OPTIMIZING FOR CHAT LEADS
The use of online chat tools has exploded over the years and they’ve proven to be an essential tool for engaging the online customer. These tools will reward you if they’re implemented correctly. On the other hand, you will get penalized and lose potential prospects if you don’t do it right. Here are a couple thoughts on how to optimize your conversions from chats:
1. Scrolling vs. popup vs. fixed chat window: If you’re like me, scrolling and popup chat windows can be a bit annoying. Customer surveys say the same but the fact is these types of windows get a higher engagement. Do an A-B test on the chat design to see what works best with your customers.
2. Self-managed chat (someone at your dealership): This direction seems like the way to go — but be careful. Typically you have your staff equipped to convert the chat to a call as quickly as possible but somehow, in some way, chats just don’t get answered. It’s a lot less money to do it this way but you need to ask yourself — Is it practical? Leads can come in at all times of the day, so if you choose to go this route, make sure you have a back-up plan or a 3rd party to help. They can respond when someone steps away and then send you the lead. Flying solo on this can cause some turbulence that could drive customers away — and quickly.
3. Managed chat (3rd party managed) is a bit more expensive on the surface but when you look at this option from a cost-per-lead/cost-per-sale perspective, it becomes very affordable.
The leads generated from managed chat are high-quality and close at a higher rate. Be certain that the company you choose provides these leads in real-time and is equipped with professional scripts and processes.
OPTIMIZING FOR PHONE LEADS
In our business, getting the customer on the phone is the best way to set an appointment. So the more calls you can generate from your website, the less work you have to do, right? Well, kind of. If done right, with the use of prominent “trackable” numbers and proper word tracks, the inbound calls from your website will convert to more appointments. Phone skills aside, here are a few pointers on how to help optimize:
Google: When customers are researching or searching for you, Google can serve up your Business Listing, including posting phone numbers for your various departments. Make sure you have this local listing optimized, including the other business listing services on the web;
Website: If online shoppers make it past your Business Listing, make sure your phone number is prominent on your website. We’ve heard vendors suggest burying your phone number to increase the number of form conversions or email leads. But take my advice (and I’m in the email lead business so this doesn’t help me as much as it helps you), make it EASY for potential customers to CALL your dealership. You’ll sell more vehicles as a result.
These practical tips on how to optimize your lead flow from your online presence are easy to implement. The new shopper is out there poking around on the web — you just need to MAKE IT EASY for them reach out and contact you.
