Digital responsiveness in the age of COVID-19 has been accelerated in part by dealers being pushed to be more active and proactive, according to Carl Boyer of Quebec-based Infra Info.
In an interview with Canadian auto dealer, Boyer said the pandemic has pushed dealers to better manage their customer data, web team, and technology and processes. And it provided dealers with a moment to question the “large sums of money” being spent on advertising.
“Basically, let’s not forget that a car is not a cap or a t-shirt that people buy on an emotional whim,” said Boyer. “When dealerships began to take cognizance of the cost per sale instead of the cost per click or per impression, it becomes clear that when the cost of customer acquisition is more expensive than the profit made — it puts into perspective the expenses of certain departments and ways of doing things,” said Boyer.
Infra Info offers a tool called ClickITEL, which focuses on generating leads based on cross-checking the data of a dealership’s active customers. Its main purpose is to validate the interests and behaviours of these customers during their acquisition process.
The tool has helped dealerships with customers who already had a relationship with the business and who interacted with the dealership online, become active leads.
“This allowed us to better understand the interests of the customer and their behaviour before someone at the dealership interacted with them or before they completed a form online,” said Boyer, adding that “ClickITEL validates their same interests and same behaviours.”
Asked about future projects, Boyer said the company will soon launch a “new generation website” in cooperation with a web firm in Quebec. He said the website will be based on semantics (think of the smart pop-up), according to the needs and interests of customers. Common tools like the smart pop-up allow them to interact with a person browsing a website in real-time, based on their current shopping.
