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iLead Sales Internal Reporting: What counts?

Apr 29, 2013
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Mercedes
Question for dealers...

In your store(s), what is the time frame you use, between iLead submission and sale, for that sale to count as an iLead sale? I have heard a massive range---from 30 days to indefinitely depending on the store and new vs. used vehicles. My THOUGHT is that the dealership internet sales process should somewhat logically correlate with the time measure being used, based on where consumers most likely ARE in the purchase funnel at the time of lead submission. For example, if you're going to count a sale as an iLead sale up to six months after lead submission, your follow-up cadence should be in the same ballpark, with communication content that is appropriate along that cadence.

That said, I'm curious what time frames are in play in different stores, and what the logic is to support that measure.

Thanks for the insights! :)
 
IMO if you're trying to credit an advertising source, then the time frame is indefinite. However, if you're trying to credit a team, a seller or a BDC agent, then you need a strict rule around appointments. Must #4 in this post details that rule: The Five Absolute “Musts” for a Successful Automotive Sales BDC
 
Allow me to first state my professional opinion that what can count as a sale for BDC members is subjective. You should indeed review and spot check each and every sale the BDC team turns in, but this can be time-consuming so it is best if it is handled by their own department manager. You hired the person and put them in charge so allow them to use their best judgment to decide what is “significant involvement” and if it warrants a sale. Regarding “significant involvement” being a legitimate reason to count a sale, we have to recognize that 40% or so of all customers in contact with a dealership will not set a specific appointment, but will use the data they acquired to still negotiate and purchase from the dealership they were best handled by. That is why I believe there IS a value for continued, true, live contact and information exchanged with a customer.

If you do attempt to put a specific framework around what is deemed a sale or appointment, here are a few potential “requirements” to look for that could, in each instance, warrant counting the sale.

1) Inbound call was handled and an appointment was set. Customer arrives for appointment and purchases the vehicle.
a) If customer purchases the vehicle within a 48 hour window around the appointment time, after it was set – if post appt. time, follow up call for missed appointment must have been made by BDC team member, but contact on the follow up call is not necessary.
b) Customer arrives for appointment set by BDC agent, doesn’t purchase, but significant notes are put in by the BDC agent after hearing the outcome from manager/salesperson, and the salesperson OR BDC agent follows up with customer enough to bring them back in (within 10 days time) and then the customer purchases.

2) Inbound call was handled, customer asks for information not privy to BDC team (pricing for instance), BDC logs all customer information with detailed notes, and hands it off to sales manager. Provided manager sets appointment with customer, and BDC agent updates the customer profile (adding notes) and stipulates information regarding appointment or potential appointment. Provided the customer purchases under the same 48 hour window detailed in section #1, and makes an appointment confirmation call, then that can be viewed as “significant imvolvement”.
a) A call must have been made to the manager both after the first contact with customer and after the manager has spoken to the customer. Notes must be made on each occasion.

3) For unsold walk-in customer sale, follow up call must be made a pre-determined time in action plan, appointment must be made by BDC agent, notes put in system, and manager alerted. If customer comes in for a be-back within 48 hours around the time of the set appointment, a sale is warranted.

4) For unsold walk-in customer/internet sale, if a customer leaves the dealership unsold, gets online and submits a lead, you follow the pre-determined follow-up process in the CRM, sending out the proper e-templates as specified, make live contact by phone and set the appointment (and they purchase within 48 hours of appointment), then it is a BDC sale.
a) All dialog must be documented with customer and an advance search must be performed to ensure it wasn’t another BDC agents customer.

5) For phone customer, initial contact must be documented and noted in CRM when customer is logged. If contact is consistently made with customers at scheduled times, provided detailed notes are made and information is exchanged, it will be a sale if the customer purchases within 48 hours from last live contact with BDC agent and customer. (There IS a value for continued true contact and information exchange with a customer).

6) Internet lead is answered by the BDC agent and the correct, price-matrix e-templates are sent to the customer at the pre-determined time by the action plan. If the customer engages the BDC Agent back with either
a) information/implication that they will be stopping (via email or phone) and its logged in the notes
b) additional questions that the BDC Agent does their due diligence in answering to the best of their ability and there is a modicum of back and forth question answering (even by email) – and call attempts have been made or offered to customers trying to lure them in then it is a sale provided –
c) They set the appointment with the customer and the customer comes in within a 72 hour window from last email contact (or appointment scheduled) and purchases within two weeks after visit provided detailed notes of the salesperson and BDC agents involvement after the initial visit or a sale is made on initial visit – or –
d) The customer arrives without an appointment, but every step of the action plan with all e-templates are being sent at the pre-described time with all the information at their disposal and there Is a back-and-forth question answering (via phone or email) that could legitimately have value for a customer and the customer stops in within 72 hours from last phone call attempt or email sent.
Caveat: The only way to get credit for a Phone Up sale or an Internet Lead sale is to follow the action plan set in the CRM, sending out all templates designated on the day they are to be sent out, filling in any information required of said template, all calls are being made/attempted to customers (or connected with customers), and detailed notes are logged in the system defining your work to bring the customer in and/or the customer’s expectations/motives are documented. In other words, MAKE THE CALLS ON TIME, DO YOUR BEST TO LEAVE OR SEND VALUABLE INFORMATION, SEND THE e-Templates ON TIME FILLING IN NECESSARY FIELDS IN SAID TEMPLATES, and follow the complete time-line. Then meet one of the “requirements” listed as 1-6 above and you earn the sale.

As you can see how complicated this is, and I still cannot be 100% certain this is absolutely correct, and I’m not missing anything, I still suggest every sale, if it will be reviewed by Manager anyway, should be taken on a case by case basis to determine its validity.

I’d love to hear your opinion about this over-thought concept. And PLEASE let me know if I’m missing anything on this list.
 
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Holding to a 45-minute rule cuts through all the over-complication, skating, out-of-whack compensation and the he said/she said that dooms good BDCs and internet teams today. It really is that simple and it's been shown to triple the number of appointments that show when you force internet salespeople and BDC agents to set real appointments in a tight window.
(Not sure if I've taken this question off-track - my apologies if I did.)
 
I think the question you may be asking is if a dealership has a BDC how do you determine the limits on what to consider a sold unit for the BDC rep. The pay plan and limits should be designed to promote the correct behaviors not necessarily the end result so I would make a few considerations when implementing this.
If a rep follows the process for the first response, out reach etc. and the customer shows up without an appointment or contact to the rep
If a rep reaches the customer by phone/email and requires a TO from a manager prior to moving forward with an appointment and the rep correctly gets the customer on the phone with a manager
If a customer question in email is over their head and they require next level help and rep connects the dots.
These things happen all day and when they do the rep did their job as instructed it just so happens they may have not be the one that directly asked for the appointment. I still feel they should be paid as the process is more important than the result. We as a company inspect 1000s of leads and calls per month for our clients and all-to-often we find examples of the process not being followed with the customer still buying. When the sales person or rep gets feedback they say to us, "Well they bought so I did a good job, right?" this is not true as over a longer time scale the lack of good behaviors will have a negative impact on sales.

Irregardless of the scope of the operation a monthly sales inspection process needs to occur prior to reps being paid their commissions. We do this all the time and I can tell you it is essential to ensuring they get paid correctly. I recommend reviewing all sales from all sources and then determining if credit is due. This is especially the case for BDC that participate in all lead types (Showroom, Phone and Internet). The reps can track their own but I feel an independent view is most accurate.

As to the specific limits I would establish a few:

48 hr appointment protection - other BDC reps can not rescheduled missed appointment from other reps until after 48 hours.
3 day no contact - if there aren't clear notes prior to the sale within 3 days no credit is given.

If you ask the reps to come up with their own limits you can direct the conversation to the above guidelines vs. forcing it on them. You should find they are very fair!
 
I think the basic takeaway is 3 days previous contact prior to sale and clear communication of each contact etc. and 48 hour post appointment window. I never knew Joe's standards but we seem to both have the same opinion. Additionally there needs to be a verification system in place to ensure activity meets the standard.
 
Dealers who pay for "soft appointments" or protect internet prospects just because of some back-and-forth in the CRM are losing sales at an alarming rate. The average buyer visits 1.3 dealerships before they buy. If your BDC Agent has "meaningful contact" over three days and my BDC Agent sets an appointment that shows, then I will close the customer 80% of the time. If there are two stores like that in your market, then you will never sell the internet customer, because the other two stores will have first crack at them.

People handling internet leads have one goal and one goal only: An appointment that shows. Paying them for anything else only encourages them to set guaranteed no-show appointments using weak language like "When would you like to come in?"

Strict rules around valid appointments triples the show rate and doubles the close rate. Don't believe me? Implement The Perfect Appointment and then call me if you don't triple shows and double your closing rate of those that show (parts 14-17 of this series: Creating an Appointment Culture)