ActivEngage vs ContactAtOnce vs CarChat24?

[Sharko]

We're implementing a chat service at our dealership - these are the top three from what I can tell. Can you all point me in the right direction with a vote or comment for one?

1. ActivEngage
2. ContactAtOnce
3. CarChat24

With your vote, please include why you prefer that particular dealer chat service. Any additional information around your opinions and experiences with either of these services would be greatly appreciated!

Please keep responses around these 3 chat services only.

I would prefer to hear from dealers ONLY. No vendors.

 

[JohnH]

We're implementing a chat service at our dealership - these are the top three from what I can tell. Can you all point me in the right direction with a vote or comment for one?

1. ActivEngage
2. ContactAtOnce
3. CarChat24

With your vote, please include why you prefer that particular dealer chat service. Any additional information around your opinions and experiences with either of these services would be greatly appreciated!

At my dealership, we currently use ActivEngage. I like the reporting features in the application, I don't like the fact that the software is only available on Windows. I do not like the interface and they do not allow much modification on the interface either.

I am a big fan of Olark (https://www.olark.com), it's not made for car dealers but the interface is beautiful and it is not an annoying popup that keeps flashing on the site. Also when the customer changes the page the conversation and chat box still remains! I used Olark on a landing page in the past and it worked great. It even integrates with Google Analytics!

I cannot comment on the other applications since I have not used anything else. Ask Ryan Thompson about Carchat24, I am sure he will gladly help you.

- John

 

[Kelly Wilson]

I use the CaO with AT/Cars/Edm and it works ok. A few preloaded lines you can customize for quick reponses. I haven't used their paid tool nor used the reporting too much, but it feeds well enough into my CRM.

I have CarChat24 on my DDC site and...I love it...I won't go all FanGirl, but the changes they have made and features they've added are slick. The ability to go from seeing the list of people on your site (and almost anything you want to know about them) to the overall google like overview of site traffic and reports then to the backend for setup is usefull. The chat feature itself does more than I have chats to explore most days. The ability to send files, quick access info and to send links/change the custom's page are all useful.

Are you looking to have chat just during business hours, off hours managed or fully managed?

 

[GrantG]

We just got rolling with managed chat provided by ActivEngage. I chose this provider after much debate. My conversations with Ralph Ebersole was a deciding factor along with the back end tool. In a perfect world we would be able to answer 100% of chats properly. This is not a perfect world and I am hoping the AE comes through as designed.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

I would prefer to hear from dealers ONLY. No vendors.

Vendors use chat as well!

 

[Ralph Ebersole]

At my dealership, we currently use ActivEngage. I like the reporting features in the application, I don't like the fact that the software is only available on Windows. I do not like the interface and they do not allow much modification on the interface either.

I am a big fan of Olark (https://www.olark.com), it's not made for car dealers but the interface is beautiful and it is not an annoying popup that keeps flashing on the site. Also when the customer changes the page the conversation and chat box still remains! I used Olark on a landing page in the past and it worked great. It even integrates with Google Analytics!

I cannot comment on the other applications since I have not used anything else. Ask Ryan Thompson about Carchat24, I am sure he will gladly help you.

- John

Thanks Jon and Grant. John---Web based software is coming soon. Prior to NADA so the Windows issue (which I also have) will be behind us.

All chat companies have their strengths. Here's a list of questions to ask any chat provider:

• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Are the people chatting directly employed by you or outsourced and are they US based?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Of the chats you take, what % do you get name, number and email address?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Can I see what the consumer is looking at on my site in the same window as I am chatting?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]How much training do your people receive on chat and the automobile business?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]How much ongoing training do you do?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Is anyone at your company monitoring managed chats?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]How long is your average chat?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]How long have you been providing chat to dealers?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Do you have behavioral targeted invitations?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Do you have a social media toolbar?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]How long does it take to get this live on my site?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Can the chat be incorporated into Facebook, Newsletters, Craigslist, Ebay listings and other online channel at no additional fee?[/FONT]
• [FONT=Times New Roman,Times,serif]Tell me about the analytics you provide.[/FONT]

Do your due diligence. Contact referrals. Shop each companies managed chat service It will help you make the right decision for you.

 

[Ryan Everson]

Thank you for posting this thread Sam, as I am actually currently contemplating the same decision. Long time lurker and this thread finally gave me the push necessary to make a post! But anyways we have a central BDC to handle our chats so at this time we do not have a need for a managed chat service (so did not look into carchat24). I have looked into ContactatOnce and ActivEngage but more recently WebGreeter which is currently the top contender.

ActivEngage definitely has more features than ContactatOnce, however there were a few things that make me a little hesitant going with them, but to be fair lets go with their pros first that set them apart from others. I'm not going to go into the typical features that every chat provider should offer such as round robin, export to crm, etc.

ACTIVENGAGE
Pros:

1. Ability to proactively send custom chat invitations. This was the number one feature I absolutely loved that I don't believe anyone else offers. If you see they are spending a bunch of time on your website looking at Ford Fusions and Chevrolet Cruzes, you can send a custom chat invitation that says "Hello I see you are trying to decide between a Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Cruze, please let me know if I can be of any assistance!". Think of the power this feature gives you! You can look at the pages they are viewing, where they came from, previous visit history, etc and send out a custom tailored message to them. Sure it takes a little bit of extra work but I am guessing you'll be able to engage quite a few more customers if you take the little bit extra work.
2. Co-browsing, another great feature that surprisingly a majority of the automotive geared chat solutions don't offer. This gives you the ability to be a virtual salesperson, much like you would do on the dealership lot. After gaining some rapport and identifying their needs you can automatically forward their web browser to specific vehicles that they may be interested in. Or forward them to a credit application, schedule appointment form, etc the possibilities are limitless. Another neat tidbit this feature offers is that as you are chatting with the customer you can see if they are still perusing through your website. So if they were looking at Cruzes and Fusions prior to chatting and all of a sudden now they are looking at large SUV's and trucks, you will be able to see that and possibly tailor your chat conversation to match. Obviously you want to do it tactfully to make them not feel like you are looking over their shoulder via the internet.

Cons:

1. You can't change their chat window in way, not even the colors. All they offer is the ability to add in a tiny logo in the top left corner. This would not be a huge deal but the orange chat window tends to clash with my website (and I'm sure many others). I am willing to live with the large required "AE" logo in the top right but it would be nice if they were to offer a few different color options. I asked how much it would be to change the orange to burgundy (leaving all of their branding, etc) and they said it was a $7,000 fee. Wow.
2. A customer has to enter their name in first before initiating a chat session. I believe I saw a statistic here on dealerrefresh a while ago about how this drastically reduced the number of chats received. I have faith in my BDR's to get their name. The less steps a customer has to take to get to a real person, the better!
3. And finally the last major reason. We've been contemplating getting live chat since April and talked to ActivEngage back then. They currently use a windows based application for chat operators however they were getting ready to launch a completely new web based app in the "very near future". Well here it is 8 months later and they still do not have a firm launch date of this new application. We are a huge dealer group with a bdc that handles 20+ dealership leads so training every single BDR on a chat system and then having it change completely a month or two in is not ideal. These BDR's are people friendly appointment setters, not always the most tech savvy. I do think it's great that they are switching to a web based application, so that will give them a leg up on the competition once they launch it!

CONTACTATONCE
Pros:

1. Absolutely amazing support! Always available to give demos, answer questions, etc.
2. A little bit more customizability is available in the chat window. You have the entire left hand side of the chat window to insert a custom vertical banner.
3. The number one feature that sets them apart is their new mobile chat feature. You are assigned a short code telephone number that you can put on your website, VDP's, print advertising, etc. When a customer texts that number it goes straight into the contactatonce software where the BDR can "chat"/text back and forth with the customer!

Cons:

1. Aesthetically it looks a little bit cheaper and more 1995-ish than the other chat providers. The chat window seems a little bland and outdated, the stock dropdowns and chat now icons are hideous, etc. Luckily you are able to spruce the appearance up a little bit by creating your own "chat now" icons and drop down business card designs.

WEBGREETER
Pros:

1. Wow aesthetically, this solution is the best looking I have seen! Their designers are very talented and after the first demo they sent over a design mockup of the chat window, buttons, etc and they were simply amazing. Typically I take it into my own hands to do the design because I generally do no trust the skills / desire of a vendor to produce results to my satisfaction but the design they came up with was almost identical to what I would have created. They also don't require any large vendor logos within the chat window like cao and ae. If you want a chat solution that looks like a part of your website and not just an afterthought add-on, this is the one to go with!
2. This is related to aesthetics but I believe it is so important and sets them apart from the competition that it deserves its own bullet point. You know how typically when you initiate a chat it opens a new awkward pop-up window? Don't you wish it could be embedded into your site similar to how facebook chat is? Well WG offers that! A customer types into the chat window overlay and can continue to browse your site freely without losing their chat conversation or having to go back and forth between multiple windows. And lets be honest, it just looks a lot smoother and how a chat window should ideally look.
3. Their backend is geared for the power user, which is perfect for us considering the size of our group. Each bdr has a control panel where they can see and engage with 9 visitors at once. Our bdc managers have a control panel where they can see all of the chats going on and if a bdr is slipping they can "whisper" to the bdr. The whisper feature allows a manager to say something to the bdr in the chat window without the visitor seeing it. If the bdr is really bombing the conversation, the manager can completely take over the conversation without the visitor even knowing. The chat operator's name remains the same in the customer's eyes. Although I hope we don't have to use these features often, they should come in handy during training!

Cons:

1. Yes the front-end design is important when selecting a chat provider, but it also must be easy to use for your chat operators and in running reports, etc. The backend of WG offers all of the features of the others, it just might not be as easy to use as CAO or AE. I haven't had a chance to play with it myself but that is just my initial impression from the demos. I'm sure once we use it, we'll figure it out in no time. Or maybe CAO and AE are just better at their demo presentation and can make it seem easy
2. This ties into the demo presentation. I believe they are a french canadian company so there is a slight language barrier even though they do speak english. However they have been the quickest to respond out of any of the chat companies. I randomly came upon their website at 5pm and started chatting with them and 15 minutes later I was in a gotomeeting with them. With CAO and AE I had to schedule it days in advance.
3. CAO and AE build their geolocator into their program so you can quickly get an approximate idea of where the visitor may live. With Webgreeter it lists their ip but you have to click it which then opens up a geo-locator website. An extra step which I'm afraid my reps may not take and it is crucial for us to know where the visitor is from since we have locations in multiple states. However it does have all of the other advanced features of activengage like co-browsing, etc.
4. The pricing is very reasonable, however instead of a flat rate like CAO and AE offer, WebGreeter charges per seat. Comes out to about the same as CAO and AE and they seem to be a little flexible in their pricing. So I'm sure for the smaller dealers out there webgreeter would be cheaper than the others.
5. CAO and AE market themselves directly to the dealership community whereas WG has a wider target market. However they still export directly to the CRM in ADF, XML, or plain text email format. I also believe they may have a partnership with VinSolutions? I have seen quite a few vin dealer websites using their service. So not necessarily a con, just wanted to point it out. Sometimes things designed by dealers for dealers isn't the best

I'll keep you updated once I choose which one to go with and how satisfied I am with them afterwards. Good luck!

 

[dilliams]

After some degree of research, I chose Contact at Once for our dealership. Their basic chat tool for our site was cost effective and simple enough to use. Simple as it was, it could be customized just enough to meet our needs with things like the programmable quick responses like Kelly mentioned above, as well as personalized photos for the consultant who's online and "up" which carries over to the chat box to build a more personal experience for our customers and immediately begin to form a relationship with them. I understand the value of some of the back end tools that show you who is on your site but they were more than our dealership needed at the time and, if those people are hesitant to engage you, it seemed more like a tease than anything else to me. I did not care for any of the fully managed options because I do NOT EVER want someone who does not work at or represent my dealership interacting with my customers who, right or wrong, believe that person does indeed represent my store. I've used Contact at Once for a couple years now between Cars.com and my own site and I am very pleased with the results. If you take anything away from this thread, know that my preference is with Contact at Once but ANY chat tool you use will be an immense benefit to your store by just simply using it!

 

[BuddyB]

Contact at Once! ALL DAY. We close our chats at 19% which is unheard of and the support is unbelievable. Anything I need, I have it almost immediately after I request for it. With chat, as long as you have a feature, that is all that really matters. Same day solutions to your problems or questions. Easy to use and easy to structure / set up.

 

[autodealerchat]

Sam & R.Everson

Each of the automotive chat options have been thoroughly reviewed and tested by major online marketplaces AutoTrader.com, Edmunds.com, and Cars.com, and by dealers on DrivingSales.com and organizations like PCG Digital Marketing. In addition to comments here, you might also want to consider their recommendations.

Finally, you may be interested to learn which of the chats more dealers have selected after looking into it themselves. That information can be found on DealerChatMarketShare.com.

Good luck in your search for the right chat for your dealership.