Does anyone have issues with FordDirect lead quality? They send third-party leads they purchase, OEM leads from Ford.com, and vehicle-specific leads from the required ClickMotive dealer sites. We pay a flat monthly fee and cannot opt out of the third-party leads only (those are the primary problem). Roughly 20-25% of the leads have both a bad email address and phone number. Close to half of all leads have disconnected phone numbers or the person that answers is not the same as the person listed in the lead.
We constantly get responses from customers stating that the vehicle we quoted them is not what they requested, even though we sent them a vehicle that matches the lead information.
FordDirect does not disclose on the lead where it came from (Edmunds, etc.). Many of the new car leads that we are able to contact are looking for used cars under $10,000, which we do not commonly stock. There are also a lot of people that say they thought they were filling out applications for personal loans (not auto) to pay bills.
I googled something like "bad credit low car payment" and clicked on the first paid search result. It was a site that had very little information on it and was clearly created to generate revenue off of forms. Pretty sure it said something about a $100 car payment. I put my info in and within a few minutes I showed up in the CRM as a new FordDirect lead on a 2014 Expedition King Ranch two-wheel drive.
I am certain FordDirect makes vendor decisions (like lead providers) based on profit and not quality. FordDirect is well aware of the problems; they've met at the dealership with us. No results or solutions.
Here are some examples that are very common (several times per week). On all of these, the customers never respond or has bad contact info. So we never know what they were actually looking for.
The car in the lead is Mustang GT (V8), but it shows a V6 engine as a selected option as well as the V6 Pony Package. This combination cannot exist.
Option Name Man. Code Price Currency Type Stock Weighting
-----------------------------------------------
Options:
Convertible GT
Race Red PQ
Charcoal Black 89W
6-Speed Auto 443
3.7L 4V Ti-VCT V6 Engine 99M
Shaker? Pro Audio System 918
V6 Pony Package 54P
Here's another where a customer built a Shelby (V8) and the lead has the V6 Pony Package as an option, which is not an option on this car:
Option Name Man. Code Price Currency Type Stock Weighting
-----------------------------------------------
Options:
Coupe Shelby GT500
Ingot Silver UX
Black Accents 89X
5.8L 4V SC V8 Engine 99Z
6-Speed Manual 44X
Shaker? Pro Audio System 918
SYNC? AppLink? 17D
Mustang Club of America Special Edition Package54B
V6 Pony Package 54P
Voice Activated Navigation with SiriusXM? Travel Link?58Z
Below are a couple where the car is built with multiple exterior colors; I've never seen a site that allows this so it has to be a data error.
----------------------------------------------------------
Options:
Titanium 5-Door
Tangerine Scream LP
Performance Blue L1
Blue Candy Z9
Charcoal Black with Performance Blue 89R
6-Speed Automatic 44W
Exterior Protection Package 90C
Reverse Sensing System 60R
----------------------------------------------------------
Options:
Coupe Shelby GT500
Race Red PQ
Ruby Red RR
Gotta Have it Green HD
Oxford White YZ
Saddle 89N
5.8L 4V SC V8 Engine 99Z
6-Speed Manual 44X
Shaker? Pro Audio System 918
----------------------------------------------------------
We constantly get responses from customers stating that the vehicle we quoted them is not what they requested, even though we sent them a vehicle that matches the lead information.
FordDirect does not disclose on the lead where it came from (Edmunds, etc.). Many of the new car leads that we are able to contact are looking for used cars under $10,000, which we do not commonly stock. There are also a lot of people that say they thought they were filling out applications for personal loans (not auto) to pay bills.
I googled something like "bad credit low car payment" and clicked on the first paid search result. It was a site that had very little information on it and was clearly created to generate revenue off of forms. Pretty sure it said something about a $100 car payment. I put my info in and within a few minutes I showed up in the CRM as a new FordDirect lead on a 2014 Expedition King Ranch two-wheel drive.
I am certain FordDirect makes vendor decisions (like lead providers) based on profit and not quality. FordDirect is well aware of the problems; they've met at the dealership with us. No results or solutions.
Here are some examples that are very common (several times per week). On all of these, the customers never respond or has bad contact info. So we never know what they were actually looking for.
The car in the lead is Mustang GT (V8), but it shows a V6 engine as a selected option as well as the V6 Pony Package. This combination cannot exist.
Option Name Man. Code Price Currency Type Stock Weighting
-----------------------------------------------
Options:
Convertible GT
Race Red PQ
Charcoal Black 89W
6-Speed Auto 443
3.7L 4V Ti-VCT V6 Engine 99M
Shaker? Pro Audio System 918
V6 Pony Package 54P
Here's another where a customer built a Shelby (V8) and the lead has the V6 Pony Package as an option, which is not an option on this car:
Option Name Man. Code Price Currency Type Stock Weighting
-----------------------------------------------
Options:
Coupe Shelby GT500
Ingot Silver UX
Black Accents 89X
5.8L 4V SC V8 Engine 99Z
6-Speed Manual 44X
Shaker? Pro Audio System 918
SYNC? AppLink? 17D
Mustang Club of America Special Edition Package54B
V6 Pony Package 54P
Voice Activated Navigation with SiriusXM? Travel Link?58Z
Below are a couple where the car is built with multiple exterior colors; I've never seen a site that allows this so it has to be a data error.
----------------------------------------------------------
Options:
Titanium 5-Door
Tangerine Scream LP
Performance Blue L1
Blue Candy Z9
Charcoal Black with Performance Blue 89R
6-Speed Automatic 44W
Exterior Protection Package 90C
Reverse Sensing System 60R
----------------------------------------------------------
Options:
Coupe Shelby GT500
Race Red PQ
Ruby Red RR
Gotta Have it Green HD
Oxford White YZ
Saddle 89N
5.8L 4V SC V8 Engine 99Z
6-Speed Manual 44X
Shaker? Pro Audio System 918
----------------------------------------------------------