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Show Me the Leads!

Apr 28, 2009
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First Name
Jerry
I just had a conversation with a dealer (DR Member) and we talked about third party leads. The big question, what's working? So with that said, here's how I would like to see this discussion flow.

1. Dealers, tell us what's working for your dealership and how you made it work.
2. Vendors, tell us a success story from one of your clients. No puff, we want real facts, figures and details on why it worked.

I would even like to see a few dealers sign up for some leads as a result of this discussion and then share their results with the community.
 
Hi Jerry,

Our favorite Third-Party lead source is KBB Direct. We got involved with their banner program forever ago, strictly for the advertising -- any leads were just considered a "bonus." But over the last couple of years, the effort has really turned into a nice lead generator as well -- local clients, in-market, good quality.
 
Ahh - 3rd Party Leads.

IMO move away from 3rd Party Leads and take the budget to drive traffic to your own online efforts (dealership website). However, there are circumstances that call for the use of 3rd Party Leads i.e. Manufacturer semi-mandated programs or location. :)

My personal Rules:

Rule number 1 - Drive all 3rd party leads to your dealership website (be sure to have a stellar website). Go for another conversion or point of engagement. That's always a win.

Rule number 2 - Incentives the customer to show up. We roll ALL our 3rd party leads through HookLogic. HL then determines through lead scoring if this customer is an intended buyer. If they are, then we incentives the customer with a $25 - $100 dollar gift card to show up.

In return this increases the show rate for our 3rd Party Leads while of course (unless your sales people suck) increasing your overall closing percentage on your 3rd Party Leads as well.

Rule number 3 - The gray area says; since they've contact me - I have the opportunity to solicit to these leads/customers with some push marketing, such as email marketing. :) I know, I know - this can be a gray area to some. So be sure you are providing the customer to opt out of your email marketing campaigns.

Rule number 4 - Re-marketing. Allocate some of your budget towards display advertising / remarketing. Cookie those 3rd Party Leads that visit your websites or through a pixel in the email and follow those peeps around Potratz Style!

My point is, IF you are going to buy 3rd Party Lead or you're "forced" to by the OEM - make the most of it! I have hit the mid teens in closing percentage with 3rd Party leads using the rules above.


Side note: As many of you know, I now work with HookLogic. So one could say "nice soft plug there for HookLogic Jeff". However this was a practice I've had implemented over a year ago. Long before I even considered working for HookLogic.
 
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Rule number 2 - Incentives the customer to show up. We roll ALL our 3rd party leads through HookLogic. HL then determines through lead scoring if this customer is an intended buyer. If they are, then we incentives the customer with a $25 - $100 dollar gift card to show up.

Saw this on a dealers website the offer day after I submitted a lead. I got an offer for $25 to come in, I loved it. I also think a gas card would well. Spend hundreds to get the lead, what's another $25 to make them show!
 
This is a slightly aged thread but I would like to throw my hat into the ring anyhow. I''ll be as succinct as possible. Relevant results (Brand, Geography) can be provided via PM upon request.

We are notified every time a dealership, bank, credit union or other financial institution pulls a
credit report on a prospect in your market area in connection with an auto loan application. This
allows us to market to only pre-qualified prospects that have just entered the market for a vehicle.
We receive the prospect’s information within 12-24 hours of the inquiry and send them a LiveCheck
credit offer made payable to your dealership only. ( With no obligation to use our lender if you've got a more beneficial channel.)
We provide you with their name and several ways to contact them on our behalf to tell them about this offer of credit.

As long as you follow our process you can contact them immediately – While they are still hot.
1. Equifax and TransUnion provide us a list each day of prospects that have had their credit pulled with in the last 12-24 hours for an auto loan application
2. The dealership picks a specific territory based on zip codes
3.We filter through this list to identify prospects that are pre-qualified for an auto loan within the dealership’s market area
4. Our lender extends an offer of credit to only those that pre-qualify with a check made payable to the dealership
5. Prospect is instructed to call a toll free number or log on to a website and enter in the prequalification PIN code listed on the letter
6. Our Domestic call center cold calls each prospect with a phone number off the daily manifest and also calls
prospects that respond to our LiveCheck to schedule an appointment at the dealership
7. Prospect is referred to the dealership for approval information and further instructions
8. Preferred dealership logs onto their tracking website and reviews the prospect’s information
9. Prospect picks out vehicle
10. Information is electronically submitted to Lender for decision
11. Upon approval, lender overnights loan docs in a returnable envelope
12. Preferred dealership and prospect review the loan package checklist to ensure that all
requirements are met
13. Preferred dealership overnights loan docs back to lender.
14. Preferred dealership is funded via ACH within 3-5 business days
“Approval: means that the pre-qualification in the offer is confirmed and the terms and conditions of the
approval will be available to view on the Dealer’s tracking website. There will be a maximum amount to
finance, an APR, a maximum term, and any applicable stips in addition to the standard stips (i.e. Driver’s
License, Proof of Insurance, etc.).”

It's a strong concept, and makes a ton of sense when thinking it over. As a bonus it is very effective, average C.R. is around 22%. We can't differentiate who actually bought, so 11-20% are out of the market, but it's an acceptable margin for what it affords you in our, biased :D opinion.
We all know the talent out there on the lots has degraded over the years, and floor-ups get away with going home to "think about it/pray about it/ or just plain old shop you. If someone's got shopping figures, for the same car, they are THAT much more likely to purchase at the next place, unless they got a rare, gifted salesperson that made a good enough impression to return to, but wasn't strong enough to close. Just being honest. I'd force the issue of hinting where to go, let em think the universe is giving them a sign.
We also recommend sending a shell on company letter head with a post it, sharpy note, and signature sent from the dealer every day. It lends more crediblity, especially with a phone call from the BDC.

I'm a fan of knowing as much about my target demos ahead of time as possible. In my opinion this is as strong as that gets, even before I had it to provide as a tool, I knew about the program from a friend on a desk that mentioned it, now I'm here, so small world!

This is the straight poop. If someone wants results I'll provide the most relevant for your scenario.
 
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