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What drops in leads are you seeing?

I have heard from numerous non-automotive sources that consumers expect more information now. Making uneducated decisions has become a rarity (see everything from smart phone studies to amazon studies). There's some interesting studies on the number of data points needed before making a purchase.

Craigh,

There is no need to contact the dealer for info nowadays other than a few specific questions related to a service the dealer may offer, a trade, price, availability, etc.

Besides that I have been interested in the fact that I believe the smart phone is so personal that customers are much less willing to give their number (email is also in the smart phone). Because of that I find Google's proxy contact very interesting.

Should dealers implement something similar to that on their websites? With all the text/Facebook messenger/whatsup/etc and most dealers not having that option should this be something that we should have to increase ways of communication?
 
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Besides that I have been interested in the fact that I believe the smart phone is so personal that customers are much less willing to give their number (email is also in the smart phone). Because of that I find Google's proxy contact very interesting.

Honestly, it's a great idea and it wouldn't take long to implement.
Wouldn't even take long to build an identical service, would just be harder to build up consumer trust.

I think it's worth looking into, but I still have a ways to go as far as just offering the customer something they believe is worth filling out. I get a surprising number of form submissions on a very simple financing form and a very simple trade in appraisal form - gets the dealer the contact, but I don't know that it leads to the level of communication the customer expects (like an actual trade in estimate).

Constantly learning and changing, just need to start tracking things more unified, rather than having to scrape 6 reports together to give me performance on my forms.
 
This poll makes me think of the AT&T commercial with the little girl demanding, “We want more, we want more, like you really like it and we want more!”

Craig/Jim- If you are referring to form submissions... There is no doubt a decrease in quantity. Form submissions are down in most every industry. There are easy ways to increase quantity like adding a form to every page or reducing the amount of “required fields” on your forms. Heck-It might be fun to watch your internet managers try following up with all of the John Smith, Whitney Houston, and Michael Jackson leads you’ll receive. On one occasion I had an internet manager complaining about lead quality saying he received a lead from a Mr. Poo Head. My response was simply, “So you are telling me Mr. Head is not interested in a car?” Joking aside- Customers who visit your website are generally asking 3 questions. “Do they have it?” “How much is it?’’ and “Why should I buy from you?” Tailor your forms around answering those questions. For example, If your customer has landed on a specific vehicle it’s OK to ask/require more information in your forms. If they are browsing your homepage, loosen up. Don’t make them fill out a 5 liner for a 1 liner question. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your form questions. Try including some questions you would ask if your customer was on the lot like, “How did you hear about us?” or “First time with us or been with us before?” You will find that the more questions or requirements you have the less quantity you’ll receive. What you lose in quantity you’ll make up in quality. Find your golden egg ratio of lead quantity/lead quality and your internet managers will love you!
 
This poll makes me think of the AT&T commercial with the little girl demanding, “We want more, we want more, like you really like it and we want more!”

Craig/Jim- If you are referring to form submissions... There is no doubt a decrease in quantity. Form submissions are down in most every industry.

But I'm NOT seeing a decrease in leads, but an increase. Sales are up, website traffic is up, and leads (chats/forms/trade evals, etc) are up with nothing really different this year vs last year.
 
Doug,

From my desk, That keyword cluster is hard coded by Google. You rarely ever see 2 dealers in the top 5, it's almost always alone dealer and 4 national classified sites.

Joe, Notice that Cargurus and TrueCar does it every day. Using those search terms, we consistently take 20 to 40% of the first page and normally the top spot, in organic. 100% white hat. We use microsites linked to the major social media sites and use video testimonials and walk around presentations. Not only do we dominate organic search, we will send more traffic to the dealers website than AutoTrader and Cars for half the money. If for any reason, the dealership isn't satisfied, we will give them 100% of their money back.