Gerald~
Thank you for mentioning the cost / lead & cost / sold! We can always look at our #'s and be pleased with them from what we see, but not taking into consideration the expense of the lead itself! Your information is taken into consideration. Keeping track in the amount of the lead and the leads you had sold will define if the lead is being worked correctly or the lead provider is not effecient enough. They can be pricey at times, but sure pay off if they are worked right!

Some other numbers you may want to trakc would be cost/lead and cost/sold.

You want to strive to keep your cost/sold around or under $20, and cost/sold under $300. This will help ensure if you are paying for 3rd party leads and they are not producing, you will be able to trim the fat and put those monies elsewhere so they can help your bottom line. The obvious exceptions would be if your cost/sold was say $400, but your average gross was great enough to offset the higher cost. Then you can negotiate with your vendor and see if they can save you some money on your cost.

Good luck!

Gerald Hand
Internet Director
Toyota of Irving

Dan -

That is great you use the sales department as your internet team. I did that for a long time. I worked hard in the department, set the appointments, did the meet and greet with the customer and whomever the salesperson that had welcomed the customer got them. The salesman were very receptive with getting the honor of the internet customer. For they are serious buyers.
I now have 2 active salespeople in my department & they get alot of sales out through the internet. Working hard and keeping up the good work does get you further & surely pays off.

**We work hard to stay #1 in Michigan & #5 in the nation for KIA**

Jennifer Schrader
Internet Sales Manager
Williams KIA

We also use our Sales Department as our Internet Team. We are positioned in an Automall in Cincinnati, Ohio. These are statistics for a combination Mazda-Kia dealership.

Appt/Leads = 30%
Appt/Kept = 50%
Appt/Sold = 50%

We consistently close at about 8% on purely internet leads. We do not take phone calls from our website or third party vendors into consideration.

After seeing the percentages for the appointments made, kept & sold, I am impressed with the varities. I am the Internet Manager & BDC Director for Williams KIA. Ensuring the following up process with the leads will make a large difference. If you want a department to be successful and to work right, you need to have the right person running it and the right team to follow through with it.
Set/Kept - 81%
Kept/Sold - 61%

Overal holding 19%

Good luck to you all!

As a former BDC director I can tell you your appt kept and sold ratios are right in line however, your appt set ratio is too low. It should be around 37% and you should be able to maintain the same show and sales ratio. My suspicion is that the dept is not following up on leads often or long enough.

Chrysler & Jeep is our brands. Nashville Metro area. Right now I am doing:
22% Set appt
of that 60% keep appt
of that 53% sold
7% overall lead to sold ratio

Anyone know of any reports/studies showing this type of data for the industry?

Thanks in advance.

I think the Brand of vehicle you're selling comes into play as well.

My overall numbers are as follows:

* Lead to Appt ratio%
around 40+%
* Appointment Kept %
around 60%
* Appointment to sale ratio
around 50%
Overall about 8-9%

BUT I have a GM franchise and a Mazda franchise. When you break out Mazda everything changes because Mazda as a brand and their customers are more internet saavy.

This is after 2 months with me working my system.

My own feeling is that the salesperson who gets the customer when they arrive is a HUGE determining factor in whether or not you make a deal.

All these numbers can vary greatly depending on a lot of things-- lead source, your internet manager, time of the month/year; and remember you probably won't see these numbers the first 30 days, but here's some rough averages I've seen:

* Lead to Appt ratio%
around 25+% -- with the type of customers I have in my competitive market, people typically make an appointment they'll keep.
* Appointment Kept %
around 80%
* Appointment to sale ratio
around 80%

My lead to sale ratio is right at 17%, and some of these customers (like one I'm working now) have all but signed papers before even coming in. I don't count those as appointments per my CRM.

What an outstanding presentation! I've worked as a web developer since 1999, and my entire experience was summed up into that short video. Awesome find.

Very Cool! The rebuttal is also quite interesting.

Login to view embedded media View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAVmB5dKZZ8

Jeff,

Thanks for taking the time to stop by our booth and giving us the honorable mention. Good review of the show. You've got a great working knowledge of the Internet. The question you asked the "gentleman" from @utorevenue.com makes that very clear. Thanks again, and keep in touch.

-Blake

I agree about your comment on Clickmotive. Dry, Dry, Dry...

Jeff,
Always a good read! I especially liked your overview of NADA 2007. "It was like I was there"! ha,ha.

All this talk about Autotrader.com. I have been a big believer of "featured listings". About 1/2 the cost of premium listings. If you actually put search criteria that an actual car shopper would use (example Mercedes-Benz C230 in a 25 mile radius), Your featured listing will still show on the first page of listings. You can use the $1,000 you save monthly on Dealix or another lead provider. Just some thoughts from an old-school ISM.
-Pete

Out of all of the dealers we have, ive never heard anything but complaints about cars.com

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the, ah, forthright review of Amy Auto. That’s the great thing about the internet.

I understand how you feel about avatars. I've seen some that were really creepy. However, we are creating a new kind of avatar to make the online process more human and humane.

And we had a tremendous response at NADA, receiving hundreds of business cards, and had hundreds of people who scanned their badge in our gizmo and said they love Amy and the whole concept.

Many dealers want something fresh in their business, a way to reach out to more potential customers, and differentiate their website. They literally want to present a new "face" to the world.

Dealers' first request is to make it easier for people to find the info they want, with a responsive, friendly, intelligent interface. Eventually, dealers want consumers to be able to take the online purchase process as far as the consumer likes: info > comparison > customization > price > tax > insur., without having to talk with a pushy salesperson. (This is coming from dealers, not us.)

Cheers,
Glenn Sanders
__________________
Offc: 650-964-4112
Cell: 650-996-9904
[email protected]

Nice review Jeff and it was great getting a chance to hang out a bit. Go Bears!

There seemed to be a good number of new pricing features on the floor this year. Maybe that is because it was on my radar, but many of the inventory and F&I providers were highlighting some sort of pricing convenience feature in their systems. I didn't really take good notes of who, but I do recall seeing a good bit of this in many booths.

eBay has done a good job with the PR of their new Local product and an even more impressive job coordinating their pilot program with all their certified providers. I have every confidence that eBay's new program will succeed because of how it is being approached.

I had the chance to speak with a gentleman at Autobase CRM about Microsoft and it seems that MS could have a beta product as early as this summer. This is definitely something to keep an eye out for.

Ya, we've got the Partner listing too, and I just can't help but think it's money spent better elsewhere. For some reason I'm still hestitant to drop down a level, but I can't really figure out why.

So true about Autotrader... their prices are quickly spiraling out of control.. even with our 'dealer group discount'. And on top of it, my rep is leaving the area so I'm gonna get some new schmuck to deal with. Fantastic. Sometimes I wonder if Autotrader is really worth it.

While eBay is certainly a clearing house for unique or special items, especially reliable cash cars, there is seldom an opportunity to make gross on listed vehicles.

On listed vehicles.

What I have discovered is eBay is nothing more than a lead generator. When the new Avalon came out in 2005, we put a Limited edition on eBay (new) and sold 4 others to prospective buyers because we handled them like they were leads from Autotrader or Cars.com. One deal we grossed neaarly $10,000 because when we contacted the buyer, we concentrated on setting an appointment and getting them in to buy. After that, it was a payment issue, and we all know how that rolls.

Approach eBay like the lead provider it is and you will see more results. Too many dealers rely on eBay to sell their cars, and it just won't. This is part of the reason I feel companies like Liquid Motors have promising technology, but falling short of their potential. There is no subtitute for a good salesperson on the phone!

Gerald Hand
Internet Director
Toyota of Irving

Josh-
Here are a few preliminary steps I would suggest:
1. Review your website: Contact 3s, where they ring, are you tracking those calls, who is getting them; hours of operation, services available, links on your website, etc. Test EVERYTHING!

2. Where are your leads coming from? Who are your lead providers, how many leads have they given you and what is the cost. Get the URLs for their back-end tools and save the password/username in a secure document only you have access to.

3. What kind of Internet Department are you going to have? Cradle to grave where the ISM takes the up, works the deal and then delivers, or where someone receives the lead on the floor and works them with your supervision, or perhaps with BDC setting where people in a call center set the appointment and certain individuals show the vehicle and work the deal. Each has specific strengths and weaknesses, so determine which way your dealer wants to go.

4. What is your process? How long will you work leads, what types of templates will you use, etc.

5. Your CRM software can be as simple as Outlook for now, but there are many good vendors out there. An inexpensive one is Autojockey which has a lot of features and is not a lot of money.

6. Develop a spreadsheet to track your ROI! This is your lifeline. By tracking deals, profits, leads in, appts set, units sold and the profitability of the department is key to asking for more money and more leads!

7. Contact your lead providers like Cars, Autotrader, Dealix, AutoUSA, CDM Data, Dealer Specialties and ask for some time to meet, understand what they represent, any training opportunities they may have, and if they can come by and orient you ontheir back-end tools.

8. Ensure your merchandise is ready! Good quality, multiple photos will tell the story to a prospective customer that this is a vehicle worth looking at. Do not skimp, and if you are not satisified with the quality or number (I recommend at least 7-9) make changes!

Get with your Toyota Rep and see what help they have. There are some great resources out there, including this one! As you start to negotiate the course of an Internet Director, you will be exposed continually to more information and things to help make you better. Learn a little every day.

Good luck and stay in touch.

Gerald Hand
Internet Director
Toyota of Irving

Hi Josh, I've installed WebControl in every dealership I have helped develop. It's easy to use, has great customer support, provides separtate module for internet so you don't need to buy a complete showroom control system, and doesn't really cost you an arm and leg per month.

I have worked with a few dealers using dealeron and they seem to have a good product. Our toyota dealer uses Xi group and have been very pleased so far.

Thank you all ... I have decieded to go with iCarMagic. Now I need to work on our website. www.LeMieuxToyota.com Any feed back from anyone. I am looking at DealerSkin.