What drops in leads are you seeing?

[ddavis]

We have been seeing an increase in leads.

Not to hijack this thread, but on a similar topic,
what is your opinion on lead quality comparing different types of leads?
ie a Text lead, vs Website lead, vs phone lead. (of even broken down to what type of website leads, e-price vs test drive etc.)

I am curious if anyone has large volume data to share on this? and would be willing too

Anthony

Very hard to answer. I know when I had a strong call to action on each VDP, my phone calls increased by around 30%. I know that when I left, the phone calls dropped. I would much prefer the call.

My dealers are seeing a huge increase in leads counts. The frustration is not being able to go in a make changes to websites and processes. I can only make suggestions. One store, about 40 miles outside of a metro market, last month had over 16,000 visitors Over a third were unique with a bounce rate of 6%. If I could make changes to their marketing they would have more submissions. If I had an impact on their processes, they would sell more cars. Good part is they are excited with what they are doing. These numbers are far above what they were getting.

 

[Zhendrix]

Craig- Love the topic. Quick question to better answer yours…

When you say website leads are you referring to form submissions (web and/or mobile), phone calls, chat, or all of the above?

 

[craigh]

Craig- Love the topic. Quick question to better answer yours…

When you say website leads are you referring to form submissions (web and/or mobile), phone calls, chat, or all of the above?

I'm dealing mostly with website leads - actual form submissions on the dealership website.
However, everything I'm reading here is incredibly educational and making me think.. maybe we need to be way more aggressive with the phone numbers on the VDPs. We have personalized phone numbers for each department, could be effective. They're also looking into "Text 888-888-8888 to Make an Offer" and this type of logic.

Long story short, we're expanding the types of leads we offer while also trying to hone in on more successful form submissions.

 

[yagoparamo]

Craig,

Is your question in relation to:


Is the market getting worse?

or

Is the market changing (people submit less leads then just show up at the dealer)?

 

[craigh]

Craig,

Is your question in relation to:


Is the market getting worse?

or

Is the market changing (people submit less leads then just show up at the dealer)?

Not so concerned about the sales market / car buying market as much as online behaviour.
Things that used to work are no longer working (obviously, that's how life goes) and we're just trying to adapt ourselves.
I was at DD14 and speakers kept saying, "Everyone's leads are down, but what we're seeing is that ___________"

 

[ddavis]

"Everyone's leads are down, but what we're seeing is that ___________"

Do a search: 2013 (Make) (Model) (Your City) When I do this, in various markets, I keep seeing the same players in organic search: cargurus, AutoTrader, TrueCar, Cars.com. They are doing a better job than the local dealers.

 

[yagoparamo]

Not so concerned about the sales market / car buying market as much as online behaviour.
Things that used to work are no longer working (obviously, that's how life goes) and we're just trying to adapt ourselves.
I was at DD14 and speakers kept saying, "Everyone's leads are down, but what we're seeing is that ___________"

Craig,

That's why I asked.

I don't have any serious research on it but the "feeling" by looking at things that traditional leads are down yet dealers keep selling the same number of cars.

Are customers now doing even more research online so they come to the decision moment without sales people more often?

 

[Kelly Wilson]

I don't have any serious research on it but the "feeling" by looking at things that traditional leads are down yet dealers keep selling the same number of cars.

As the internet as a whole has become more instantaneous, car shoppers expect the information to be accurate and up to date. The more thorough the vehicle merchandising, the fewer questions a dealer should receive. I'd guess the drop in leads is just the reduction of "is it a stick or automatic" or "is this car still for sale" queries."

After enhancing our merchandising process last year, I saw about a 40% drop in leads '11:'12. I do need to get buy-in from management to further improve the process (custom comments and video). However, I've seen over a 60% increase in leads sold '11:'12:'13 (yes I know a number things factor into this number).

I ask you, where those submissions really leads?

 

[joe.pistell]

Do a search: 2013 (Make) (Model) (Your City) When I do this, in various markets, I keep seeing the same players in organic search: cargurus, AutoTrader, TrueCar, Cars.com. They are doing a better job than the local dealers.

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.

 

[craigh]

Craig,

That's why I asked.

I don't have any serious research on it but the "feeling" by looking at things that traditional leads are down yet dealers keep selling the same number of cars.

Are customers now doing even more research online so they come to the decision moment without sales people more often?

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.