16% is the NEW 10% - ILM Closing ratio

[ChrisR]

That looks a lot better and much easier for me to stomach (wtf is Frikintech, lol). I'm constantly looking for other dealers insights and I'm told, dont' share enough of mine so here goes.
Jan-October
Trader 8.84% but cancelled due to $714.28 cost per sale over the period. Lead volume drop was very drastic after we added carfax october 1. Closing ratio jumped in October to 13.33% but due to lead drop our cost per sale was $1,653.00 per copy (ouch). 2 sales out of 15 leads.
Guru we've been steady @ 6.7%
cars.com 6.53%
Chrysler 3rd party is 6.39%
Our website ranges from 7.06% - 15.91% for an average of 9.23%. All year we've been distributing directly to sales staff and it's been clear the current closing ratios are much lower than is acceptable even though the cost per sale is under $120 per.

We're a single point CJDR store. Any feedback on our numbers would be appreciated?

FrickenTech is an awesome landing page system, that generates payments on entire inventory, that can be customized based off site visitor's inputs. @Alex Snyder and his team did great with it.

 

[Dan Sayer]

That looks a lot better and much easier for me to stomach (wtf is Frikintech, lol). I'm constantly looking for other dealers insights and I'm told, dont' share enough of mine so here goes.
Jan-October
Trader 8.84% but cancelled due to $714.28 cost per sale over the period. Lead volume drop was very drastic after we added carfax october 1. Closing ratio jumped in October to 13.33% but due to lead drop our cost per sale was $1,653.00 per copy (ouch). 2 sales out of 15 leads.
Guru we've been steady @ 6.7%
cars.com 6.53%
Chrysler 3rd party is 6.39%
Our website ranges from 7.06% - 15.91% for an average of 9.23%. All year we've been distributing directly to sales staff and it's been clear the current closing ratios are much lower than is acceptable even though the cost per sale is under $120 per.

We're a single point CJDR store. Any feedback on our numbers would be appreciated?

Frikintech is on every banner ad of this forum LOL. Look into them! If you measure your Classifieds by cost of sale per attributed leads, you may be missing the referral portion that shows up as a "website lead" but was really a direct VDP view from a Classified that converted on your site and not theirs.... Do you look at your Referral traffic from those sources?

 

[Alex Snyder]

That looks a lot better and much easier for me to stomach (wtf is Frikintech, lol). I'm constantly looking for other dealers insights and I'm told, dont' share enough of mine so here goes.

Your post made my week on many levels. The first one is that you shared. When I was at the Checkered Flag Auto Group, my VP of Sales got nervous about the amount of sharing I did at conferences and on DealerRefresh. If it weren't for @Jeff Kershner convincing me that few could actually carry-out what was being shared I would not be here today. And I, in turn, was able to convince my old boss of that too. 15 years later, Jeff is still correct.

As for "WTF is FRIKINtech, lol..." that was the cherry on top! I'm one of the founders of it and am more than happy to give you the full What The Frik on it outside of this thread, so I do not encroach on DealerRefresh solicitation rules.

Jan-October
Trader 8.84% but cancelled due to $714.28 cost per sale over the period. Lead volume drop was very drastic after we added carfax october 1. Closing ratio jumped in October to 13.33% but due to lead drop our cost per sale was $1,653.00 per copy (ouch). 2 sales out of 15 leads.
Guru we've been steady @ 6.7%
cars.com 6.53%
Chrysler 3rd party is 6.39%
Our website ranges from 7.06% - 15.91% for an average of 9.23%. All year we've been distributing directly to sales staff and it's been clear the current closing ratios are much lower than is acceptable even though the cost per sale is under $120 per.

We're a single point CJDR store. Any feedback on our numbers would be appreciated?

I'd love to take a look at what you're sending in the CRM. If you're okay with some suggestions, we may be able to bump those numbers a little.

 

[joe.pistell]

@jon.berna has the best report for this thread (or should I say, use to have...)

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Any changes to your ILM closing ratio over the last 4 years?

 

[BillVaughnKMC]

Any changes to your ILM closing ratio over the last 4 years?

Higher closing and a higher percentage of business. Last 3 months closing has been 24%,17%, and 22% on leads identified as internet leads and total of our business has been 19%, 17%, and 21%. And before anyone says anything, no, we don't mark a bunch of leads bad. Internet leads as a whole are actually down from prior years, though. So are people maybe just being more selective about when they decide to send a lead?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Higher closing and a higher percentage of business. Last 3 months closing has been 24%,17%, and 22% on leads identified as internet leads and total of our business has been 19%, 17%, and 21%. And before anyone says anything, no, we don't mark a bunch of leads bad. Internet leads as a whole are actually down from prior years, though. So are people maybe just being more selective about when they decide to send a lead?

Strong numbers @BillKVMotorCo - thanks for sharing.

YTD our used car % is crushing it with an average 17-18% BUT our new car % have been in the low single digits, bringing our overall closing percentage down to around 9%. With that being said, our process and training could use some updating.

 

[Kelly Wilson]

Overall we are seeing more calls and fewer lead forms, but the closing rate for the form leads is averaging 1.5x - 3x higher than in the past. The dealers that are stepping up with investments in better merchandising and better retargeting hooks have kept their form lead counts up. With shoppers looking to control the conversation, they need a genuine reason to give up their info, and when they do, they are motivated buyers.