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Text Us message conversion from Website and VDP?

Long story short (too late), give me managed chat or texting. I don't think I need both and I certainly don't ever want in-house chat. Just my $.02

Agreed. We didn't have luck with managed chat, so we are going to try and do in house text messaging after the launch of our new websites. Granted we are a smaller dealership so I don't know if the volume would be as high was what @BHavican experiences.
 
Maybe I've been lucky but I have had great results with managed chat from a particular provider. The key was that I had a very proactive account rep and I closely monitored chat transcripts and offered my feedback to her team. We would talk a few times a month and developed a great working relationship. Their reps wouldn't just go for the info, they were given the freedom to answer questions they had the answer to or had been told how to answer. For example, if someone asked if a car was available their default answer with us was, "Yes, it is available. Did you want to test drive it today?" If someone wanted to test drive, their info was collected and we could always call them right back and tell them if the car wasn't available. Just because it's managed doesn't mean you can set it and forget it. Just like any other relationship with a vendor, you need to inspect what you expect and give them direction.

On the other side of the coin, I absolutely hate in-house chat because it's way too time consuming. When a user engages in chat they expect immediate responses, that's why they're using the tool vs a traditional form. So as the chat representative I have to give it my full attention, no multitasking (I've tried talking to someone on the phone while chatting and it never works out well.) The problem is that often times we don't have their full attention because they're multitasking. It may take 5-10 minutes for me to see a response from the user so I'm stuck.

Now if I take that same prospect and they engage in texting instead of chatting, they don't necessarily have that expectation of immediate response and a BDC rep can go about doing other things.

Long story short (too late), give me managed chat or texting. I don't think I need both and I certainly don't ever want in-house chat. Just my $.02

x10. I don't plan to ever use in-house chat again. A good managed chat provider is worth way more than they charge. Just don't tell them, or they might catch the "Autotrader flu."
 
...if you have a competent staff then in house chat which is a means of building a rapport with the consumer answering his/her questions is far more effective.

Derrick,
Just took a test drive of your chat process. http://www.youngernissan.com/searchused.aspx?Bodystyle=Sport+Utility+Vehicle&Features=4WD/AWD

Very well done. Your chat rep answered quickly and assisted with my vague & complex search request. She gave me 3 cars to look at, Then the rep went for the contact request, I denied. The rep acknowledged my denial and thanked me and asked if I had any other questions. Very well done.


Question: How do you pay and score your reps??
 
I think new car photos make all the sense in the world.
I had 2 dealers start capturing all new car photos and their new car leads, showroom traffic and sales went up.
Not only that, but the photos were finally accurate instead of all the issues with stock photo trim level accuracy.
In addition, they claimed that more customers coming into the store had a specific stock number for an in-stock unit ready to go.
For $15 a car to get them captured I would say it pays off quite well.
I know they work, but LOGICALLY, they shouldn't. every new Malibu / 3 Series / F-150 is the same, but the photos change perception in the buyer's mind.
 
I know they work, but LOGICALLY, they shouldn't. every new Malibu / 3 Series / F-150 is the same, but the photos change perception in the buyer's mind.

They're not all the same at all manufacturers. For example, the F-150 series has any number of rims, lights, colours, decals and interiors. Stock photos just don't do them justice, so the F-150 new inventory photos have been commended by many customers as helping to understand the models and packages. Sometimes dealers forget that customers don't know the difference between the trims and they don't know what a package code is. Unless you have 100% accurate stock photos, the New Inventory photos are a huge plus in my books.
 
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I know they work, but LOGICALLY, they shouldn't. every new Malibu / 3 Series / F-150 is the same, but the photos change perception in the buyer's mind.

I think its more of people want to see the actual physical car they could be driving. If they didn't care about stock photos than everyone would just use the manufacture site. Seeing the actual car/truck that they could be in helps them visualize them actually driving in it. Not only that, but stock photos rarely have the actual Exterior/Interior matching colors, rims, trim level. This is even more true with Ford as features can be added/changed drastically between trims (side note: while that's neat, I miss Honda's way of doing their trim levels).
 
Wow. Great lesson here for me. I've always assumed that everyone instinctively understood that car shoppers* want to see the actual photos of the cars. What an eye opener for me.


*shoppers who are way down the funnel* (i.e. selecting a VIN, not in high-level research)

p.s. Craig is 1000% right. Stock photos are filled with gaps. Shoppers don't complain because they know the pics are 'fake' (think about how 'fake photos' makes a shopper judge the entire site ;-)
 
Put aside the stock vs. real and how many photos debate for a second. If you have your new cars on listing services (AT, Cars, etc.) and don't have your own pictures you're missing an opportunity expose your dealership to shoppers with branded photo overlays.