Responding to Leads

[rberg]

Hi everyone!

I've been a member of dealer refresh for a few weeks or so but this is my first time posting! I work at a small online luxury dealership that has been launched for about a year. We've done a decent jobs of responding to leads but recently our response rate to our emails back to the leads haven't been great. So we want to see what other dealers are doing and how to improve it. Such as what CRM's are you guys using, time it takes to respond to a lead, whether you respond via email, phone or both, and any other advice you guys might have about responding to leads. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks,
Rob

 

[john.quinn]

Just take care of the customer, bud. Read the lead and details, and ask yourself a simple question: "What does the customer want here?" Then answer the question before you worry about technology.

No doubt as a result of this post, someone will be PM'ing you trying to sell you the latest A.I. hogwash or CRM Miracle Automation....

And some tech is good... don't get me wrong... but if it falls outside of "just take care of the customer," then it's largely useless.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

Hi everyone!

I've been a member of dealer refresh for a few weeks or so but this is my first time posting! I work at a small online luxury dealership that has been launched for about a year. We've done a decent jobs of responding to leads but recently our response rate to our emails back to the leads haven't been great. So we want to see what other dealers are doing and how to improve it. Such as what CRM's are you guys using, time it takes to respond to a lead, whether you respond via email, phone or both, and any other advice you guys might have about responding to leads. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


Thanks,
Rob

Email is a horrible way to communicate with customer. Set your form captures up to get the cell number and you can text them, which is highly more effective!

See a better process here: https://www.talkoptions.com/?page_id=833

 

[Alex Snyder]

Just take care of the customer, bud. Read the lead and details, and ask yourself a simple question: "What does the customer want here?" Then answer the question before you worry about technology.

⬆ this is number one. Followed by...

Engage with quality. I'd rather generate a quality conversation than quickly respond to 20 internet leads that never talk to me. Too often the customer's request is ignored for the dealer's process. I blame CRMs for this as the processes are a straight line of class 5 rapids, while the customer floats down the river meandering through bends of calm to class 2, 5, 3, 1, 3, 5, 1, 2 rapids. Both end up in the same ocean, but arriving in the same boat is important.

Email isn't dead. If a customer sends you a lead with only an email address, work them over email. You can ask them if they would like to transition to text and do that if they want to. You'll need a smooth texting solution like Podium's in order to avoid your own frustrations. Again, most CRM systems don't play well here.

I am seeing dealers achieve 90% open rates through email with over 80% response rates. These dealers take what @john.quinn said to heart. So, it is always about engaging with a quality response that is relevant to that customer.

 

[rickyfay]

I answered Internet inquiries for nine years. Send an email, followed by a text, include the fact that you emailed in the text and then a phone call. If you get voicemail, which you will, relay the fact you sent an email and text and ask which channel of communication they prefer.

 

[Marc Lavoie]

Before you go for fancier systems, make sure you find the right voice on your end: Help people with their questions and respect the channel they chose.

You should always reach out using the most channels and ask for the missing ones for sure, but don't push it too much.

You might be stuck chatting by yourself for a bit & next thing you know people show up in your showroom asking for you. Keep pushing information & value to your customers.

More complex CRMs should come only when you're stuck, but not before you find the right speech with your customers.