Welcome, Joe, and congrats!
First and foremost, I would recommend establishing a time frame with the GM/dealer. Determine what their expectations are of you as far as moving the needle because that makes a big difference in how you proceed. They will, of course, say that they want results now, but you'll want to show them that there are things you can do to have an immediate impact but that will have less of an effect long term (3-6 months) than other activities.
Once you can establish if you're under the gun immediately or if you have some time to ramp up appropriately, it will be much easier to answer your question. Regardless of which way they want you to go, you'll need to do an analysis. Where is money being spent? Where are efforts being made? What effects are they all having on your bottom line?
It sounds as if you're being graded on sales that come in through digital leads rather than the store's overall sales or anything that comes in on the phone. If that's the case, then you're correct in looking for more leads. I could write a pretty long blog post about how an internet manager should be graded on overall store sales, but that's not for here.
Someone is sure to chime in about process and that's important in my books as well, but given your lead volume I couldn't imagine that you're not able to follow up in a timely manner with everyone. Still, an aggressive yet helpful approach is in order here. You don't have the lead volume to waste any of them.
Back to the leads. If you need an instant boost, buying leads (as much as I'm against it) may be your best option. Also, Jeff didn't plant me here to mention it but Hook Logic (and for the sake of fairness, Showroom Magnet and Intice) can help to increase your leads. They give your website visitors a valid reason to fill out a lead form. With so many people either calling or coming in without contacting the dealership, these services will turn them from being logged as a walk-in or drive-by and get them onto your lead sheet.
Again, congrats and I hope you'll get a time frame from your dealer. This will help to get a more thorough answer from me and the rest of the community.
