• Stop being a LURKER - join our dealer community and get involved. Sign up and start a conversation.

Leads or Ups?

Alex,

Great question. My initial response (and how I voted) would be for more floor ups. I would cite a recent study by DMEautomotive that found "68% of car buyers visit two dealerships or less – and only 15% visit four or more – before buying" as the reason for my belief and vote. It's a study I encourage the DealerRefresh community to read.

DMEautomotive Study

By the time most folks walk through your showroom doors, there's a very, very strong likelihood they're purchase from you. I don't believe this is the case (at this time) with Internet leads, especially those coming from 3rd party lead providers. I look forward to the day when "digital retailing" is commonplace within our industry; a day when many of the folks who visit the showroom are there to take delivery of a vehicle they already purchased online.

On the topic of 3rd party lead providers, their effectiveness (read ROI) should absolutely be an area of focus and examination for all dealerships.

Respectfully,

Ben Koller
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
My vote was for floor ups. The more floor ups that I have means my merchandising is great across all internet channels. Everyone is an internet customer these days even if they did not submit a lead. Sometimes we focus too much on the 2% lead form conversions and forget how figuring out what the other 98% of our visitors are doing. They're most likely walking though our front doors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Not enough results to draw any conclusions from this poll as of yet, but since Floor Ups is leading....

Are most Internet managers compensated on either the procurement of leads and/or the handling of those leads? Assuming yes... If we prefer Floor traffic why do we pay the person in charge or our online presence to drive in a different direction?*




*Yes, I will argue the push for lead conversions is negatively effecting your floor traffic.
 
Alex - I would also vote for floor ups and argue that the position of "Internet Manager" is outdated - we should have a Marketing plan which includes traditional and digital working in concert to produce as many opportunities for the entire dealership.

One of my former colleagues put it best when he illustrated the various types of activities which can produce sales in any given day - Floor Ups, Phone Ups, Internet Ups, Service Drive Ups, Equity Mining Ups, and Owner/Repeat/Referral Ups. Given that there is a finite amount of time in the day, we gravitate toward those opportunities with a higher probability of producing a sale, and in the end, Internet Ups fall to the bottom of that list...

Fewer, more qualified internet ups I always say :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
Alex - I would also vote for floor ups and argue that the position of "Internet Manager" is outdated - we should have a Marketing plan which includes traditional and digital working in concert to produce as many opportunities for the entire dealership.

One of my former colleagues put it best when he illustrated the various types of activities which can produce sales in any given day - Floor Ups, Phone Ups, Internet Ups, Service Drive Ups, Equity Mining Ups, and Owner/Repeat/Referral Ups. Given that there is a finite amount of time in the day, we gravitate toward those opportunities with a higher probability of producing a sale, and in the end, Internet Ups fall to the bottom of that list...

Fewer, more qualified internet ups I always say :)


I'm going to go tell our Internet Manager that he is outdated now.
 
I'm going to go tell our Internet Manager that he is outdated now.

I doubt he's outdated, but the pay plan you've set for him could be. Pay plans should align to the direction of the organization and I assume your dealership is looking to make more money. How do you make more money?

I suggest considering your service department and the customer who may be looking for more out of website than just "send me your personal information so I can spam you to death." These people are harder to see, but if you change a pay plan to take those website visitors into account you may find your Internet manager becomes Emmett Brown. And your profits rise.