OK, you are at the point where we were at one time and then I thought about it and decided this is a give and take situation. Contact at Once is the only chat I would consider and the reason is I need to see how my people are doing with the chats so I can help them fine tune. I get a copy of every transcript and quickly scan through them. When I see a chat that is very long or I see one of my guys who consistantly has very long chats I call them in for a one on one. We talk about the purpose of the chat. The customer likes it because it gives them the opportunity to keep you from pressuring them into anything so their goal is to get their information and close the chat. If you let them lead you it will result in failure every time. Take control. For starters always give them your name and ask for their name early in the chat. Use there first name to make it more personal. Contact at once allows you to custom create statements so I have created some very easy ones. I hate to give up too many trade secrets but here is one of them.
I.E. A customer asks you if the car is still available: I will be happy to get that information for you Jim. Since we are a large volume dealer our inventory changes several times a day so the only way I can be sure the car is still here is to check the lot and call you right back. Please give me your name and the best number to call you and an email address so I can send you a picture of the car. I will have you an answer within 15 minutes. By the way my name is Joe Smith and my personal cell phone number is 555-555-1212 so in case we have trouble connecting please call me directly.
If they dump the chat at this point you either had another dealer or you probably had someone who is just kicking tires or possibly a kid. If they were a serious buyer they want the information and they are willing to take the next step to get it. Many of the longer chats are where you make the mistake of letting them know that you can pull up all the records on the car from your computer. This is the kiss of death! Instead let them know that we keep folders on all our cars and if you will give me your name, phone number, and email address I will get the folder and call you right back. We do, by the way, keep folders on our cars with carfax, service history, etc...
Make sure you have the business card pull down on your site. Before we did this we didn't get near as many chats. People like to see a picture of who they are chatting with. I know it sounds crazy but trust me it works!
By the way. The chat is not designed to set appointments. You have to convert them to a phone call for that. Setting appointments with chat is kind of like giving someone a haircut over the phone. You won't like the results!
BMW Bird Man at your service.
