- Dec 30, 2009
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Joe,
It doesn't have to be an obsession but at least having some internal data of what happens at your dealership so you can measure up against what the sales reps from the outside world bring to you.
New trend for Showroom Traffic vs. Internet Leads?
- Thread starter Ryan Pesin
- Start date
Joe,
It doesn't have to be an obsession but at least having some internal data of what happens at your dealership so you can measure up against what the sales reps from the outside world bring to you.
- Apr 29, 2011
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- Apr 1, 2012
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Dang... I was hoping to quote Joe's Handbook, and sound like the smart one...
I usually tell dealers to do a post sale survey like the one Joe suggests, and just enter it into Survey Monkey to get visual data from it. I like to see what % of customers used AutoTrader, Cars.com, My Website, Etc. Then make decisions off that rather than the last point of research. I also ask questions about what traditional and online media that customers use - also part of Joe's Survey.
The suggestion typically falls on deaf ears, but I think it's one that dealers need to do a couple times each year. Do it for a month every six months to see what's going on in the market.
The other data that I'm starting to look at is when my network is active. Rand Fishkin from Moz did a post about analyzing when his social network was active, and using that to make better posting decisions. You can do the same with your online advertising. Figure out what time of day, and what time of the month that your shoppers are most active. Then use that information to make better decisions on when which offer is used in which advertising. We've used this technique on Radio for decades, so it's not really new.
As for the original post, my dealers are seeing a lot more walk ins and phone calls, and less internet leads - especially on Craigslist. Sales continue to grow by leaps and bounds, as well as market share, so they aren't concerned at all. I'd love to see some of the BDC experts chime in to give their take on the matter. Maybe Joe Webb tracks his name, and will see this mention?
I usually tell dealers to do a post sale survey like the one Joe suggests, and just enter it into Survey Monkey to get visual data from it. I like to see what % of customers used AutoTrader, Cars.com, My Website, Etc. Then make decisions off that rather than the last point of research. I also ask questions about what traditional and online media that customers use - also part of Joe's Survey.
The suggestion typically falls on deaf ears, but I think it's one that dealers need to do a couple times each year. Do it for a month every six months to see what's going on in the market.
The other data that I'm starting to look at is when my network is active. Rand Fishkin from Moz did a post about analyzing when his social network was active, and using that to make better posting decisions. You can do the same with your online advertising. Figure out what time of day, and what time of the month that your shoppers are most active. Then use that information to make better decisions on when which offer is used in which advertising. We've used this technique on Radio for decades, so it's not really new.
As for the original post, my dealers are seeing a lot more walk ins and phone calls, and less internet leads - especially on Craigslist. Sales continue to grow by leaps and bounds, as well as market share, so they aren't concerned at all. I'd love to see some of the BDC experts chime in to give their take on the matter. Maybe Joe Webb tracks his name, and will see this mention?
My 2 random cents...
The only time I will contact a dealer is if the dealership is more than an hour away and I want confirmation the car is there before making the hike.
The only time I will contact a dealer is if the dealership is more than an hour away and I want confirmation the car is there before making the hike.
- May 1, 2005
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- Jeff
Sticking to the question at hand "Are we seeing a average drop in internet leads to consumers just walking into the dealership?"
As much as I love the post sales survey and would highly recommend each dealer put this into place (as it it can open your eyes and allow you to make smart decisions with you budget), I believe there are actions that lead up to the sale that even the consumer might not recognize. Different channels or segmented shopping paths could influence the customer showing up at that dealership (no lead or call before hand), that they're not aware of.
Many studies seem to be supporting this "trend". Of course companies like ATC are very supportive of these studies, no matter how loose or inconclusive the data could be, as it places a large gray area into the actual performance of classified website and it's relation to walk-in traffic. Which is difficult to track.
At the same time, most of these websites, especially ATC have done very little to increase the form lead conversion on their VDP.
I'm not fully discrediting these studies. Let's agree, most dealers in the past have NOT done a great job at responding to "internet leads" and most sales people are so bad on the phone they loose opportunities every time they pick up the phone. After years of the average consumer using the internet to research and shop for their next vehicle, they have realized that filling out the "Special Internet Price" form or calling the "Internet Department" on the website usually results in the same experience as just walking into the dealership.
So is it a possible trend? I'm sure it is.
According to Dataium, classified websites also have a positive impact on branding the dealership or at least keeping them at Top-Of-Mind during their shopping. This results in fat-fingered traffic and a significant increase in lead conversion once on the dealership website.
"Shoppers visiting Cars.com were also nearly 10 times more likely to submit a lead on a dealership site than those who did not visit Cars.com, and they did so within 48 hours on average – 4 times faster than the 8 days averaged by consumers who had not visited Cars.com."
I've attached a study from Dataium that also supports the significance of Classified websites such as ATC and Cars.com to sales opportunities.
Download
Dataium Study Rethinking
Online Media Attribution
Download
2013 POLK AutoTrader Group
Buyer Shopping Resources study
As much as I love the post sales survey and would highly recommend each dealer put this into place (as it it can open your eyes and allow you to make smart decisions with you budget), I believe there are actions that lead up to the sale that even the consumer might not recognize. Different channels or segmented shopping paths could influence the customer showing up at that dealership (no lead or call before hand), that they're not aware of.
Many studies seem to be supporting this "trend". Of course companies like ATC are very supportive of these studies, no matter how loose or inconclusive the data could be, as it places a large gray area into the actual performance of classified website and it's relation to walk-in traffic. Which is difficult to track.
At the same time, most of these websites, especially ATC have done very little to increase the form lead conversion on their VDP.
I'm not fully discrediting these studies. Let's agree, most dealers in the past have NOT done a great job at responding to "internet leads" and most sales people are so bad on the phone they loose opportunities every time they pick up the phone. After years of the average consumer using the internet to research and shop for their next vehicle, they have realized that filling out the "Special Internet Price" form or calling the "Internet Department" on the website usually results in the same experience as just walking into the dealership.
So is it a possible trend? I'm sure it is.
According to Dataium, classified websites also have a positive impact on branding the dealership or at least keeping them at Top-Of-Mind during their shopping. This results in fat-fingered traffic and a significant increase in lead conversion once on the dealership website.
"Dataium found that consumers who visited Cars.com were 70% more likely than those who had not visited the site to click on a map, review directions, or look for business hours on dealership websites – key “walk-in indicators” reflecting purchase intent."
"Shoppers visiting Cars.com were also nearly 10 times more likely to submit a lead on a dealership site than those who did not visit Cars.com, and they did so within 48 hours on average – 4 times faster than the 8 days averaged by consumers who had not visited Cars.com."
I've attached a study from Dataium that also supports the significance of Classified websites such as ATC and Cars.com to sales opportunities.
Download
Dataium Study Rethinking
Online Media Attribution
Download
2013 POLK AutoTrader Group
Buyer Shopping Resources study
- Feb 28, 2013
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- Ryan
Thank you for the input. Looking at the Autotrader Polk Study and the Dataium Cars.com study, it looks like there is a trend that lead volume is going down in terms of email/phone. The reason I asked the question, is because I measure my BDC in terms of their sales, but also the leads they receive in terms of Phone/Internet. If that is trending downward, then it could change how we measure our BDC.
I wanted to see if anyone else saw a trend like this and perhaps if there was a 5 year trend that was out there from one of the big data companies.
Much of the information provided and the story Yago provided from Auto News yesterday, certainly shows that there is a change taking place.
I wanted to see if anyone else saw a trend like this and perhaps if there was a 5 year trend that was out there from one of the big data companies.
Much of the information provided and the story Yago provided from Auto News yesterday, certainly shows that there is a change taking place.
We typically see a 10:1 ratio of phone calls to form leads...with many dealerships, we see upwards of 20:1. However, we all know a call doesn't equal a lead! If a dealer gets 10 phone calls, about 3 of those are actual sales prospects where the dealership has the opportunity to sell a car. When monitoring calls, we see (or hear) customers calling in to check on a stock number they saw online, understanding what the towing capacity is for certain truck models, etc.
- Apr 7, 2009
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Important observation by Neal. This is why its very dangerous to make business decisions based on what's happening at another store.
Uncle Joe Rule #211:
"Dealer's are like snowflakes, no two are the same"
- Apr 7, 2009
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In my case, I was helping my hyper-aggressive, very successful car dealer intelligently spend $2mill a year in tiny Syracuse NY.
Dealers marketing costs are around $500 PVR. If you don't make it your obsession, you'll never control the "ad spending discussion" at your store (i.e. GM says: "that damn CL sucks, pull it")
Because shoppers are so damn stealthy, we spend money and hope it sticks. A survey at delivery is the clearest picture of the battle field you'll ever see. But, beware, it's a "strategy report, not a tactics report". This means, if you ask your buyers questions that are too specific, your error rate will explode.
Example: My boss (Todd Caputo) always wanted to pull out of autotrader/cars.com. I showed him that 25% of ALL sales were at autotrader/cars.com prior to buying from us. This does NOT mean they came to us because of autotrader/cars.com, but, autotrader/cars.com was "in the path to his store".
So... If you pull out of a "strategic vendor" like autotrader/cars.com, you'll look at your sales volume and survey results for "before and after" stats to assess the impact to your marketing strategy.
- Apr 7, 2009
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