Purely Digital Client Acquisition Tips, Vendor Perspective

[Vance Richmond]

For background, my step-father sells a patented tool, VOLT (Virtual Online Turn), which essentially is a lead capture tool that grabs leads from people already on your website, and these special leads convert at 4x the rate of normal 3rd party leads. He is well known in the industry throughout the south-east US, and has no problem getting in from of BDCs and pitching. He is in the process of becoming an approved Lithia vendor and this should really open the door of possibility.

Being Gen-Z and hate going to talk to people face to face (JK....), I recognize this method of client acquisition especially when it is only one person doing the selling is extremely time limited, and the growth potential of the business is capped. He spends most of his day just travelling to dealers to shake hands and kiss babies, and this leaves him with very limited time to pitch to new clients. We are very "anti hiring employees" because of the inherent liability that is associated, so our hands are a bit tied.

So what does this mean? Well, it means in order to maximize the possibility of this amazing tool, I must find a way to sell over the screen. In other industries, this is no problem and in fact the preferred B2B route. In our industry though, it is nearly impossible to get the emails of BDC positions I need to target. After doing my due diligence it seems like my best plan of action would be organic LinkedIn connections/messaging. Outside of this, I can't see how else I would be able to get in front of my target audience besides me going to the dealerships in person.

I am curious to hear if any of you guys have tips, thoughts, or insights that could help! Thanks

 

[Zack_AF]

2 options: Buy data or do the leg work required to gather emails.
Dealers displaying their staff emails can be hit and miss with some brands being more/less email friendly but I would not say it's nearly impossible.

Something to consider is that someone in BDC might be the ideal target but aren't necessarily the decision maker.
Management might be the decision maker but aren't always aware of the ins and outs of x/y/z department so you'll need to experiment.

I have a self-imposed no selling on Linkedin policy so I can't help you there other than to say it's likely better to establish connections and post things vs blast messages to everyone you connect with as that's the norm on there. Even if it does work, not my style.

 

[Vance Richmond]

2 options: Buy data or do the leg work required to gather emails.
Dealers displaying their staff emails can be hit and miss with some brands being more/less email friendly but I would not say it's nearly impossible.

Something to consider is that someone in BDC might be the ideal target but aren't necessarily the decision maker.
Management might be the decision maker but aren't always aware of the ins and outs of x/y/z department so you'll need to experiment.

I have a self-imposed no selling on Linkedin policy so I can't help you there other than to say it's likely better to establish connections and post things vs blast messages to everyone you connect with as that's the norm on there. Even if it does work, not my style.

Thanks for the feedback!

I've not got really any experience on LinkedIn so that is good to know.

 

[Chris Apostalides]

You need to get in front of GM's/Dealer Principals/Owners. 95% of BDC managers cannot make the decision to pull the trigger. Start from the top down, not the bottom up. If an owner or GM pushes you to a BDC director or marketing manager, great, tell that person the GM asked you to contact them to set up a call.

It's not an easy road (I live it).

You will be doing a lot of LinkedIn, emails, and phone calls.