Text Us message conversion from Website and VDP?

[joe.pistell]

...a customer was at a nearby Hyundai store for 2 hours trying to obtain financing. She was browsing other sites on her phone, shot me a text, and is now MY customer.

#BAM WTG, great story!

Web-rooming is real, Mobile is NOW. Mobile leads during store hours are a manager's greatest opportunity (phone ups too).

 

[BHavican]

Fascinating info Bill. Do you get a transcript of the texts? My gut's thinking that maybe the Hyundai text performance could be from ppl fishing for finance answers. Transcripts will tell you a lot.

Speaking of finance, do any of the 3 OEM sites have payments on the VDPs? I'd think payments would be a catalyst to text.

Good stuff!
Joe


p.s. congrats on the move, hope it's an upgrade!

[edit] Just read Matt's reply, he finances 99% inhouse and he's liking the text feature! I'm doubling down on the Hyundai bet

​

Thanks, was a great upgrade! Couldn't be happier.

So I forgot to mention in the previous post that text leads we receive from Edmunds get placed in there as well. We answer all the texts in house using Carcode's tool and thus I do have transcripts of every conversation. Here's the breakdown:

5 Availability (Is this here? Can I test drive today?)
5 Price (Best price? How much you taking off 17 Sonatas?)
5 Edmunds PricePromise Leads (Help me unlock my certificate)
4 Finance (What do I need to drive away in a car? Do you work with bad credit?)
2 Payment (Lease quote?)
2 Nonsense (people just messing around)
1 Service question
1 Product info (Which engine in this one?)
1 That wanted us to know how awesome a salesperson was

We do display payments on both the SRP and VDP of all three sites.

Bill,

Would it be possible to see the VDP? I would like to see how you integrated the text widget on the sites. Also, are you incorporating your "text number" on 3rd party sites? Cars.com, AutoTrader... etc.

We do not incorporate the text number on third party sites right now and don't really have plans to do so. I guess we could put the number in our "Why buy" message or in the vehicle description that goes out in our inventory feed, but at this point I'd prefer not.

Attached are a couple screenshots of our store. At the prior dealership, when this post started, they had it incorporated as a "button" alongside other call to actions like "Check Availability," also attached.

 

[Rob McCartney]

We do not incorporate the text number on third party sites right now and don't really have plans to do so. I guess we could put the number in our "Why buy" message or in the vehicle description that goes out in our inventory feed, but at this point I'd prefer not.

Attached are a couple screenshots of our store. At the prior dealership, when this post started, they had it incorporated as a "button" alongside other call to actions like "Check Availability," also attached.

Bill,

Thanks for the screen shots.

This is something I've seriously considered putting into our new websites when we launch. However, I did want to integrate it number into our 3rd party inventory sites as it seems for us, leads coming from Cars.com seem to be some of the most timely responses. Ready to buy within the next few days, if not that day. So we if have a tool that actually lets us quickly communicate with our customers why not deploy it across the board. But I might be the only one with that opinion.

The big question on that front is the best way to get the number into the 3rd party sites that the consumer can actually find and use.

--rob

 

[BHavican]

Bill,

Thanks for the screen shots.

This is something I've seriously considered putting into our new websites when we launch. However, I did want to integrate it number into our 3rd party inventory sites as it seems for us, leads coming from Cars.com seem to be some of the most timely responses. Ready to buy within the next few days, if not that day. So we if have a tool that actually lets us quickly communicate with our customers why not deploy it across the board. But I might be the only one with that opinion.

The big question on that front is the best way to get the number into the 3rd party sites that the consumer can actually find and use.

--rob

I hear where you're coming from Rob. It's not that I don't want to give our prospects the opportunity to text, rather I don't see it's value as a "form." The only information I receive from a CarCode text is the message itself. The lead or message will not tell me what car or even what site really they're on; it's simply a texting tool. For example, one text we received asked "Does is this one a 2.0T Ultimate or 2.0T regular?" but I had no idea what car he was on so I had to dig further. For lead generation, I'd prefer that they have a traditional form that will allow the prospect to communicate more than 160 characters while also being able to gain more insight into the prospect by seeing where the lead came from.

That's not to say Carcode is useless or that we don't want to give our customers the opportunity to text. It's quite the opposite. I've found great success in using Carcode as a way to continue conversations with prospects, confirm sales appointments, and keep in touch with service customers.

Generally speaking, it's a best practice to get a customer to opt in to text with you and most CRMs such as Vinsolutions are defaulted to force that. Carcode is similar. If I want to text a prospect using Carcode I either have to have them initiate the conversation via text or send out an opt in message. What makes Carcode unique is it allows me to input a message in the opt in message. So you'll have your normal opt in message with a "Hi! Bill here from Pugi. Still planning on stopping in today at 1:15pm?" in that initial message as well. That's what I like best and find is most effective about the tool.

Long story short (too late) it's pretty good as a communication tool but I'm not a big fan of it as a lead generation tool or initial engagement or whatever term you want to use there.

 

[Rob McCartney]

I hear where you're coming from Rob. It's not that I don't want to give our prospects the opportunity to text, rather I don't see it's value as a "form." The only information I receive from a CarCode text is the message itself. The lead or message will not tell me what car or even what site really they're on; it's simply a texting tool. For example, one text we received asked "Does is this one a 2.0T Ultimate or 2.0T regular?" but I had no idea what car he was on so I had to dig further. For lead generation, I'd prefer that they have a traditional form that will allow the prospect to communicate more than 160 characters while also being able to gain more insight into the prospect by seeing where the lead came from.

Bill,

Ahh, I gotcha now. I guess for that reason is why I have been leaning toward TextUps (http://textups.com/how-it-works) since it looks like each car gets a code, so that you know specifically which vehicle they are looking at. This is what I was thinking for 3rd party websites with the picture overlay. Though, I'm not thrilled on how it looks on dealers VDP's pages, and I'm a bit of a bear cat when it comes to design, look and feel. I prefer minimal, clean and sleek.

--rob

 

[joe.pistell]

Great info Bill! TY

5 Availability (Is this here? Can I test drive today?)
5 Price (Best price? How much you taking off 17 Sonatas?)
5 Edmunds PricePromise Leads (Help me unlock my certificate)
4 Finance (What do I need to drive away in a car? Do you work with bad credit?)
2 Payment (Lease quote?)
2 Nonsense (people just messing around)
1 Service question
1 Product info (Which engine in this one?)
1 That wanted us to know how awesome a salesperson was

We do display payments on both the SRP and VDP of all three sites.

 

[Alexander Lau]

I hear where you're coming from Rob. It's not that I don't want to give our prospects the opportunity to text, rather I don't see it's value as a "form." The only information I receive from a CarCode text is the message itself. The lead or message will not tell me what car or even what site really they're on; it's simply a texting tool. For example, one text we received asked "Does is this one a 2.0T Ultimate or 2.0T regular?" but I had no idea what car he was on so I had to dig further. For lead generation, I'd prefer that they have a traditional form that will allow the prospect to communicate more than 160 characters while also being able to gain more insight into the prospect by seeing where the lead came from.

That's not to say Carcode is useless or that we don't want to give our customers the opportunity to text. It's quite the opposite. I've found great success in using Carcode as a way to continue conversations with prospects, confirm sales appointments, and keep in touch with service customers.

Generally speaking, it's a best practice to get a customer to opt in to text with you and most CRMs such as Vinsolutions are defaulted to force that. Carcode is similar. If I want to text a prospect using Carcode I either have to have them initiate the conversation via text or send out an opt in message. What makes Carcode unique is it allows me to input a message in the opt in message. So you'll have your normal opt in message with a "Hi! Bill here from Pugi. Still planning on stopping in today at 1:15pm?" in that initial message as well. That's what I like best and find is most effective about the tool.

Long story short (too late) it's pretty good as a communication tool but I'm not a big fan of it as a lead generation tool or initial engagement or whatever term you want to use there.

"The lead or message will not tell me what car or even what site really they're on; it's simply a texting tool."

To your point, the texting tools out there aren't where they need to be and are just far too generic. Sheesh, if you're using an embedded texting tool and it fails to differentiate between rooftop (child sites) websites pushing to a central repository or a single device, that's just sad.

For example, take a look at http://kellynissanofroute33.com/veh...225931277-FF87C39A-90B1-1C3A-54E415ADDC88F012 and then the Text Us option at the bottom of the page.

Why aren't the the vehicle variables / data passed into the Text Us form for BDC or Salesman communication ease (which car, cost range, color, body, trim, other options, etc.)? This would make the communication process smoother and give the dealer the ability to search similar cars with similar options and have them ready for the customer.

It's not really the dealer's fault, but the limitations of the vendor software offering. BTW, I presume CarCode has no form of a qualified autoresponder, look to https://www.conversica.com/how-it-works-persona-two-way-ai-conversations-go-beyond-autoresponders to help in this process. I've installed it in over 25 dealerships and it has drastically increased their closing rates.

 

[BHavican]

"The lead or message will not tell me what car or even what site really they're on; it's simply a texting tool."

To your point, the texting tools out there aren't where they need to be and are just far too generic. Sheesh, if you're using an embedded texting tool and it fails to differentiate between rooftop (child sites) websites pushing to a central repository or a single device, that's just sad.

You're right, they are too generic. I believe, right or wrong, the developers' intention was to keep it simple when shopping from a mobile device.

The example you showed is Carcode's tool. The only autoresponder they have is for off-hours. I guess if we wanted to get creative we could mark that we're always closed and change the autoresponder to something that Ava might say, but the conversation would stop after that one response.

In my opinion, I don't see a use for text on websites that use chat and have decent calls to action. When we eventually add a chat service, I'm not sure I'll keep the text widget on there. I'll test it of course because I'm curious to see which option our customers prefer, but for some of the reasons you mentioned Alexander I don't think I'll have the text tool on there.

I'll go back to what I mentioned in an early post. Adding a simple check box like "Would you prefer to be contacted via text?" on our traditional forms would give those few customers that prefer text the option to communicate that way. Chat for those that want immediate answers and text for those that prefer that medium.

 

[Alexander Lau]

You're right, they are too generic. I believe, right or wrong, the developers' intention was to keep it simple when shopping from a mobile device.

The example you showed is Carcode's tool. The only autoresponder they have is for off-hours. I guess if we wanted to get creative we could mark that we're always closed and change the autoresponder to something that Ava might say, but the conversation would stop after that one response.

In my opinion, I don't see a use for text on websites that use chat and have decent calls to action. When we eventually add a chat service, I'm not sure I'll keep the text widget on there. I'll test it of course because I'm curious to see which option our customers prefer, but for some of the reasons you mentioned Alexander I don't think I'll have the text tool on there.

I'll go back to what I mentioned in an early post. Adding a simple check box like "Would you prefer to be contacted via text?" on our traditional forms would give those few customers that prefer text the option to communicate that way. Chat for those that want immediate answers and text for those that prefer that medium.

Right, I'd play it by ear if I were you and it seems as if chat tools do a good enough job of garnering lead info for follow-up. I'm not really for or against on-site text applications. Applications which convert for one dealer, might not for another (there is no shiny red button). Obviously, it comes down to testing and finding the right vendor.

Another factor to consider is unobtrusiveness. I don't know how many sites I see with 15 widgets, bogging down load time and user experience.

As for plucking specific VDP or SRP data, it's next level stuff, but it will happen and you'll remember we talked about it here. Hey, Mr. Start Up or pre-existing vendors doing it incorrectly, real world issue from dealer.

 

[TomLaPointe]

The irony here is that though text is a 1p year old tech and you have to risk bounce by asking for phone number up front, it's rising now that crms have finally built in integration and opt in rules are a bit more clear for stores. Chat should start anonymous and has much more capability than text but it's like new car pix ... people want it even if it doesn't make perfect sense.

It still comes down to response and skill of operator to generate good lead info.