What the hell is going on here?
The title of this thread is 'Text Us message conversion from Website and VDP?'. The entire thread and many of these threads get derailed by talk of in-house transactions, sales process, lack of shopping carts and "Auto Marketing." If you want to talk that stuff, I'm all for it, but please start a new thread or ping old threads on the matter.
[USER=5464]@Chris Leslie[/USER], dude there is no pinning, LMAO. "Usability and sales have nothing to do with each other on dealer sites." Of course they do, whether we like it or not they are absolutely related, be it indirect (fine).
[USER=3505]@craigh[/USER] went and stole my thunder and I'm glad he did. "Usability of a website absolutely has an impact on sales." Not just for the reasons he's stated but even more. It builds trust and reputation. It allows a potential buyer to find the car they are looking for or something similar, before they walk in the showroom or on the lot. Neuromarketing is a field of marketing research that studies consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromarketing. Obviously, there are many reasons that bring in a car buyer to a dealership and I am under the impression it's generally a combination of both traditional and digital marketing reasons, which includes a positive website user experience, etc.
These days, it's important to have SSL on-site (not only for security, but for SEO and again it builds trust). Personally, I tend not to provide any of my credentials to 3rd party websites that lack SSL. There are a plethora of dealer websites without it. The lead provision can help facilitate an actual in the showroom / lot sale.
A rubbish user experience does what for a dealer exactly? A great UX does what (*see aforementioned positives)? When I see a shit dealer website, I turn and go to one of their competitors. IMO, the way a dealer represent themselves externally (site, marketing) usually coincides with the way they treat their employees and support their customers (not just during the purchase but through the entire cycle for trade-in, fixed ops, etc.). That's me as a car customer, not a marketer.
Yes, most cars aren't actually sold online (I get it), please read through all of the posts if you're going to call people out. "Of course there is no shopping cart, although leave it up to groups like Vroom.com, etc. and that might start to change (younger generations seem ok with it -- I don't know if that's smart in the long term, but it's surely gaining momentum) and if perceptions change, so will dealers (through on-site and on the lot / showroom sales strategies)."
There is no shiny, red button, out-of-the-box solution that solves the problems for each and every dealership. Test, test, test and test some more until you get it right for your specific target audience and that includes what [USER=3505]@craigh[/USER] listed. What works for a dealer in Seattle might not for a dealer in Miami and vice versa.
That said, you all bring up excellent points, IMO. I just think the threads get a bit derailed from time to time. Call me crazy. 
