Like Mitch and Chad mention above - you want to have your own benchmarks. Especially when it comes to "internet" traffic / leads, because as I have witnessed, no 4 dealers measure it the same way. Some like to throw in phone calls from "internet" marketing channels into the mix while only counting the phone call that resulted in a sale. Making up for a 1 to 1 = 100% closing ratio, throwing off performance percentages.
With that being said, here are few initial performance measurements I consider.
You can sort of back yourself into these numbers.
JD Power studies show the average consumer visiting less than two dealerships before purchase. It seems to fluctuate yearly between 1.3 and 1.8. I personally rounded up to two – the average consumer visiting two dealerships before purchase.
Simple math equates to a 50% closing ratio.
When it comes to web form Internet leads, here's what I initially measure:
Lead to Show - I want to be a 30+ percent. For everyone hundred leads I received (non duplicate for 30 days) I want 30+ of these people to physically show up at my dealership
Honestly, this is a stat that a lot of dealerships aren't aware of. Due to inconsistencies of tracking methods across the showroom floor, a lot of times this that goes unmeasured or is consistently inaccurate.
Show to Close – referencing back to the JD Power stats, we know we should be closing 50% or greater of these shows.
100 leads
30 shows
15 sales
This is equates to a 15% lead to close ratio. Anything above this, I would say that you're performing at above average.
