Yep, that's the biggest problem we all face. Let's say we did find a way to get salespeople to actually interview a customer properly, the customer doesn't even know what got them in the door half the time.
If you're running a TV ad, radio spots, a newspaper ad, advertising on Cars.com, and doing Paid Search....and the dealership has a decent location that people pass in their normal driving routes. There could be a huge combination of things that got the customer in the door.
I talked to a customer who submitted a lead through Cars.com, worked with our Internet department for weeks, told me how much he liked the TV ads, but then said he just happened to be driving by and wanted to take a look at the car - then met a good salesperson and bought the car. How would you source that customer? Was it the combination of the Internet Department's work and the TV ad that got him think "oh yeah, there's Checkered Flag, let me stop by since I'm in the neighborhood", or was it truly a "location" thing that got him in the door? In this case you could make the argument that there was no point in having the Internet Department because he would have stopped by anyway......but what was the point of the TV ad too?
That's the long answer. The real answer is that anytime you have to count on a multitude of human factors, things will never be perfect.
