As always, you’re too kind, Joe. But I’ll bite. Ha. You hit on a lot of the most important points about doing business from a long distance. I’ll try to be succinct on a couple of key points.
1. If it could be studied, you would find a direct correlation between the amount of friction a dealer allows and how far away they can successfully do business.
2. No matter where a customer is shopping, they need to now your willingness to conduct business at long distances. While we did a good amount of business an hour or more even before, once we added “We Ship Nationwide” to our overlay that business skyrocketed and we started delivering to the farthest regions across the U.S. We are in Missouri and we delivered to California, Florida, New York, and Washington. Plug: We used AutoSled.
3. Putting “We Ship Nationwide” didn’t just increase our business states away. It also increased our 1 to 2 hour visits to the store. Saying you’ll ship nationwide also communicates a willingness to be transparent and do most, if not all, of the transaction online. It communicates that we aren’t likely to be a dealer that starts with “When can you be here?”
4. Demonstrating a willingness to do business long distance is not enough. It has to be built into your process. You have to be willing to get into the trade, provide payment options, etc. You need to give your staff the autonomy to work these transactions online. I suggest that the farther the customer is away the faster these things should be brought up. As a matter of fact, the farther away they are the quicker you should bring these items up BEFORE they do. The farther away they are the faster you should say the words, “No worries. We do this all the time.”
5. I also suggest bringing up items like a walk around of the car before they do. Pro tip on used cars: 1. Don’t just do a walk-around. Tell them you will drive the car for them. Take a picture of yourself somewhere that it’s obvious that you drove it. Don’t just tell them you did; show them you did. 2. Find SOMETHING wrong with the car. Even the tiniest rock chip or scuff. This shows them how far you are willing to go to be transparent. It also gives them comfort that there aren’t any major hidden issues. If you’re wiling to show them the rock chip, you’d be willing to show them the bigger damage.
6. You have to have frictionless online shopping tools. While I don’t believe a digital retain tool is necessary, you can’t just have trade in lead forms. You have to have a useable trade tool. You also have to have a frictionless payment calculator. No lead gates until the end. Anything that stops them from completing their goals doesn’t match up with the experience they expect for being able to shop remotely.
7. Lead response times are paramount with long distance shoppers. And not just the first message. All of them. If you are slow to respond BEFORE the sale, how quickly will you respond to problems AFTER the sale.
8. I believe being willing to text is paramount. I think customers are much more comfortable texting a dealer that they know nothing about.
9. Your reviews better be good. Customers know the majority of your reviews will be from more local business. If you suck at helping local customers, they know you won’t be good at serving long distance customers. Also, make sure you ask for reviews from the customers you serve remotely. Customers shopping from a long distance will be searching for reviews from other long distance shoppers. Key things they will be looking for are after the sale items. They can write a glowing review, but if they mention even the slightest note about paperwork issues or suggest something didn’t get fixed on the car you might be in trouble.
