New survey results suggest more than one-third of all leads aren’t being answered quickly enough. Here’s how to fix it
Executive Director – Dealer Michael Holmes talks about opportunities for dealers
It’s a time like few others in the automotive retail world; new car stocking issues are colliding with unprecedented demand, while the spectre of inflation, higher fuel prices and interest rate increases is looming large on the horizon.
Add to that the thorny issue of staff retention, and it’s a tough time to be a car retailer.
With all this considered, it’s perhaps understandable that a proportion of enquiry can slip through the keeper and go unactioned – but recent research from carsales shows that the issue is on the rise.
From 32,000 survey respondents over the last 12 months, it’s been revealed that 34 per cent of customers hadn’t received a response to their enquiry within the first 24 hours, while 43 per cent of customers told carsales that they are still in the market for a car after 14 days of their initial enquiry.
Whichever way you look at it, that’s a significant volume of enquiry – and potential conversion opportunities – that are being left on the table.
Not only that, opportunities to replenish used car stocks quickly and affordably are also being missed.
Thankfully, there are a few simple methods that can be shared with sales teams to ensure that leads can turn into sales more easily.
Email and EDM templates
If your dealership subscribes to AutoGate Pro, it’s possible to create a variety of email templates that can be sent quickly and easily to customers, right from within the enquiry.
The email can be as simple as a note from the sales manager thanking the enquirer, or as involved as offering a tailored finance solution.
Bulk email sends can also be facilitated within AutoGate Pro. Running a report that targets enquiries received in a particular time frame or budget range, can lead to a promotional email send that directly benefits that band of potential customers.
Automating lead time management with AutoGate Pro
Within Autogate, it’s possible for a sales manager to filter leads with individual team members on a regular basis.
A tool within AutoGate PRO also allows managers to set rules around prospects that if a lead is unviewed or unactioned (not allocated) within a set time frame, which can then trigger a notification for further action by a sales manager.
After hours enquiries
The research also revealed that 34 per cent of leads are sent outside of regular business hours and that respondents overwhelmingly favour a response in the same medium that they sent the initial enquiry (i.e. returning a text or responding to an email).
The SMS Auto Response tool can help to ensure that customers are acknowledged by both email and phone, giving you business multiple avenues to make contact.
In addition, dealers could also look to implement a roster system within a team, to monitor enquiry in real-time for a selected few hours after close of business.
Having sales staff available in those post-business hours can be the difference between grabbing that sale and seeing your prospect slip away.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT AUTOGATE PRO and SMS AUTO RESPONSE HERE
