3rd party lead providers

[mjacobs]

Do you think 3rd party lead providers, like Auto-By-Tel.com and the like, are worth the money they charge for the leads?

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[bwaxman]

3rd part lead providers are not a bad thing, but i've learned to work your home site. with the lead generators you are not an individual-you're just there. which, true, this is typically what people want on the net. they don't want to deal with a "someone", they want to deal with the black and white. at least make it different, fun, and easy. it helps keep the visitor in your site longer. the services get expensive. after learning the power of metatags, i went from a low 10% closing ratio with the services(spending over $2000 per month) to over 35% closing on my own site(just over $500 per month). make sure your site has the ability to research and track your hits. if they can be broken down to page and geography, you can change up your metatags according to where your greatest traffic is coming from. also, take heed to these tips:
1)BE PATIENT AND UNDERSTANDING-e-shoppers take time. usually, my deals take around 1 month to fruit.
2)STICK TO YOUR TRUEST AND LOWEST PRICE UP FRONT!!!!! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE COMPETITIVE IN YOUR MARKET!!! what you think might be a GREAT deal may be killing you. use your department to move volume.
3)MOST IMPORTANTLY-REPLY BACK IMMEDIATELY!!!i used to think that just because everyone mentions this, it's more a fad and standard...it works!! it shows you want to earn peoples' business faster than anyone else. not to mention, it's kind of "cool" for the customer that there actually is someone on the other end waiting to serve you. auto responders are great, but they are not personal. be personal. get them the answers they are looking for up front. give them MSRP, invoice, their price, and offer to fax them the invoice. EDUCATE THEM!!!
4)be familiar with the various sites out there that your customers have already gone to. e shoppers think they know more than you(sometimes they do...don't fool yourself. if they do-ADMIT IT! stroke the egos). if they see you already know(especially verbatim) what they have in their hand off the printer, you can even the field. they usually respect that. play on THEIR level, not yours.
5)change your site often-specials, coupons, splash pages, etc...
6)offer something extra and go beyond just the sale price and deal- CREATE VALUE WITH YOUR DEALERSHIP-new car owner clinics(reminders via email), free oil changes, etc...
7)KEEP READING THESE FORUMS AND OTHERS, AS WELL AS READ AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TO LEARN THE INS AND OUTS..keep an open mind and don't be scared to try different things. ask and listen to your customers for comments and suggestions. make sure your web-address is on ALL dealer paperwork, cards, ads, invoices, etc...

8)don't get down over lost deals- they're probably just on hold-be patient. be sure you have the authority to make the heat decisions on pricing. do NOT go back and forth with your manager.

good luck

[hewlett]

We were signed up with Autoweb.com and everything was going just rosey (lots of leads, good closing ratio) then we get this letter from TXDOT saying that Autoweb may be in violation of Texas' Brokering laws. Well that's just great - we finally get a referral service that produces quality leads and now it may be illegal to use it. Autoweb is trying to switch to the more standard monthly contract vs the per prospect charge we were paying. If they do this they will be just as expensive as the Autobytels and Carpoints. Why must these services be so pricey? - Especially when you are just one of a multitude of dealers who suscribe to these mega-mall sites.