Can anybody help me out with a follow up system? Not a program like Webcontrol but an actual system that works...how many emails and calls before a lead is dead?...should you email first or call first then email? Obviously the faster you get to a customer the better...I use autoresponders but it seems like customers are starting to act like that isn't even a contact. It's rare that they respond to it. I have tried changing it around so it sounds fresh..but it still doesn't seem to be effective. Maybe I'm wrong. I am doing pretty well I guess(25-30 cars a month) But I would like and I think I can do more. I think the keep is follow up after the first contact but I'd like to know what other people have found to be an effective way to do that. Thanks.
Andy Patton
Internet Manager
autos@haltermans.com
Follow up system
5 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Follow up system
by markrouleau » Fri Oct 06, 2000 3:02 pm
1. Ditch the autoresponder. It's obviously not working for you. As you've no doubt discovered, most people don't consider an autoresponder to be a true contact.
2. Email and phone, whenever possible. Your initial email should serve as an introduction and set your agenda. Your followup phone call will let you get the detailed information you need to quote accurate prices, trade-in, and financing information. My goal for initial email is 15 minutes or less. My goal for initial phone contact is < 1 hour.
Of course, you are currently selling 4x the # of cars I am moving per month through internet sales, so maybe you should just keep doing what you are doing.
Mark Rouleau www.marinadodge.com
2. Email and phone, whenever possible. Your initial email should serve as an introduction and set your agenda. Your followup phone call will let you get the detailed information you need to quote accurate prices, trade-in, and financing information. My goal for initial email is 15 minutes or less. My goal for initial phone contact is < 1 hour.
Of course, you are currently selling 4x the # of cars I am moving per month through internet sales, so maybe you should just keep doing what you are doing.
Mark Rouleau www.marinadodge.com
- markrouleau
Follow up system
by PAULHAWK2 » Fri Oct 06, 2000 7:15 pm
Lead tracking is a very important tool not only for organizing your work, but tracking all traffic sold and unsold through their buying life cycle, thereby reducing the overall cost to the store in lead production.
Process is the key as you well know, without process, lead management, lead production and fancy web sites are a drain on the advertising budget and a waste of money, resulting in lay-down sales at best. With that said however, all of these factors point to short sighted planning focused on front-line sales only. What is needed is to structure a business plan encompassing the whole store, built on your current over all philosophy (better known as branding)
If you want real answers from people who have sold cars on the net, and help sell cars every day, please check out what Bryan Hitt (guest expert) has to say.
Happy selling!
Process is the key as you well know, without process, lead management, lead production and fancy web sites are a drain on the advertising budget and a waste of money, resulting in lay-down sales at best. With that said however, all of these factors point to short sighted planning focused on front-line sales only. What is needed is to structure a business plan encompassing the whole store, built on your current over all philosophy (better known as branding)
If you want real answers from people who have sold cars on the net, and help sell cars every day, please check out what Bryan Hitt (guest expert) has to say.
Happy selling!
- PAULHAWK2
Follow up system
by swindler » Sat Oct 07, 2000 1:39 pm
Andy,
Everything you have accomplished is definitely moving you and the dealership you work for in the right direction. I personally do not believe in autoresponders. I've never used them and I insist that the Internet sales team that I have created for our dealership stays away from them. Let your customer know that you are a real person on the other end of the cyber world that we live in.
To give you an example, what if you placed an inquiry with a dealership and soon after received an auto response from them. Not knowing that it was an auto response you are also looking at another vehicle they offer, and hence you submit another vehicle inquiry and lo-and-behold you get the same response. Wouldn't it make you feel like there's nobody really out there to respond to your inquiries?
We respond to each customer in a manner so that they know that we are really on the other end of the line. Our individually typed responses go back to our customers commenting on things like their unique email address; the vehicle that they have chosen; recommended articles to read on the vehicle they are interested in; and so forth. We usually respond back to the customer before they have a chance to log-off the Internet.
Remember, the key to being successful on the Internet is to serve each customer in a timely manner and to such a level that it overwhelms their expectations and remains "hassle free".
As far as a system goes, log and track your progress until you find what works best for you and your dealership. 73% of our customers prefer to do the majority of their Internet shopping by email. This figure is up from 59% 6 months ago. If you want to contact the customer by phone, ask their permission to do so. A good way to do this is to simply state in your reply that you would like to call upon them to review all the features and options available for the vehicle they have requested. Also state that you will be able to answer any questions or concerns that they may have concerning how the Internet process works. I would also mirror their responses. Short questions should be responded to with short answers. Long drawn out questions should be answered with long drawn out answers.
Try permission marketing within your replies. Invite your customers to visit your web site if they haven't as of yet, and give them something for doing so. Like a chance to win a 30,000 mile tune-up.
My only other suggestion would be to make sure that you don't lose sight of what you have. You have a new dealership that never closes. The lights are never turned off and the doors are never locked. There is no discrimination here. Everyone is welcome.
And remember, the customers first impression leads to the second. If each impression you give exceeds the last, you will always be a winner.
Keep up the good work, Andy. Hopefully you'll be at the AROW V conference in Orlando.
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
www.roweauburn.com
Everything you have accomplished is definitely moving you and the dealership you work for in the right direction. I personally do not believe in autoresponders. I've never used them and I insist that the Internet sales team that I have created for our dealership stays away from them. Let your customer know that you are a real person on the other end of the cyber world that we live in.
To give you an example, what if you placed an inquiry with a dealership and soon after received an auto response from them. Not knowing that it was an auto response you are also looking at another vehicle they offer, and hence you submit another vehicle inquiry and lo-and-behold you get the same response. Wouldn't it make you feel like there's nobody really out there to respond to your inquiries?
We respond to each customer in a manner so that they know that we are really on the other end of the line. Our individually typed responses go back to our customers commenting on things like their unique email address; the vehicle that they have chosen; recommended articles to read on the vehicle they are interested in; and so forth. We usually respond back to the customer before they have a chance to log-off the Internet.
Remember, the key to being successful on the Internet is to serve each customer in a timely manner and to such a level that it overwhelms their expectations and remains "hassle free".
As far as a system goes, log and track your progress until you find what works best for you and your dealership. 73% of our customers prefer to do the majority of their Internet shopping by email. This figure is up from 59% 6 months ago. If you want to contact the customer by phone, ask their permission to do so. A good way to do this is to simply state in your reply that you would like to call upon them to review all the features and options available for the vehicle they have requested. Also state that you will be able to answer any questions or concerns that they may have concerning how the Internet process works. I would also mirror their responses. Short questions should be responded to with short answers. Long drawn out questions should be answered with long drawn out answers.
Try permission marketing within your replies. Invite your customers to visit your web site if they haven't as of yet, and give them something for doing so. Like a chance to win a 30,000 mile tune-up.
My only other suggestion would be to make sure that you don't lose sight of what you have. You have a new dealership that never closes. The lights are never turned off and the doors are never locked. There is no discrimination here. Everyone is welcome.
And remember, the customers first impression leads to the second. If each impression you give exceeds the last, you will always be a winner.
Keep up the good work, Andy. Hopefully you'll be at the AROW V conference in Orlando.
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
www.roweauburn.com
[This message has been edited by swindler (edited 10-07-2000).]
- swindler
Follow up system
by doc » Thu Oct 26, 2000 11:15 am
I am an Internet Manager/webmaster for an Automotive Group with a Toyota, Lincoln-Mercury, and a recreational vehicle dealership. I am working with all three on different levels.
Follow up seems to be a confusing and open issue among many Internet Managers in the Auto Industry. I am a student of E-commerce and Internet Marketing, and web development. Through my research, and that of many credible sources, it has been found that Internet buyers have a far longer buying cycle than normal floor traffic.
The following are the results that I have based my follow up process on:
Time From First Request to Sale:
Same Day - 2.5%
1st Week - 31%
2nd Week - 15.4%
3rd Week - 8.2%
4th Week - 5.8%
5th week - 4.6%
6th week - 3.9%
7th week - 3.8%
8th week - 24.8%
* July/August Issue of "Front Line"
Based on this information it is my belief that a documented 8-week process is a must. It seems that customers either contact dealers when they are ready to buy to get there pricing and arrange delivery within a week or two of there purchase.
However most start 6 to 8 weeks sooner looking, planning, and sometimes driving their choice of vehicles. Some will contact dealers as soon as they get into the market with no plans on purchasing within the week. Only contacting to get more accurate pricing info. to base their decisions. Makes sense.
Some however will begin looking several weeks before they contact a dealer. They will wait until they are ready before making contact. Most dealerships only utilize and put effort for the first week of the receipt of the consumers request, which cover these types of customers. But what about the customers who wanted dealer info but are not ready or prepared to purchase. Since I know that most dealers do not follow leads that do not respond back or return calls, then these customers fall through the cracks and are potentially lost to competitors. Keeping in mind that consumers hate dealers and salespeople (much like yourself I assume) and do not want to talk until they are ready to buy.
Now that does not mean to tie you reps up with follow up on people from weeks ago. It can be made into a simple process.
It seems to be advantageous to be aggressive during the 1st and 8th week. So During the first week make every effort to contact the individual. Leave messages, send courtesy emails, and make follow up phone calls several times. After a few days of attempting to contact simply put them in an organized digital file in your lead management system. Make several files for this. One file for 2nd week responses, 3rd week responses, and so forth. After the first week of the lead and you have made every effort to contact the individual then place the digital contact card into a 2nd week response category. The following week simply pull all of your contacts that are in the 2nd week category and send them a courtesy letter outlining any new information, specials, and basically making them aware that you are still there and willing and able to help. Since you are placing a bunch of contacts in one category or file then you could send this message to everyone in that file at once. Just make sure you format the letter to be as personable as possible without looking like an auto response form letter. Play around until you can write something that you yourself wouldn't mind receiving if you were shopping.
After sending the letter then place every contact in the 3rd week response category or file, and so on.....
Every week you will send out 6 courtesy letters (one for each group) from the 2nd week to the 7th week people. This is all that really needs to be done and it is not that time consuming. Then just move each group of people to the next folder.
*If you have more time available I would even suggest making a quick follow call for each lead. However with allot of incoming fresh leads, this could be exhausting.
Now on the 8th week I suggest sending a personal letter and follow up with several phone attempts. Make sure that in your personal letter and/or prior letters that you let the consumer know that you would like to call them. Hopefully by this time you have had some form of actual contact and received permission.
Why would this be effective?
Well dead leads seem to be a big issue. When is someone dead and when have you followed up enough? Now with enough leads a month you could only concentrate only on the first week and second week buyers and put up 25+ cars. However, some dealerships (like Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Lincoln-Mercury, etc..) have a hard time getting allot of leads online. So we need to concentrate on every buyer to see those numbers.
As you progress your customers through your process some will drop off. Some will buy; some will remove themselves out of the, market, and some might not answer at all.
It is my opinion that if the customer has not bought, has not taken himself or herself out of the market, and has not contacted you in regards to canceling your follow-up attempts, the lead is active, NOT DEAD.
Every effort needs to be put in to capturing that business. By simply sending 6 group letters a week and making some additional calls and a couple emails (for our 8 week step) then you could capture another 5 to 15% of you initial month leads. By making simple weekly emails you are branding the individual with the dealership name and the rep to contact. When the customer is ready, and you have been contacting them for several weeks, the odds are they will give you the chance to earn their business. A chance is all you need.
After the first two months of this type of process, it would become a cycle. If you are selling 10 cars off of a hundred leads a month now, then the following month you could sell an additional 10 cars. Within two months you could be selling 20 to 30 cars off of only 100 leads per month simply by extending your follow up time.
I have experimented with this and seen excellent results. Unfortunately I did not get to fully implement this process within my dealership. I am no longer in charge of sells as my expertise is strong suited for Internet, Computers, and E-commerce marketing. So now I oversee the marketing aspects of our three dealerships, increasing website traffic and leads, email marketing, affiliations, and ultimately increasing sales. The behind the scenes guy.
However I would be more than happy to share what I have found to work and would love to assist anyone that is willing to convert to an 8-week process.
As I tried to explain to my old-school counterpart handling our sells now, the car sales industry has scarred most consumers (including myself) to the point in which most do not want to talk to people like us. Even if we aren't liars and cheats. It is all in their perception. But consumers are not stupid. The liars and cheats that sold them their car 10 to 15 years ago are now the managers running dealerships today. Those managers are now teaching the new salesmen coming into this Industry how to be a liar and cheat as well. (Consumer's perception)
Knowing this we have to embrace the consumer. Make every effort possible to make sure they know that you are not the same desk manager that made them spend an extra grand and ripped them off in F&I the last time they bought from your dealership. Putting forth the effort to help and assist, giving the perception that their satisfaction is more important than the sale, and generally, following and practicing the good customer service steps evident in every other retail industry other than ours. This will ultimately result in more sales, higher retention, increased referrals, and improved cs index ratings.
After all, the Internet Department of today is paving the way for the car dealership of tomorrow. We just have to weed out the rest of the bad apples still left that are making it so hard on us who are trying to make advancements within this Industry. As more and more people log on, toleration for such dealer trickery is becoming dwindling.
If there are any more questions in regards to my findings, you can email me.
Doc
Internet Administrator and Webmaster
llmwebmaster@parksflorida.com
Follow up seems to be a confusing and open issue among many Internet Managers in the Auto Industry. I am a student of E-commerce and Internet Marketing, and web development. Through my research, and that of many credible sources, it has been found that Internet buyers have a far longer buying cycle than normal floor traffic.
The following are the results that I have based my follow up process on:
Time From First Request to Sale:
Same Day - 2.5%
1st Week - 31%
2nd Week - 15.4%
3rd Week - 8.2%
4th Week - 5.8%
5th week - 4.6%
6th week - 3.9%
7th week - 3.8%
8th week - 24.8%
* July/August Issue of "Front Line"
Based on this information it is my belief that a documented 8-week process is a must. It seems that customers either contact dealers when they are ready to buy to get there pricing and arrange delivery within a week or two of there purchase.
However most start 6 to 8 weeks sooner looking, planning, and sometimes driving their choice of vehicles. Some will contact dealers as soon as they get into the market with no plans on purchasing within the week. Only contacting to get more accurate pricing info. to base their decisions. Makes sense.
Some however will begin looking several weeks before they contact a dealer. They will wait until they are ready before making contact. Most dealerships only utilize and put effort for the first week of the receipt of the consumers request, which cover these types of customers. But what about the customers who wanted dealer info but are not ready or prepared to purchase. Since I know that most dealers do not follow leads that do not respond back or return calls, then these customers fall through the cracks and are potentially lost to competitors. Keeping in mind that consumers hate dealers and salespeople (much like yourself I assume) and do not want to talk until they are ready to buy.
Now that does not mean to tie you reps up with follow up on people from weeks ago. It can be made into a simple process.
It seems to be advantageous to be aggressive during the 1st and 8th week. So During the first week make every effort to contact the individual. Leave messages, send courtesy emails, and make follow up phone calls several times. After a few days of attempting to contact simply put them in an organized digital file in your lead management system. Make several files for this. One file for 2nd week responses, 3rd week responses, and so forth. After the first week of the lead and you have made every effort to contact the individual then place the digital contact card into a 2nd week response category. The following week simply pull all of your contacts that are in the 2nd week category and send them a courtesy letter outlining any new information, specials, and basically making them aware that you are still there and willing and able to help. Since you are placing a bunch of contacts in one category or file then you could send this message to everyone in that file at once. Just make sure you format the letter to be as personable as possible without looking like an auto response form letter. Play around until you can write something that you yourself wouldn't mind receiving if you were shopping.
After sending the letter then place every contact in the 3rd week response category or file, and so on.....
Every week you will send out 6 courtesy letters (one for each group) from the 2nd week to the 7th week people. This is all that really needs to be done and it is not that time consuming. Then just move each group of people to the next folder.
*If you have more time available I would even suggest making a quick follow call for each lead. However with allot of incoming fresh leads, this could be exhausting.
Now on the 8th week I suggest sending a personal letter and follow up with several phone attempts. Make sure that in your personal letter and/or prior letters that you let the consumer know that you would like to call them. Hopefully by this time you have had some form of actual contact and received permission.
Why would this be effective?
Well dead leads seem to be a big issue. When is someone dead and when have you followed up enough? Now with enough leads a month you could only concentrate only on the first week and second week buyers and put up 25+ cars. However, some dealerships (like Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Lincoln-Mercury, etc..) have a hard time getting allot of leads online. So we need to concentrate on every buyer to see those numbers.
As you progress your customers through your process some will drop off. Some will buy; some will remove themselves out of the, market, and some might not answer at all.
It is my opinion that if the customer has not bought, has not taken himself or herself out of the market, and has not contacted you in regards to canceling your follow-up attempts, the lead is active, NOT DEAD.
Every effort needs to be put in to capturing that business. By simply sending 6 group letters a week and making some additional calls and a couple emails (for our 8 week step) then you could capture another 5 to 15% of you initial month leads. By making simple weekly emails you are branding the individual with the dealership name and the rep to contact. When the customer is ready, and you have been contacting them for several weeks, the odds are they will give you the chance to earn their business. A chance is all you need.
After the first two months of this type of process, it would become a cycle. If you are selling 10 cars off of a hundred leads a month now, then the following month you could sell an additional 10 cars. Within two months you could be selling 20 to 30 cars off of only 100 leads per month simply by extending your follow up time.
I have experimented with this and seen excellent results. Unfortunately I did not get to fully implement this process within my dealership. I am no longer in charge of sells as my expertise is strong suited for Internet, Computers, and E-commerce marketing. So now I oversee the marketing aspects of our three dealerships, increasing website traffic and leads, email marketing, affiliations, and ultimately increasing sales. The behind the scenes guy.
However I would be more than happy to share what I have found to work and would love to assist anyone that is willing to convert to an 8-week process.
As I tried to explain to my old-school counterpart handling our sells now, the car sales industry has scarred most consumers (including myself) to the point in which most do not want to talk to people like us. Even if we aren't liars and cheats. It is all in their perception. But consumers are not stupid. The liars and cheats that sold them their car 10 to 15 years ago are now the managers running dealerships today. Those managers are now teaching the new salesmen coming into this Industry how to be a liar and cheat as well. (Consumer's perception)
Knowing this we have to embrace the consumer. Make every effort possible to make sure they know that you are not the same desk manager that made them spend an extra grand and ripped them off in F&I the last time they bought from your dealership. Putting forth the effort to help and assist, giving the perception that their satisfaction is more important than the sale, and generally, following and practicing the good customer service steps evident in every other retail industry other than ours. This will ultimately result in more sales, higher retention, increased referrals, and improved cs index ratings.
After all, the Internet Department of today is paving the way for the car dealership of tomorrow. We just have to weed out the rest of the bad apples still left that are making it so hard on us who are trying to make advancements within this Industry. As more and more people log on, toleration for such dealer trickery is becoming dwindling.
If there are any more questions in regards to my findings, you can email me.
Doc
Internet Administrator and Webmaster
llmwebmaster@parksflorida.com
[This message has been edited by doc (edited 10-26-2000).]
- doc
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