What do customers want/expect from dealership web sites?

[bassador]

How does car sales and "salesmanship" differ between the UK and US? Obviously, the US culture is car obessed.... How about UK?

[demarnee]

sorry bassador .....been away on holiday and didn't see your message till today.
How are we different. Well, I guess to answer that properly would be to assume that I know more about your customers than I do. Car sales here are not quite the same - and a lot of that is due to the fact that cars appear more expensive here. People in general are not as passionate about the cars they buy. They are more a means to an end. Fuel prices are very high here, road tax is equally very high - and also insurance costs are high - so people have to consider all these things before they even think about what they want to drive. High volume franchises such as Ford and Vauxhall retain very little profit in their cars - but balance that by high volumes. Because of the competition - they know that if the potential client walks out of the showroom - then they will buy elsewhere - so they tend to hard sell. This creates a situation where people do not like going into deleships because they feel intimidated and pressured by the salesmen.So buying a new car becomes something to dread - rather than look forward to. I am of course talking generally. This is why I feel that selling cars online in the UK - is the perfect answer. No hassles, no intimidation, no confrontations - just free to browse and buy where and what you want. BUT - then we come up against the second problem - which is that the English are by nature rather sceptical. I am sure that time will negate this one. But unfortunately, the headlines are filled with dramatic stories of credit card details going astray - hackers - and all the gloom and doom that is asssociated with it. We will be lauching our e-commerce site in April - after I return from the convention in Vegas. It will be interesting to see whether the added security of the e-commerce site will make a difference to how people feel about buying on-line.

[andone]

The one thing for sure is that the consumer is doing theur research on independent third party sites.
They will also look at your site to see how professional your presence on the web is, and may even shoot over questions on a uni.
But as far as qualified purchase request for vehicles go, far and away, the aggregators of leads, i.e. autobytel, carsmart, carpoint, are the best way to turn leads into sales.
Dealerships web sites are a far distant second.

[tbrowder]

I completely disagree with you, Andone! From the responses I've seen you post, I'd say you work for a lead service!
I have found that the best customers are the one's you get from your website, by 100 to 1!
I've tried most of the lead providers and most are a complete waste of time. If you know something we don't know, then by all means share it with us.
If you'll spend as much money and time on your website, I guarantee you'll have better results and make more money!!!!

[SMaibor]

Customers are looking for a quick response time, inventory and a fair price.

Our Internet Sales meet or exceed the average gross for sales on the floor.

The biggest problem that I see at dealerships is not taking the Internet leads as seriously as floor/phone ups.

If the dealership got X number of people into the showroom, you can be sure that there would be bodies to handle them. When it comes to the Web, I hear from many dealers that they don't have the staff to handle incoming emails effectively.

I think that the instant response/collaboration tools available currently differentiate your website and please the customer.

[This message has been edited by jimmuntz (edited 05-16-2000).]

[Bill Stueckemann]

As I read thru the postings I noticed one item our customers indicate they want in a web site. That is an intragrated complete dealership experience. This is not only sales but service also. Our customers want to make appointments, see menu pricing and get estimates either from the web page or through prompt response. Keep in mind that there is a back end to each dealership that has customers too. Many times a good back end can generate sales of new vehicle also.

[andone]

Clearly the fact remains, that no one product is the entire answer for any dealerships e-business.
It is clear,however, that if you use a smaller lead provider, that does not have strong name branding, or portal positioning, as some of the previous mentioned providers, that you are indeed correct in saying"that they are not worth the paper they are written on." Another point to remember is that used cars only makes up 8% of the vehicles sold on the internet....not a great return!

Also published is a recent J.D. Power report"the manufacturer sites have been relegated to providing product information, and the independent third-party sites have dominated the purchase related internet functions. The report points out that online referral services provide the dealerships much MORE traffic.
J.D. Power also found a direct correlation between online sales volume and the amount of internet training dealership sales personnel receive. This tells you that you want to have good processes and procedures in place.

Your dealerships web site is only going to get a minimal percentage of the online buying public, as compared to the major lead providers. My question is; why not use the bigger lead generators...if you track leads, closing percentages, grosses, and compare what you spend, versus what your dealership receives in units sold and money made, you'll find, with the above mentioned training , that you will receive a genorous return when used in addition with a good, fuctional website.

[mlewis]

Adone makes some very good points. There is a direct correlation between online sales volume and the Internet training of dealership sales personnel. However, this training cannot be limited to only the Internet sales personnel, all sales personnel must be ready to handle the Internet car shopper when he/she visits the dealership. As mentioned previously in this forum, not all Internet car shoppers submit a request or e-mail a dealer; many gather information and come into a dealer's showroom armed with an arsenal of information. Sales personnel must be familiar with what is available on the Internet to car shoppers, and must be knowledgeable enough to professionally interact with these Internet car shoppers.