Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Sign-up Now

Building value for the highly informed shopper - Part 4

We have been talking a lot lately about this highly researched shopper - that a typical prospect is now spending 11+ hours of online research before we ever see or hear from them. If they have done a lot of research and landed at your place we need to respect that hard work that they have already done - not disregard it and try to force them into our traditional buying process. We see shoppers eliminate the vehicles/ brands/ dealerships they are not interested in before they contact anyone. This is good for you when they do initiate contact but you have to be better prepared because:

  • Shoppers self-qualify to budget/models/features online before they contact anyone.
  • Shoppers expect that you will know as much about your own inventory as they can easily get from your website.
  • Shoppers expect that you will be responsive to the research they have done and add value in the buying decisions/activities they can't do online.
  • Shoppers who use a mobile device to view your car online are more likely to hit the "click to dial" button than try to type out a question into their mini screen. This means that the quality of incoming phone opportunities has also increased.

So how does this change your daily work plan?

  • We need to know our inventory. Walk the lot. Where is it? How is it equipped? What sold? What came in?
  • We need to be ready to take calls professionally. The caller has already spent 11+ hours of research before they dial!
  • We need to have our own website on screen when taking an incoming call so we can ask: "Is that a vehicle you saw on our website? Are you still on the webpage? Ok let's review it together".

If your dealership has a call tracking program in place then the source of the incoming call is known. We have reviewed countless recordings of incoming calls through call tracking programs. It is shocking how poorly prepared some salespeople are when they take that incoming call. Contrast that with the well prepared sales consultant that takes control of the incoming call with positive leadership, knows their inventory, builds value in their service, and obtains an appointment to show the vehicle. There is a huge difference in approach and not surprisingly, a huge difference in results. Which group do you want to be in?     

Interested in more discussion around internet leads, internet sales process, and customer expectations? We have a FREE 8 segment discussion video series available now: "The Real Internet Sales Flow - Selling Cars by connecting the digital dots". 

Want to be included for this free resource? Click here for a 30 second signup.