Many dealers think that all they need is a computer and some leads and they can be successful selling cars online. They need to have much more than that. They also need to have a strategy. Meaning, they need to have a goal and then draw a roadmap to the goal.

Just because you have leads from your website, from the manufacturer, Carsdirect.com, Autos.com or any other place doesn’t mean your dealership is guaranteed success. Leads guarantees you have the OPPORTUNITY to do business which is the first step of the strategy. Dealerships need to maximize on these opportunities.

First of all is the goal…how many units do you want to sell? New, used, or combination? Lets say for example that you want to sell 60 new units out of the Internet department. You would need to generate or purchase 400 leads to close 60 units at a 15% closing ratio, 600 leads at a 10% closing ratio etc…

Once you have 400 hundred leads you will need to manage that data somewhere. A lead management system or customer relationship management system is vital to your success. It is also very important to realize that just by having an ILM / CRM is not enough either. Most dealers don’t have a solid follow-up process in place. It is important to keep in mind that the average buying cycle for Internet shoppers is over 65 days. If you are following up for only 1-2 weeks you are leaving serious money on the table.

You will need to set up the ILM/CRM properly with ALL of the right email scripts, phone scripts, word tracts, objections / rebuttals. As you create your scripts you need to consider the science of communication:

• 55% of communication is conveyed through visual perception and body language.


• 38% of communication comes from the inflection of your tone and auditory stimulation.


• And ONLY 7% of communication is conveyed through the words we use…text for example.
  

Think about this for a moment. If your primary engagement tactic is to send email after email then your influence on your prospect through the words you use is only 7%. Ultimately your goal should be to send an email that escalates to a phone call.

Once you have the prospect on the phone you need to have a solid strategy on how to captivate them enough to commit to an appointment. You need to prepare for every possible question. You should have a complete mental archive of prospect objections and rebuttals that are designed to set an appointment.

Now that you have been successful in setting the appointment You have the ideal scenario to sell an automobile. You have a live prospect in front of you that you can do a product presentation, demo drive and close. That means someone you can sell… yourself, your product and your dealership with the most powerful method of communication.

Once you have your strategy mapped to your goal, success is just three things.  It is a matter of working hard on your leads. You must also work smartly through effective communication. And finally, be consistent by utilizing the follow-up process set up in your CRM/ILM tool.