Best Practices - Vol. 1 | Issue 8 | October 2005

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 that 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 guarantee you have the OPPORTUNITY to do business, which is key to the strategy. Dealerships need to maximize on these opportunities.

Of primary importance is the goal. How many units do you want to sell? New, used, or a combination? Let's say for example that you want to sell 60 new units from 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 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 important to realize that just by having an ILM/CRM is not enough. Most dealers don't have a solid follow-up process in place. 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, objection/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.

Once the appointment is set, you have the ideal scenario to sell an automobile. You have a live prospect in front of you for whom you can do a product presentation, demo drive and close. That means that you have 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 consists of just three things. First, it is a matter of working hard on your leads. Second, 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.