With the tremendous amount of money being invested in advertising each year, you need to ask the question: Am I closing an acceptable percentage of my prospects? Incremental increases in closing ratio always makes a dramatic impact on bottom line.
Today, buyers are spending more time making a purchasing decision. Armed with more product and cost information than ever, consumers are willing to shop your dealership against the competition. According to NADA statistics, 87% of car buyers visit at least two dealerships before making a purchase.
Aside from price, what kind of impression is your dealership and staff leaving with the customer? With brand loyalty fading, the quality of the relationship that you need to foster with a prospect has never been more important. You have already spent the money to attract potential customers to your dealership; what are you doing for the large number of prospects that leave your dealership without buying a vehicle?
Investing in prospect follow-up is one of the best decisions that a dealer can make. Knowing why a prospect didn't buy a car from you can be more important than knowing the satisfaction index of the one who did. Unfortunately, prospect information isn't something that manufacturers normally provide to their dealers. Yet timely information on where the prospect is in the buying cycle and determining what factors are involved in making that sale is extremely valuable. In the absence of useful information from the manufacturer, how does a dealer go about gathering data on his or her prospective customers?
One proven approach is to send a thoughtful gift with a personalized letter from the owner and a questionnaire on the shopping experience. When this package is sent within 24 hours of the prospect visiting the dealership, you are letting the customers know that you care about them and want to earn their business. This gesture can be the deciding factor when they are comparing your dealership against the competition.
The information you will receive from the questionnaires will allow you to determine what you need to do to close the sale. It will also give you an accurate picture of how your sales staff is performing. You can act on this information and make positive changes that will allow you to increase your closing ratio. Compiling this information in your Business Development Center will eventually give you an understanding of your market like you've never had before. (For more information on Business Development Centers, see Forrest Scott's article on page 34
Maintaining a high level of relationship marketing with your prospects requires your dedication to leveraging your advertising expense. To take advantage of the competition, you should be willing to try different ideas to attract the customers who visited your dealership and left without purchasing and are still shopping around. Your return on investment with a prospect follow-up program can immediately pay for itself with increased sales.
The majority of dealers nationwide make a significant investment to attract prospects to their dealership, yet leave the follow-up on unsold prospects to a phone call from a salesperson. Unsold prospects are a "gold mine" of opportunity to tap into. Establishing a follow-up system keeps your name in front of the prospect. Not only should you thank them for visiting your dealership, you should let them know you want to earn their business now and in the future, and find out why they didn't buy from you on their first visit. Proactive relationship marketing with your prospects will separate you from the competition and improve your bottom line.
Grant Dunning is President of the OCT Group, a relationship marketing company working with dealerships in all 50 states and Canada since 1986. If you have specific questions or require more information about this subject, please check the appropriate box on the reader response form on page 3 .