CNW Marketing/Research recently released the results of a two-year study on the effectiveness of the Internet as an automotive shopping tool. The report consists of the responses of 1.1 million people, 219,000 of whom are described as "heavy Web users."
Results show that approximately 41 percent of shoppers looking to purchase a new vehicle sent an e-mail inquiry to a car dealer requesting information but only 20 percent received a reply.
What does this mean to you? It means that too many dealerships who claim to be open for business "online" aren't. The e-mail inquiries in the study above were sent by shoppers seriously looking at purchasing a car, and they never heard from the dealerships they were considering doing business with.
These Internet customers aren't just "surfing" for entertainment or research. Today's online shoppers are Web-savvy consumers who have grown to expect results when they contact a business on the Internet.
We'll never know in dollar terms how much was at stake in not getting back to these prospective customers. But what we do know is that the dealerships that establish a system of answering e-mails in a prompt and timely manner will be the ones to win over the Internet shopper.
Answering e-mail is like answering the phone. One dealership I know of has a team of Internet sales people dedicated to shoppers using the Web. Each sales person has a pager and when an e-mail comes in, they are notified within seconds. Reply time is about 10 minutes. That's impressive. And I can confidently say that the prospective customer getting a reply back from the dealership within 10 minutes is much more likely to do business with that dealership than the ones that never responded.
Think Doing Business on The Internet And Via e-mail Is Too Impersonal?
The same CNW Marketing/Research study held seven new-vehicle focus groups across the country and found that 43 percent of the participants felt buying a car online was "too impersonal".
Surprising? It shouldn't be. Buying a car is a big financial decision for people. And most people want to purchase a car from someone they trust. Someone they can go back to if there's a problem. And someone they want to give their future business to and refer others to.
It's up to you to show your customers that your online program isn't "too impersonal". All it takes to establish that relationship is providing good customer service, just like you provide to your traditional shoppers that walk into your dealership. And go.
Blue Book Pricing on Dealership Web Sites
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 26 - Kelley Blue Book has announced PriceLink, a new service which enables auto dealers to provide new and used car pricing directly to consumers from the dealers' own Web sites. With PriceLink, dealers can provide their Internet shoppers with several options.
Dealers can show consumers how much their cars are worth with Blue Book trade-in values, as well as offer Blue Book suggested retail values for used cars they have for sale. Another option for dealers is to show new car prices, either just MSRP or invoice and MSRP.
Auto dealers have already begun to endorse PriceLink. Lee Miller, General Manager of Showcase Chevrolet, Westminster, CA states, "We believe our customers appreciate the service and are more trusting of Showcase Chevrolet because we suggest they be informed." Matt Wolchock, Internet Manager of Holman Auto Group, New Jersey and Florida added, "What a great tool to build customer confidence."
The service, which costs $500 a year, allows dealers to frame the pricing content of Kelley Blue Book's Web site, the most popular automotive site on the Internet. All advertisements and other services are removed.
"The consumer sees the Blue Book pricing they have come to trust, but the experience stays complete within the dealer's normal site navigation," said Stephen Henson, Director of Marketing and Business Development for Kelley Blue Book. "There's no chance of the consumer wandering off to other sites."
The Cobalt Group has partnered with Kelley Blue Book to offer the service for free to its dealer clients. "Internet sites that attract and retain the most customers are the ones that provide the most information, choice and control," said John Holt, Co-CEO of The Cobalt Group.