Lead Tracking is Key to Internet Sales Success
By Mike Bowers
Tracking and managing Internet leads is as important for online sales as it is for traditional showroom business, maybe more so. Online leads are a valuable asset which quickly lose that value if they get passed to a salesperson who does not bother to follow up or responds with an e-mail that goes nowhere. Fast response is critical; so critical that many dealerships use pagers and Palm Pilots to help get e-mails answered quickly (some even round-the-clock). Fortunately for dealers, there is help to be had with this "fast-tracking," from the lead referral services, as well as others.
Carpoint's system
One example of a lead tracking system is Dealerpoint, the system unveiled by Microsoft's Carpoint at last year's NADA Convention. The system manages all Internet leads, whether they come from Carpoint, another referral service, or directly from the dealership's Web site. However, message quality depends on the format the referral service uses. Sometimes, according to Angie Brown, director of MSN Carpoint's Dealer Programs, a message may be only partially readable. Then someone has to go into the message and re-enter the information so it will be useable with Dealerpoint.
A prospect manager is one part of the program. After the consumer completes the information forms, the data comes to the dealership, along with a "snapshot" of the information that customer received. Each of these incoming e-mails is outfitted with a clock that turns red if 24 hours elapse and a response has not been initiated. Then, a user can choose from about a half dozen actions. They can choose from a variety of templates that help sales reps create e-mails that sell or fax, reassign, call, etc. If an action is initiated and no response is forthcoming, the e-mail activates again, with a "haven't-heard-back" tickler.
Dealerpoint also enables managers to see active and closed leads, once they have been assigned to salespeople. Salespeople, for their part, are equipped with computer filters so that their machines only show the leads to which they have been assigned. Many dealers use the paging option so salespeople can respond to leads swiftly.
Inventory management is another Dealerpoint option. Users can enhance vehicle listings with additional information. Some dealers also offer time-based discount vouchers, so that customers can use a coupon for, say $700, off the price listed on aging inventory.
Carpoint dealers get Dealerpoint free. According to Ms. Brown, 500-600 dealers use it, and those who do experience higher close ratios. Ten dealers that participated in before-and-after-Dealerpoint tracking found that their closing ratios doubled. She says dealer response has been very positive and notes that Ford and Honda have both licensed Dealerpoint so that all their dealers will be able to use it.
Autobytel's Dealer Real Time system
Autobytel's lead management system is called the Dealer Real Time System, and it comes as an integral part of the Autobytel approach to Internet selling. That approach combines no-haggle pricing, customer support, dealer training, and a network that makes Autobytel leads exclusive to dealers within predefined limits. Currently 3,200 dealers use Autobytel and pay a fee of about $150 per month for Dealer Real Time, according to Autobytel Chief Operating Officer Ann Delligatta.
According to her, the tracking system is similar to others, including Dealerpoint. It sets appointments, records conversations, and moves the consumer through the various stages of the buying process. The database it creates can be searched by customer name or phone number (or part of either). Reports can be organized by category of customer, contact time frame, etc. Paging is an option. The customer also has the option, if he hasn't heard from a dealer within 24 hours, of contacting an Autobytel customer service person.
The system is less adept than Dealerpoint at dealing with leads that originate from other sources, such as other referral services, for example. At present such leads have to be hand-entered into the Autobytel system. The same applies to those that originate from visits to the dealer's Web site. Delligatta says she doesn't know how many Autobytel dealers opt to use a more comprehensive contact management system. She says large dealers are more likely to do so.
An unaffiliated option
A new service, not affiliated with a buying service, is Web Control's Internet Sales Management, which has been offered for two months and has 17 dealers for customers. The system was created by Applied Virtual Vision in Columbus, Ohio, a Web site design and data management company.
Web Control manages Internet leads from all the major referral services, as well as e-mails from Web site visits. The cost for a single user in a store, such as an Internet manager, is about $100 per month, according to Philip Siefke, national sales manager.
Unlike the two previously mentioned tracking systems, Web Control can parse and filter all leads into a legible format so re-entering data is not necessary. The original e-mail is included, as well as its source. The system includes its own auto responder and pager, as well as merge codes and various templates to create "personalized" e-mail responses. Users then schedule upcoming actions and each lead has its own tickler window to remind the user of its status. A "wish list" is an additional field that prompts users to check inventory for a customer vehicle or something close.
Customer history and status go into an organizer, which is arranged like a file folder, with leads organized by status from prospect through sold. The system also has a futures folder and a file for lost sales so a dealer can track why sales were not made. The organizer displays a daily, weekly, and monthly planner with phone calls, appointments, and other details noted.
The Web Control system can also be integrated with the dealer's in-house computer system to see if Internet customers are being sold on the floor. Leads can be directed to various sales reps. Reports offer details such as closing ratios, gross profit by source, etc.
Mike Bowers is managing editor of WD&S Publishing, Metuchen, N.J. WD&S is a provider of information services for the automotive retail industry. Publications include Dealer's Edge, Warranty Dollars &Sense, Auto Retailing on the Web, The Parts Manager, and Fixed Coverage. mbowers@dealeronline.com
