Digital Dealer Q&A
Dan Boismier
Internet Sales Manager
Al Serra Auto Plaza
Chevrolet, Buick, GMC
Flint, MI
- 25-30 units/month new unit Internet sales
- 5-10 units/month used unit Internet sales
Dan, what's your background in the car business?
I started off in 1996 at Jerome-Duncan Ford working with Internet customers, which at that time was revolutionary. I handled Sam's Club and the referral services. We developed a Web site and an Internet department. In 1998 I got a call from AutoByTel.com. They asked me if I wanted to work for them and I took them up on their proposition. I worked for AutoByTel for just a little over a year. I was traveling as a rep for AutoByTel, doing dealer development; my wife was pregnant and I wanted to be home more. I started discussions with a couple of dealers, but I decided to go with the Serra organization, because out of everybody I talked with, nobody had a bad thing to say about them. At that point, I decided to make the right move and I joined the Serra organization in June of last year. I've been in the Internet business for four years.
You're an old grizzled veteran. You're a graybeard.
I guess so.
How do you generate your leads?
We use three sources. One is referral sources such as Carpoint, AutoByTel and Autoweb.com. Our Web site is another source. We also have started using direct buying models such as carsdirect.com.
How do you generate traffic to your own site?
Everything that we put out, all communications with our customers and all advertising is going to include our Web site address. It's easy once it's set up and it's a simple enough philosophy. I'm sure a lot of dealers do this, but a lot of them don't. Everything that says Al Serra on it has our URL.
Approximately what percentage of your leads are from your Web site and what percentage from the services?
About 15% are from the Web site, 85% from the services.
Do you see any difference in the quality of the leads between the 15% that come in from your Web site and the 85% that come in from services?
Yes. The ones that come in from our Web site are usually more qualified. The reason being is, for the most part, they are more local. We're located in Flint. I get some leads from Ann Arbor or Lansing from the buying services, but the vast majority of the ones that I get on our Web site are from the Flint area. Because of that I would say they are more qualified.
Dan, take me through your sales process, from the moment that you receive a lead until the moment a vehicle is delivered.
Number one, everyone here is focused on this process. When we get requests from any Internet services or our Web site, we send out a response that is in template form, we just input the customer info.
An autoresponder?
No, we don't do an autoresponder. From that point the request is printed out and handed to a salesperson in the Internet department and we do a phone call within six hours, regardless of what the customer says, even just to leave a message. If we haven't gotten a hold of them by the second day, we send a reminder e-mail and then we do a second phone call. If we still haven't gotten a hold of them by the third day, we do a third phone call and if we haven't gotten a hold of them on that third phone call, we leave a message saying, "We appreciate the opportunity to earn your business, however, we have been unable to contact you. This will be our last message. If you do need to get a hold of us, you can get a hold of us at this number."
What about the ones who say, "I'm interested, I think I'd like to buy a car?"
At that point we find out what they want. Then we make sure we have what they want. At that point we offer them the price on the vehicle, whether it's price or payment they're looking for, and we set up for delivery. With any sale, though, certain things may come up with trade-in, with financing issues, different concerns, but basically we just identify what the customer wants, locate what they want and then give them what they want.
Dan, how has Al Serra Auto Plaza integrated the Internet department and the showroom sales force?
Our offices are on the showroom floor, because our philosophy is that the Internet is really supported by the new car sales force. Not necessarily supported in terms of equipment and stuff, but in a team atmosphere. There is strength versus the isolation of starting from scratch. Even though we run our own department, have our own forecasts, have our own budget, we wanted to be part of the sales force staff, because they can help us and we can help them. Also the momentum that is there on the showroom floor is important when people come in. We want them to be able to use new car sales managers. Just like any other customer, if you need to TO a deal on an Internet customer, you want to be able to do that. Another thing that we wanted to do with integrating the sales forces was to show the traditional salespeople that the Internet is here, it works, it's viable...
It's nothing to be afraid of...
Right, there is no reason to fear it. Realize that these customers are just like any other customers. We get a lot of customers through the Internet who have bought here before, and the salespeople get those requests directed right to them.
How do you make sure an Internet sales customer that is coming in to see you doesn't end spending time with a traditional salesperson, being sold traditionally, when they came in to close a deal with you?
Well, what we do is ask the customer to specifically ask for us by name. We have a pretty open relationship here. It doesn't mean it hasn't happened in the past where we had a customer come in and they've never gotten to our desk, but for the most part, we haven't had any problems.
Dan, what have been the biggest hurdles so far in getting this up and going the way you want it to?
I think the contact ratio has been the biggest hurdle for us. Just actually getting a hold of the customers over the phone.
After they've requested information?
Yes, after they've submitted a request. We're averaging right now about 65% contacts to inquiries. We want to get that percentage up. Another challenge has been integrating all of our referral services into a follow-up system. We've just started working with DealerKid so that we can follow-up with these customers a month, even two to three months down the road. We have all this data, but we weren't using it.
What are your sales projections? What do you legitimately think you'll be doing a year from now, new and used?
I think with these new business models for the car buying services that are coming out, we'll be up near 40 new per month. As for used, I'll be happy with 10 used car sales per month, used sales that are directly related to the Internet. We've known from our prior research we get customers who search on our web site and don't submit a request, but do come in and talk to regular salespeople.
What advice do you have for America's dealers regarding the Internet ?
You've got to get on the wave and ride it. With the Internet, there's always another wave coming too, so you always have a second chance to get on. For dealers who chose a "wait and see" approach to it, they still have that opportunity. I don't think it's ever too late to get into this game. Those who are waiting right now, what I'd say to them is, "Thanks for the customers."
