Why Are Auto Dealerships So Concerned with Internet Leads? I see this all the time; management is looking at Internet Lead close rates with a microscope. They fret and worry about the automotive internet closing rate on Internet leads; I heard recently that there is no such thing as a bad Internet lead. My response is they are all internet leads are bad except a small percent that will buy. We must dig through the Internet leads over and over trying to contact the customer.
Are There Bad Internet Leads? For twenty plus years I have seen a consistent +/-10% close ratio on Internet leads. Some brands seem to specialize in sending bad leads to the dealers by creating an internet lead every time a customer checks their account balance, while other brands will buy any lead even if it was created at an amusement park or mall with people trying to win a hat or bag and send these bogus leads to their dealers. I am not saying we should not take Internet Leads seriously; I have made my living for 20+ years working with Internet leads when no one else would.
“Why do we focus so much of our time and effort on trying to find a new customer who is shopping everyone, that we hope will somehow stop shopping and buy from us?”
What Auto Leads Have The Best Close Ratio? Let us look at the automotive sales process from a different direction: What leads have the highest close rate? Here is my close rate chart based on years of experience.
- Internet Leads +/- 10%
- Phone & Chat Leads +/- 20-25%
- Service Leads - Working Service Isle +/- 20-30%
- People Who Drive on the Lot - Lot Ups +/- 40-50%
- Repeat Customers & Referrals +/- 80-95%
Is Every Automotive Lead Important? If you are a manager or a salesperson which of these lead groups seem the most promising? So why are we not spending our time and budget taking care of our existing customers?
Want To Sell 20 Cars A Month? When I teach my sales staff how to sell 20+ cars, I tell them that they need 5 repeats, family, or friend sales, 5 lot up sales, 5 service isle sales, 5 phone chat lead sales and 5 Internet sales a month or some variation of this to be at 20+ a month. It is a lot of work and there are a lot of disappointments along the road to sell 20 cars a month; but it pays really good.
Why Should A Salesperson Stay At The Same Auto Dealership? You want to stay at the same store, so existing customers will know where to send their friends and family, you will also get to know all the different employees in the different departments. But the real reason is that in 3 to 5 years the salesperson will be selling 20+ cars a month only from their existing base of repeat, referrals, family and friends.
Tell me your thoughts below. - Vincent Hoss