Larry - I would love to visit your website to catch-up on some of your blog articles....BUT....it only works on Internet Explorer 6.0 or above. @pcmguy - mind fixing this?

@Jeff I don't know if I would call it a carrot or about it being #7 on the list, I can tell you this. We are analyzing the results of a large joint MBU and UserTesting.com study where we have filmed over 100 users as they search for a vehicle online.

I am 1/3 of the way through the analysis and the numbers so far are that in 60% of the cases prices was one of the deciding factors for the customer to choose and contact that dealer, but it was never the only factor.

Will present all the findings at #DD9 and will be posting a summery and all of the videos on the MicrositesByU.com blog.

I'm going to have to continue the Stan quoting. I agree with both Jerry and Jeff and want to point out another thing:

"Also, don’t forget to sell them on a value package proposition. If you build value, reasonable consumer will ultimatley buy from you."

Stan, don't let your dealers sell you on bad ideas buddy. Read this: http://www.dealerrefresh.com/dealership-value-add...

Stan Sher wrote: "I still think it is all about getting people on the phone."

Stan, It's all about getting people to the dealership, the phone is just another step in the evolutionary process that helps us accomplish our end goal.

What's for lunch today?

I still think it is all about getting people on the phone. When it comes to email, the national email open rate is somewhere about 11%, which means that people ignore about 89% of their emails. Can you blame them? All of the useless spam and junk that hits our email everyday can get very annoying. Email is good to try to get a customer engaged and if used properly it will help get the customer on the phone.

When it comes to pricing we need to remember that only about 20-25% of customers are solely motivated on price. However, people still use price as a barrier. This scares off a lot of untrained or improperly trained people in the business which leads them to give away gross. The important thing to do is to look at the big picture and find out what is really the reason why they want to buy a vehicle. Also, don't forget to sell them on a value package proposition. If you build value, reasonable consumer will ultimatley buy from you.

The bottom line is that you need to separate yourself from the competition. If five dealers in one area are doing the same thing, do something different to peak the customer's curiousity. At that point, you will succeed.

I couldn't agree with you more. I have made it my mission to train my internet sales team to be able to use the word "no".Selling the appointment and not the price/car/etc is huge. Too much information keeps customers away and gives them a reason to never visit. A well worded way of telling someone that they need to visit the showroom to get all the information they want is way more powerful than giving up that information right away.

Jerry

Fantastic article and good responses from a great bunch of eCommerce experts.

@Jeff, we are just using the Flip share software that is installed on the camera. I have found that if you do a quick demo (setup a test lead, hit stopwatch when it arrives in CRM, go outside and do a quick clip of the car and sales rep, go inside and send it, stop the watch...) and the sales rep sees how quick and simple you can send it, then the idea is quickly embraced...

Jerry -

I sort of agree with your evolution concept, although I think that the internet is far more interactive than just "words" - I really like the Flip Video and HallMark Cards ideas.

My BHAG is to decipher WHY the prospect who contacts me via an internet lead CHOSE to do that rather than the alternatives??? If we all agree that roughly 20% of the traffic will actually fill out a form to submit a lead...can we then figure out if they are somehow unique? If they are unique, can we construct the proper response which will gain the best engagement ratio???

Great topic - thanks for the stimulation!

Great stuff guys! Going to give me plenty to talk about when I write my follow-up article.

@Larry - agreed, email is for many the preferred method of communication, and you can see that with your website analytics. Most of these folks are shopping during work hours today and likely don't want to be heard on the phone with a car dealer when they are supposed to be working...

Flip is working great. Of course, there are always issues with some email domains (especially work domains that can have extensive filters) - BUT - this can also be used as the opportunity to speak on the phone when letting them know you sent them a short video.

Love the ecard idea Larry - creative idea that makes a lot of sense!

Woa.. a hallmark card. Thats slick! Got to revisit JibJab too!

One of my rules to email sales sanity, is to ALWAYS lead with a good question that can spark a dialogue and test your shoppers commitment to the process (see Alex's http://www.dealerrefresh.com/moving-company-lead-...

Smoking out the noise and getting the dialogue rolling is not easy. Its easy to become an "information appliance" for the shopper. Flipping the tables and becoming the "Tour Guide" takes effort and skills.

Selling the appointment and not the car is the quickest path to the sale and has the highest ROI, but, you've got to build that rapport (read: qualify) before they trust you to cross the bridge.

IMO, the opening question, building rapport and selling the appointment are where its at!

Kevin I would go so far as to say they hide behind email, that's just the most convienient way for some people to commuicate or in some cases just what they prefer.

In anycase you're right any successful dealer will have work on and improve skills in all forms of communication.

Flip video is an interesting concept. Have you had any trouble wiht blocked emails with attached video, we ran into that in 2004 with a video email program at AIM. Curious to see if one email one video gets thru.

All another great tactic that works really well for us when responding by email is to send the response back with a Hallmark free ecard http://www.hallmark.com/product/ecards/miss-you

They ALWAYS get opened and you're memorable when we started useing this our customer engagment went up over 300%

hope that helps

Man, am I glad to be selling used cars.

New Car Shoppers lead discussions with "whats your price?".

Used Car sales begin with "is this a non-smoker", "Is this still available", "Please send me the carfax", etc...

Nice article Jerry, and good thread. Note that our desired priority of communication is the opposite of what most modern prospects want (we want showroom ups, prospects want to hide behind their email). Why? The modern day consumer does not want to experience the traditional high pressure sales-tactics and lack of information they had in the past when negotiating.

The pendulum has shifted, and control has moved with it to the consumer, who has much greater knowledge and can choose how they interact with us. Future dealers will be unsuccessful if they sit on their thumbs, and still wait for and only focus on their showroom ups. Successful dealers will learn and master how to work with prospects in every mode of communication.

On a side note - you can integrate voice inflection and facial expressions with an email lead - use Flip video! Photos and video allow you to personalize yourself and build value in the Internet lead process.

Look forward to seeing you in Vegas at DD9 Jerry... Kevin

"In an e-mail I won’t ever hear from them again if they don’t like what I have to say."

Sorry Jerry, don't mean to be contrary, but that depends whether an objective of the email is to identify objections. Put some meat on the bone and open up an opportunity, you'll get objections.

Well said Jeff! Oh and please do share these rumors so that I can properly confirm or deny!

I don't disagree with what your saying Larry.

If it's an Internet lead and I can reach the customer on the phone, I will then increases my chances of overcoming any price objections I may face while on the phone. In an e-mail I won't ever hear from them again if they don't like what I have to say. Obviously when the customer visits the dealership it becomes a whole new ballgame.

These are the points I was trying to make with my article.

Understanding customer behavior is paramount. Basically Jerry is just conveying how important it is to recognize the path in which customers are communicating with you. If you don't possess the skill set to interact properly in each stage you are missing business. In other words stop short cutting and become a Master at all facets of the game. Great post Jerry!! BTW Shawn Morse and I have been spreading major rumors about you. Larry take some time and revisit the post I think you've overlooked a thing or two.

What I am saying is don't do the mexican hat dance arround the price. Just put it out there in your response right up front. Hell at motortrends we just put it on the website and it is what it is.

Then follow up like you would, any normal up. Then sell what you can do to make the buying process more cofortable for the cusotmer.

Money Back Guarantee

Home Delivery

Free scheduled maintainence

Use trade in values as a competitive advantage

Do these things but don't skirt arround the price. That is the number one killer of conversion, appointment and sale.

Larry,

I think Alex did a pretty good job for me. If not, let's debate this further.

Barry Wrote: "I agree with Larry, the key is to understand what motivates a prospect to become a customer."

Barry,

I always tell salespeople that when they start thinking like a customer and understanding the customer from a different perspective, it does make it easier to associate with the customer and earn their business.

With an Internet lead you're only "words" on a computer screen. With the phone you have "words & tones." In person you have all the behavioral cues that make a salesperson good. They are: words, tones, gesture, posture & facial expressions.

Where do you think you have the best chance of establishing a personalized relationship with a customer? Obviously in person. If you can advance a customer from one stage to the next, you're progressing in the right direction. Now that's what I mean when I talk about evolving.

I agree with everything you said. I work in an internet office working emails and phone calls. The phone calls are by far the most productive. Emails do take a lot of time to follow up and the response to them is very small. When they send a phone number with the email, I call them and the response is as good or better than the phone calls coming in. Good article!

"The lowest form of customer evolution is the Internet"

Huh?

That's a pretty broad generalization, especially given the extent to which rapport can be developed online prior to phone, and prior to the store. Customers continue to shop for a salesperson, whether on the website, email, chat, phone, or the in-store, these are all just different elements of a continuum of communication. You screw up any one of those up and the result is the same.

If discount is the only tool in your kit, it doesn't matter where you give the gross away, it's still gone. But used strategically, price (not discount) is an important tool that can help prospects develop rapport with right sales person. Good thing, because that online relationship can be the difference, the connection that helps one re-engage lost customers after a poor in-store experiences.

I agree with Larry, the key is to understand what motivates a prospect to become a customer. And that's the missing ingredient, the thing that handcuffs many dealerships; price is just a symptom of the underlying failure, not the cause.

Bruce - you and Jerry are talking about two different things. To put it in a nutshell - You're talking marketing; Jerry is talking process....after the good site design landed you the lead.