We have been using Contact-at-Once for a few years now in the sales department and we have done very well with it. My question to all of you is, What are you thought on expanding it to Service, Parts, and Body Shop? We've discussed this with dept managers and they are all for it, just wondering if anyone else has tried it.
Using Chat for other departments
- Thread starter DevlonC
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Yes we have found it to be very effect.... There are several was to address it, just curious how you are defining expanding it to Service, Parts, and Body Shop, on-site responses, through Contact at Once, roll-over etc?
- May 1, 2006
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- Alex
At Checkered Flag we found that over 80% of the incoming chats were service-related. The Bodyshop and Parts have been a very small percentage (like less than 3%). I don't know if Checkered Flag is a special case, but if it isn't I would either build the chat logo to be sales specific (if you're not Fixed Ops chatting) or absolutely make sure Service is on board.
When I worked for a Suzuki and Isuzu dealer a few years back, we were beginning the merge to have our Service and Parts center have a chat function.
Take a look into some providers (CarChat24, especially. I know, I plugged myself!) that offers free parts and service leads.
Just a thought!
Take a look into some providers (CarChat24, especially. I know, I plugged myself!) that offers free parts and service leads.
Just a thought!
Devlon, In my experience it is best to add all departments even detail.
Katie, yes....free parts and service "leads" are great but you can't help them. I love you and your company but not being able to assist the person trying to chat with you is difficult situation and defeats the purpose of chat.
Devlon, back to you....have you ever been 800 miles over on your oil change? maybe not because you work at a dealership and I didn't understand this until after I left working for a store. The problem isn't getting to the dealership it is scheduling the appointment. Eventually what happens is I stop at the quicklube place on my way home from work because I can't take it anymore. That guy tells me I have all kinds of issues trying to bump is average ticket and I leave wondering why the dealer didn't tell me this last time or that cat is lying to me and I won't make an appointment because I am too busy so I pay for him to do it anyway. Either way your service department loses.
On another note.....I now look to see how easy it is to get in touch with the places I do business. If I call and I can't get who I want I don't buy from there. If it is a service I call the customer service to see how they respond to questions before pulling the trigger on the purchase.
What you are saying "we are here and we aren't afraid to speak with you whenever you need us". Now that is value.
Chat was originally built for e-commerce sites. I'm saying your parts "store" should do well.
As for the body shop...."Is my car ready" question becomes a quick 10 second conversation instead of answering the phone and going through the let me check and call you back.
I'm just saying.....free is cheap, high ROI is hard to find....you found it! Thats my pitch and I am sticking to it. You can send the agreement back via fax....the number is on the 3rd page of the agreement
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Katie, yes....free parts and service "leads" are great but you can't help them. I love you and your company but not being able to assist the person trying to chat with you is difficult situation and defeats the purpose of chat.
Devlon, back to you....have you ever been 800 miles over on your oil change? maybe not because you work at a dealership and I didn't understand this until after I left working for a store. The problem isn't getting to the dealership it is scheduling the appointment. Eventually what happens is I stop at the quicklube place on my way home from work because I can't take it anymore. That guy tells me I have all kinds of issues trying to bump is average ticket and I leave wondering why the dealer didn't tell me this last time or that cat is lying to me and I won't make an appointment because I am too busy so I pay for him to do it anyway. Either way your service department loses.
On another note.....I now look to see how easy it is to get in touch with the places I do business. If I call and I can't get who I want I don't buy from there. If it is a service I call the customer service to see how they respond to questions before pulling the trigger on the purchase.
What you are saying "we are here and we aren't afraid to speak with you whenever you need us". Now that is value.
Chat was originally built for e-commerce sites. I'm saying your parts "store" should do well.
As for the body shop...."Is my car ready" question becomes a quick 10 second conversation instead of answering the phone and going through the let me check and call you back.
I'm just saying.....free is cheap, high ROI is hard to find....you found it! Thats my pitch and I am sticking to it. You can send the agreement back via fax....the number is on the 3rd page of the agreement
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By all means hook that chat up to your other departments!
Our dealers average about 60/40 (Sales vs Other) on our managed chat product.
Some of the numbers skew on the type of dealership.
For Example: we found that Mercedes will see more on the service side over an Infiniti or Lexus dealership that will have more sales driven chats.
Our dealers average about 60/40 (Sales vs Other) on our managed chat product.
Some of the numbers skew on the type of dealership.
For Example: we found that Mercedes will see more on the service side over an Infiniti or Lexus dealership that will have more sales driven chats.
Devlon, In my experience it is best to add all departments even detail.
Katie, yes....free parts and service "leads" are great but you can't help them. I love you and your company but not being able to assist the person trying to chat with you is difficult situation and defeats the purpose of chat.
Devlon, back to you....have you ever been 800 miles over on your oil change? maybe not because you work at a dealership and I didn't understand this until after I left working for a store. The problem isn't getting to the dealership it is scheduling the appointment. Eventually what happens is I stop at the quicklube place on my way home from work because I can't take it anymore. That guy tells me I have all kinds of issues trying to bump is average ticket and I leave wondering why the dealer didn't tell me this last time or that cat is lying to me and I won't make an appointment because I am too busy so I pay for him to do it anyway. Either way your service department loses.
On another note.....I now look to see how easy it is to get in touch with the places I do business. If I call and I can't get who I want I don't buy from there. If it is a service I call the customer service to see how they respond to questions before pulling the trigger on the purchase.
What you are saying "we are here and we aren't afraid to speak with you whenever you need us". Now that is value.
Chat was originally built for e-commerce sites. I'm saying your parts "store" should do well.
As for the body shop...."Is my car ready" question becomes a quick 10 second conversation instead of answering the phone and going through the let me check and call you back.
I'm just saying.....free is cheap, high ROI is hard to find....you found it! Thats my pitch and I am sticking to it. You can send the agreement back via fax....the number is on the 3rd page of the agreement
Ryan....
Had to jump in here after the dart was thrown, not use to you throwing them? Fact is that our operators assist service and parts clients very effectively, lowering the support assitance needed at the dealership by reducing basic queries. We help them find content, and provide info from our knowledge base to satisfy their query, and also forward leads when someone wants to be contacted. You did get one part of your comment correct, as this is all done for free
We recommend that chat is placed on every page of your site, as the same benefit gained from sales can be gained by all departments in the dealership. One big problem dealers that take their own chats may face, is if the person taking chats is in vehicle sales, they may not handle the service and parts queries effectively, and may also get a bad attitude about taking chats after they realize that a large percentage of chats has nothing to do with selling a car.
Chat should be used to provide excellent support, and help visitors have a more pleasant experience on your site no matter what they are visiting the site for. When a visitor is there specifically to research buying a vehicle, that is where using effective scripts changes it from just support to prospect/lead generation. Insuring that you are managing this effectively will make the difference between success and failure. Chat cannot be viewed as just a lead generator, and must be well planned with processes that improve your site visitors experience. If it is not effectively managed, you may be better off without it on non vehicle sales related pages.
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well said my friend. I wasn't throwing darts just standing my ground on what I believe to be the best way. Not fighting your company but I just believe in dealers answering their own chats. Having a department selector is a great solution to having service chats go to service and sales chats go to sales.
Just to tell everyone the truth......I like Shereef, his company, and I hear good things about them! There....Shereef, are you happy? Much love and my darts are in my pocket
Shereef, I am going to give you a chance to shine.....how do you handle the question "Is my car ready?" or "did you find out what was wrong with my car?" I would love to hear your feedback.
Just to tell everyone the truth......I like Shereef, his company, and I hear good things about them! There....Shereef, are you happy? Much love and my darts are in my pocket
Shereef, I am going to give you a chance to shine.....how do you handle the question "Is my car ready?" or "did you find out what was wrong with my car?" I would love to hear your feedback.
