Where Are The Leads Going? First make sure all the leads are coming into your CRM and are not getting lost or going to an old Internet sales person. We call this an audit.

Internet Lead Audit: I was just on an interview with a very large dealership with 100’s of new and used vehicles, the Internet BDC manager told me we are getting XXX number of internet leads a month, I asked the Internet manager again, just from the website? He said no, from all sources including the website, 3rd party leads and Facebook leads. The guy that was showing me around said You seem very surprised by the amount of leads? I said something is wrong, there is no way with all these new and use cars and this brand, that you have only 600 leads from all sources. He said what should I do? You need to do a full audit of every vendor and lead provider including the website, forms, chats etc. to find the problem. In a case like this, some leads are not getting into the CRM or they are getting lost in the CRM. Other similar dealers of this size would have double this amount of leads. The Internet Manager should do an audit of all leads every month and make changes as needed.

Whoever Gets There First Wins: The faster you call, email and text back to the customer the better chance you have of engaging the customer before all the other dealerships start calling or emailing.
Pick Up The Phone: The Salesperson must call and call and call until they get the customer. Look around, if a Salesperson is afraid to pick up the phone, you have a problem.
Do Not Lead Drop: The Salesperson needs to call, then turn it to the the Internet Manager needs to call then turn it to the BDC department needs to call. We are not allowed to “Lot Drop”, letting the customer leave the lot without a turn from another sales person or manager. We need to “Follow Up Until They Buy or Die”.

Builder Lets New Home Sales Lead Sit For Hours: I was looking at a certain housing development in the San Antonio TX area, I filled out a form on the home builder’s website requesting a time to see the homes, one hour went by, then two hours finally I called and set up an appointment. Most people would not have bothered. Later I asked the sales person, I put in a request to see these home several hours ago and no one called me. He said that data comes into our software and when I get a chance I go to that program and respond. I told him, in the car business, we want a lead to be answered in minutes not hours, he was shocked. I said if a sales person does not answer a call in a few minutes I get notified and I immediately call the customer. I asked him are you generating any leads online? he said no. The builder want us to create posts and videos, but I have not done any myself. He was a very experienced sales person selling high end homes. He said all day long real estate agents come in and make videos of the homes to post on social media sites.

This Program Works! I took over an Internet department that had been selling under 50 units a month. First month my team sold 91 in February with only 28 days. Then they went on to sell 130 units in March and 120 units in April. Yes, You can turn around an automotive Internet department in 30 days! – Vincent Hoss