1983


Motorola introduced the first commercially available cell phone in 1983. The next year there were 12,000 cell phone subscribers. Today, 5.1 billion people around the world own a cell phone. According to an AutoTrader/Northwood University study, 17% of all dealership customers originate as telephone leads.

1997


In 1997, Microsoft released Outlook and email is introduced as a new way for computer users to connect. Today, there are 1.9 billion email users worldwide and approximately 294 billion email messages are sent per day. According to that same AutoTrader/Northwood University study, 14% of dealership customers originate as email leads.

2005


1997 was also the year that AOL popularized instant messaging, allowing users to conduct real-time conversations over the Internet. But in 2005, Contact At Once! adapted instant messaging technology and applied it to serve the unique needs of the automotive industry. Currently, the largest automotive classified search provid

Beware of offers of 'Free' or 'Always Free' dealer chat software. They are just lead generation techniques utilized by companies whose real motive is to sell you their outsourced chat answering service.

The Cost of Free

'Free' comes with a cost. Consider:


'Free' dealer chat software is not compatible with chat leads from OEM and third-party websites like Edmunds.com, Autotrader.com, Cars.com, CarsDirect.com and others. Therefore, you will end up missing out on a number of leads (and your competitors will thank you!)

'Free' dealer chat software may not be approved by your website provider. (Be sure to check with your website provider)

Technical support for 'Free' dealer chat software is worth every penny you pay for it - it’s worthless

The vendor’s motive is to sell you something else, NOT to save you money


Focus On Value and Integrity

Contact At Once! is the industry’s leading dealer chat so

As many observant dealerships know by now, there has been a lot of industry buzz about ZMOT. ZMOT, or the Zero Moment of Truth had its genesis at Proctor and Gamble, and has gained additional momentum thanks to Google and industry visionaries like Brian Pasch.

Before ZMOT
If you’re not really sure what the buzz is all about, let’s head back to Proctor and Gamble. Proctor and Gamble is a corporation with many consumer brands, chiefly cleaning supplies and grooming products. For many years, they centered their marketing strategies around the notions of a “Stimulus” and a “First Moment of Truth” (FMOT). In layman’s terms, the Stimulus could be an advertisement, and the First Moment of Truth would be when the stimulated consumer was in a store and could touch and feel the product, read the label and otherwise make a relatively informed choice as to buy or not buy the product.

Presuming the product was purchased, there was a Second Moment of

Google's Jim Lecinski recently published an important internet manifesto entitled, "Winning the Zero Moment of Truth". If you're not familiar with the 'Moment of Truth' concept, you can watch this short video from Google to better understand it.



As the video describes, historically there were said to be three psychological steps in any buying process: the 'Stimulus' (an advertisement), the 'First Moment of Truth' or FMOT (the product display), and the 'Second Moment of Truth' (the user experience). According to Google, because of the rise of the internet, a 'Zero Moment of Truth' or ZMOT is occurring between the Stimulus and First Moment of Truth. That is, before consumers visit your dealership showroom for a test drive (their First Moment of Truth), a growing number of them are going online to conduct research. This preliminary stage of online interaction with your dealership and inventory represents the Zero Moment of

More than 12% of all weekly consumer chat requests to auto dealers occur on Saturday.



This is new data released by the leading dealer chat provider, Contact At Once! for the month of September. The data was sourced from their dealer chat network which includes chat conversations from AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, CarsDirect.com, EveryCarListed.com and more than 9,000 auto dealers.

What Kinds of Chats Occur on Saturdays?

More important than the number of Saturday chat requests is the nature of Saturday conversations. These, quite simply, are chats that most dealers wouldn't want to miss. This is because the data reveals that Saturday chat, more than any other day of the week, are predominately pre-visit inquiries. Before walking into the dealership to buy a car that day, chat buyers want to know:


The availability of a specific vehicle

Current financing and rebates on a specific vehicle

The bottom line price on a specific vehicle

Detailed trade-in questions

Data shows that dealerships with higher online percentages generate more chat leads and see better results. Question: What would happen to your dealership's sales if customers walked onto the lot only to find that no one was available to answer their questions? The same thing can happen when customers visit your internet showroom. So, what can dealerships do to increase their online percentage and respond to more potential buyers?

Have you noticed that people these days are more social than ever? The use of online social networks is exploding, as evidenced by the recent launch of Google+, Google’s answer to Facebook. In just the first 30 days, Google+ garnered 25 million users, the fastest growth of any social networking site in history. So, what is it about communicating online with real people, represented by imperfect photos, that has so much of the public attracted to Facebook and now, Google+?

Engaging online prospects in a way that builds rapport and drives them into the dealership is the central goal of any sales-related live chat conversation. To protect your conversations from self-destructing, its important to know and comply with the essential DOs and DON'Ts' of dealer live chat.

DO


Acknowledge the prospect's initial question before requesting lead information

Respond in a timely manner (instant messaging is expected to be fairly instant)

Treat a live chat lead like a telephone lead

Keep responses short and concise

Remember that it's a dialog, not a commercial

Save prospect lead information at the end of each chat


DON'T


USE ALL CAPS (it’s like shouting)!

Ask multiple questions at the same time

Ignore the prospect's questions (that's a one-sided conversation)

Demand the prospect's information before proceeding

Obsess over punctuation and formatting (informality is expected with

Its no coincidence that so many of the top eCommerce departments in the nation allow customers to communicate with them using dealer chat. Jim Ellis Auto Dealerships, Younger Automotive Group, Marazzi Dealerships, Apple Auto Group are but a few examples. Chatting online is not at all that different from text messaging on smartphones where written comments are passed back and forth between two parties.

According to a study by Nielsen, in 2008 text messaging surpassed phone usage as the most popular method of communication. As of 2010, Nielsen reports that text messaging exceeds phone calling by 35%. In fact, the proliferation of live chat across non-automotive consumer websites including Dell.com, BankofAmerica.com, Apartments.com and more along with the recent addition of chat across automotive websites like AutoTrader.com and Cars.com proves that live chat has become a central part of the consumer buying experience. Despite the growing popularity of chat, 3 main concerns arise fro

Car dealerships adding auto dealer chat to their websites will find a number of companies promising results and offering a variety of enticing features. But which ones are truly important and have a direct impact on the bottom line and which ones are simply “shiny objects”. Here is a list of the most important features dealers should look for when selecting a chat provider:

#1: Automatic Login/Logout
Live chat only works when users are logged in and available to receive chat leads. For dealership salespeople, remembering to log in and out of a chat client each day can be one more step they're likely to forget. The ability for a chat tool to auto-detect when salespeople are present and ready to answer chat inquiries saves managers from having to remind users to log in so that they don’t miss out on potential leads.

#2: The Option For Dealerships To Answer Their Own Chats
How many car dealerships outsource their phone calls? Those that do may need to conside

The Top 10 list is in...Which vehicles are online shoppers chatting about most? Based upon more than 520,000 chat conversations conducted between consumers and dealers during the first quarter of 2011, Contact At Once! has determined that the most talked about models were:




#10 Jeep Grand Cherokee

#9 Chevrolet Cruze









#8 Chevrolet Equinox

#7 Toyota Sienna









#6 Toyota Camry

#5 Ford Mustang









#4 Chevrolet Silverado

#3 Chevrolet Camero









#2 Kia Sorento

#1 Hyundai Sonota










Using live chat powered by Contact At Once!, dealers communicate instantly with car shoppers visiting their dealership websites, AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, CarsDirect.com, CarSoup.com, Craigslist.org and a number of regional automotive listing sites. Currently, Contact At Once! is the largest prov

Car buyers shopping online for a vehicle request to chat with dealers when it's convenient for them. Never miss another chat lead with the latest Mobile Chat App by ContactAtOnce!. Using the free mobile app, dealership salespeople can receive and respond to chat leads anytime, anywhere right from their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad (including iPad2).

According to dealer data reviewed by Contact At Once!, the average closing rate for incoming chat requests fluctuate between 20 - 25%, identical to that of phone leads. With the new ContactAtOnce! Mobile Chat App, salespeople are free to roam about the dealership or anywhere else they choose while continuing to schedule showroom visits and nurture new sales opportunities.

Visit the iTunes App Store to download the latest version of the ContactAtOnce! Mobile Chat App or visit: http://autodealerchat.com/dealer/mobile-chat for more information.

*Note: To activate the application you must be a current ContactAtOnce! user/agent and

Learn 5 tips for generating more business with auto dealer chat. Includes online links to free dealer resources and training. In a recent press release, Chip Perry, CEO of AutoTrader.com said: "Faster than email and more convenient than a phone call, online chat enables consumers to get instant answers to their questions while enabling dealers to begin creating a relationship with shoppers before they show up on the lot." Here are the 5 Tips...