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Filed in: Marketing, Internet/BDC

3rd Party Providers-Ruining your relationships before you say 'Hello"?

By Bryan Armstrong on Jan 31, 2013

I have in the past posted on my opinions of 3rd Party leads, however in this ever changing Market, and never being afraid to try something new even if it’s actually old, a while ago I signed back up with a provider to conquest leads that were 15-35 miles from my Dealership.

You see the OEM will take those inquiries submitted from a Downtown IP address and give them to my competition even if the prospect should live next door to my Dealership, so I was looking for a specific solution. Over time, we had approximately an 8% closing ratio and things were going well for, as I thought, many of the leads I received actually lived in my PMA and worked in my COMPETITORS. However about 3 Months ago I noticed lead volume declining along with lead quality. Since I measure everything on a 90 day curve, this just put 3rd party leads on my “watch” list.

Interestingly enough late one Saturday night a name of a personal friend (we’ve both been Foster Parents for years, exchanged kids and laughed and cried together) came across as an inquiry, so I called her home phone and left her a message that if she wanted a VW to let me know and I’d be happy to personally help. In the meantime, she also received an e-mail from my Salesperson stating we were closed and then Monday another asking if there was “any color you WOULD NOT consider and is a test drive important?” (Both were automated). This is the response I received:

PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE!!!! I AM TIRED OF YOUR EMAILS AND FEELING STALKED AND HARASSED BY YOU! OBVIOUSLY, IM NOT A SINGLE BIT INTERESTED....DO YOU GET THAT NOW??  TAKE ME IMMEDIATELY OFF YOUR DAMN EMAIL/CALL LIST, AS I NEVER REQUESTED TO BE PUT ON THE BULLSHIT LISTS IN THE FIRST PLACE.  I GOT A DIFFERENT CRAP ADD, THAT HAD A BLOODY PICTURE OF A VOLKSWAGEN.  MY STUPIDITY LED ME TO OPEN IT OUT OF BORDEM...MERELY TO OBSERVE THE VW STYLE. 

 

 TRUST ME, IF IM GOING TO BUY A NEW CAR, IT WILL NOT BE FROM SOMEBODY WHO PRACTICES THESE PATHETIC AND DESPERATE SALE STRATEGIES. I WOULD GO OUT OF MY WAY NOT TO USE YOUR DEALERSHIP, SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU INSULT MY INTELLIGENCE.  BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SOME PEOPLE ARE REALLY CAPABLE OF GETTING IN CONTACT WITH YOU, IF AND WHEN THEY ARE ACTUALLY INTERESTED IN BUYING (NOT LOOKING AT A PICTURE!! THERE'S A DIFFERENCE!) A CAR. 

 

PLEASE, STOP THE BOMBARDMENT OF CALLS AND EMAILS. THAT WOULD BE YOUR FIRST STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR RESPECTING THE POTENTIAL CONSUMER, LOOKING TO BUY A CAR IN THE FUTURE.  IF YOU CANNOT SEE TO THIS REQUEST, I WILL GLADLY CALL THE APPROPRIATE PERSON NECESSARY AND MAKE IT STOP!!!

 

THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING MY REQUEST,

 

(Name Withheld)

Yes, it really was all caps and underlined.

I immediately called my friend and apologized; she did as well upon realizing it was me and I got THE REST OF THE STORY: She had clicked on an ad and requested (i.e. “would you like…”) info on similar types of vehicles to the Tiguan pictured. 

The next 2 weeks were in her words “HELL”. She had received calls and e-mail bombardments from Kia, 1 other VW Dealer and a Hyundai Store to mention a few. A Salesperson at another VW Dealer told her she was lying (which she was) when she said she had already purchased to get him to stop calling, another Kia rep had called her husband and told him he just needed his credit info (which he gave thinking this guy had spoken with his wife) to see what he could do for them and the list of atrocities went on. I was embarrassed for my Industry and shocked at the same time.

So I took it upon myself to replicate the experiment and submitted an inquiry to multiple aggregators. I must apologize to the Stores who paid $20 each for my experiment, but as near as I can tell; each inquiry generated approximately 4 Dealer responses. Keep in mind I DID NOT drill down to a model I only inquired as to 3rd row seat SUV’s within a “comparable to” Nissan Pathfinder segment.

The point of this post is NOT that Dealix, Autobytel, TrueCar or any other lead provider is unscrupulous, but rather have set up their sites to use your name and inventory to make them more relevant than you in search and are being, in my opinion, exceedingly vague in the UX for the shopper. They will not feel the repercussion and can hide behind return or guarantee policies, but I’m more convinced than ever that developing your own leads is crucial and integral to our survival going forward.

Blogs, Micro-sites, Social Media etc. can help you control more of the real estate for your Dealer Name and Brand, so why spend thousands per Month on a non-renewable resource?

Above all measure and inspect constantly!

 

Good Selling!

@bryancarguy

Comments

  • Jim Bell
  • Internet Performance and Marketing Director

Wow, just wow! I had no idea that is how some of the providers work. I just figured, like a lot of others I'm sure, that they were actually inquiring on the vehicle that we as dealers receive. This just goes to show that we all have to dissect the lead when responding and respond to those differently as opposed to our website leads. Thanks for the insight Bryan.

January 31st


Currently struggling with this same battle as we try to increase lead volume to our small town Ford store. The contact rate is pathetic, but the response upon contact is usually the worst part. So far batting 0 for 26 with about half of the leads sent back for refunds.

January 31st


The WORSE is 3rd party factory leads. Manufacturers pick up all the leftovers and then try to force the dealer to buy them.

January 31st


Bryan, thank you for sharing. This is great information.

February 1st


Thanks all. Jim some actually are on the specific vehicle and most lead providers tell you they won't re-sell the same lead...except upon customer request. Hence the "would you like to receive competitive quote? " type statement upon most submissions.

February 1st


Craig- I feel your pain! Worse yet, many consumers now shop under a throw-away email yet OEMs only use the email for lead/sold matching. So your faced with getting a good survey and continuing contact or getting credit for inet performance. It's a no win situation.

February 1st


This seems to be such a recurring theme... I don't see how this continues to happen. Just think about the process here:

1) Dealer provides 3rd party provider with one of it's most valuable assets; it's inventory / content.
2) Dealer pays for "enhanced" listing position.
3) 3rd Party uses these 2 things to market themselves.
4) 3rd Party then steals traffic and leads from dealer.
5) Dealer pays again for leads sent to multiple competing dealerships.
6) Rinse and repeat.

It's time for dealers to skip the rat race and invest in their own marketing efforts. Use your resources (time & money) to market yourself the same way the 3rd parties do. It's really that simple!

April 29th

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