Still haunted by the ghost of the 14 million vehicles recalled for faulty floor mats and brake pedals, Japanese automaker Toyota Motors announced today that it would be recalling another 3 million cars – including 67,000 Prius models – due to a defect in the steering column.

According to Toyota, the problem originates in a steering shaft extension which, if turned hard to the right or left at low speeds, may wear away the splines of the steering column. This could potentially cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle, though no related accidents have been reported yet. Toyota says that even in such circumstances, the vehicle will remain safe to drive.

In a second, entirely separate issue, Toyota has recalled an additional 350,000 Priuses (Prii?) for a faulty water pump which may cause the system’s electric motor to short out on the road. AToyota statement reads that “in limited instances, the electric power supply circuit fuse may open, causing the hybrid system to stop while the vehicle is being driven.”

This recall might be another blow to Toyota’s once-pristine reputation for quality. This news follows a month after a recall of 7.4 million cars worldwide for defective power window switches that were a fire hazard. – the biggest recall since Ford pulled 8 million vehicles off the road in ‘96.

The issue affects Prius and Toyota models from 2004 – 2009. Repairs will be carried out free of charge, and owners will be contacted if their vehicle is affected. To our Toyota dealerships – expect to field questions from customers about these recalls. Live chat can be a great way to do this. In 2010, ActivEngage launched a program to help dealers communicate recall information from their website. You can email us or call us at 800-441-7779 for more information.

You can follow the ActivEngage blog for daily marketing updates and auto dealer news!

Still haunted by the ghost of the 14 million vehicles recalled for faulty floor mats and brake pedals, Japanese automaker Toyota Motors announced today that it would be recalling another 3 million cars – including 67,000 Prius models – due to a defect in the steering column.

According to Toyota, the problem originates in a steering shaft extension which, if turned hard to the right or left at low speeds, may wear away the splines of the steering column. This could potentially cause drivers to lose control of the vehicle, though no related accidents have been reported yet. Toyota says that even in such circumstances, the vehicle will remain safe to drive.

In a second, entirely separate issue, Toyota has recalled an additional 350,000 Priuses (Prii?) for a faulty water pump which may cause the system’s electric motor to short out on the road. AToyota statement reads that “in limited instances, the electric power supply circuit fuse may open, causing the hybrid system to stop while the vehicle is being driven.”

This recall might be another blow to Toyota’s once-pristine reputation for quality. This news follows a month after a recall of 7.4 million cars worldwide for defective power window switches that were a fire hazard. – the biggest recall since Ford pulled 8 million vehicles off the road in ‘96.

The issue affects Prius and Toyota models from 2004 – 2009. Repairs will be carried out free of charge, and owners will be contacted if their vehicle is affected. To our Toyota dealerships – expect to field questions from customers about these recalls. Live chat can be a great way to do this. In 2010, ActivEngage launched a program to help dealers communicate recall information from their website. You can email us or call us at 800-441-7779 for more information.

You can follow the ActivEngage blog for daily marketing updates and auto dealer news!

Auto dealers eager to boost website conversion and Internet leads are increasingly using dealer chat solutions to engage visitors on dealership websites.  Automotive chat is an effective and proven method for growing the volume of a dealership’s online leads but thesuccess of chat largely depends on specific qualities of the automotive chat vendor and the dealership’s Internet department.

There are a variety of automotive chatsolutions available to dealerships today, but the most important chat decision with which auto dealers are faced is whether to manage chat in-house at the dealership or outsource it to a full-service vendor.  In this blog, we identify the most important things auto dealers need in order to successfully answer chats and manage their own dealer chat solution.

Mindset

First and foremost, auto dealers must put on their customer service hats.  Automotive chat is a communication channel used by website visitors seeking quick answers to questions.  The job of the dealer managing automotive chat in-house is to assist chat participants in their decision-making process while providing personalized service and developing a relationship with them.

Rob Campbell, eCommerce Director at Harnish Auto Family, has been successfully managing his dealership’s automotive chat for over two years.  Rob offers the following advice to auto dealers just starting off with in-house managed chat.  “It took us a little while to get our heads around how to leverage live chat. We realized that chats must be viewed as somewhere between an email lead and phone-up. Chatters are in a different phase of the sales process and taking them very seriously helped us to start closing more sales from chat.”

Rob has been so successful because he went with a vendor that has years of live chat and automotive retail sales experience.  Experienced chat vendors help auto dealers understand the intricacies and best practices of automotive chat conversations.  Vendors without extensive chat or automotive sales expertise will leave you on your own to discover success through trial and error.

Resources

Successfully self-managing automotive chat requires a dedicated staff.  In order to deliver significant results, a team of salespeople must commit to only answering chats.  Multitasking won’t cut it.  Dealership employees handling chats must be solely focused on answering automotive chat requests and moving website visitors forward in the sales process.

You will also need cutting-edge technology.  There are many different variations of automotive chat software on the market, but auto dealers experience the best return on investment if they choose technology specifically designed for automotive dealerships.  Additionally, live chat that comes with real-time business intelligence reporting is a must.  Thedetailed analytics of real-time business intelligence reporting show you website visitor:

• Click paths
• Geo-location
• Keywords

This information helps you understand the specific interests of each website visitor so you can better assist during their online shopping experience and craft a more thorough chat conversation.  Without these analytics, your website visitors control the conversation while you struggle to move them forward in your sales process.

Benchmarks

So, how will you know if you’re doing a good job managing your own dealer chat solution?  Are you getting contact information from online conversations with prospective customers?  Are automotive chat participants annoyed that you’re not answering their questions in a timely manner? How many chats on average do you miss each day?  Are your salesmen following upwith live chat leads with personalized emails?

Your answers to those questions will give you an idea of whether or not you’re achieving success with handling the management of your automotive chat.  The following benchmarks, developed by the most trusted brand in automotive live chat, are best practices off of which you can base your success.

• 6 seconds - The maximum time it should take for sales associates to answer chats
• 80% – The percentage of chat conversations that convert into leads, complete with name, phone number and email address.
• 9 minutes – The average length of each live chat conversation.  Auto dealers must be aware that automotive chat conversations are time consuming.  The time it takes to convert a chat conversation into a lead is more than 4 times that of converting a phone up.

Download Your Free Guide Today!

Feeling confident you have what it takes to manage your own dealer chat solution? Download this new ebook, “7 Reasons Live Chat Fails,” and learn how to avoid the most common causes of automotive chat failure.

Download your free guide today!

Auto dealers eager to boost website conversion and Internet leads are increasingly using dealer chat solutions to engage visitors on dealership websites.  Automotive chat is an effective and proven method for growing the volume of a dealership’s online leads but thesuccess of chat largely depends on specific qualities of the automotive chat vendor and the dealership’s Internet department.

There are a variety of automotive chatsolutions available to dealerships today, but the most important chat decision with which auto dealers are faced is whether to manage chat in-house at the dealership or outsource it to a full-service vendor.  In this blog, we identify the most important things auto dealers need in order to successfully answer chats and manage their own dealer chat solution.

Mindset

First and foremost, auto dealers must put on their customer service hats.  Automotive chat is a communication channel used by website visitors seeking quick answers to questions.  The job of the dealer managing automotive chat in-house is to assist chat participants in their decision-making process while providing personalized service and developing a relationship with them.

Rob Campbell, eCommerce Director at Harnish Auto Family, has been successfully managing his dealership’s automotive chat for over two years.  Rob offers the following advice to auto dealers just starting off with in-house managed chat.  “It took us a little while to get our heads around how to leverage live chat. We realized that chats must be viewed as somewhere between an email lead and phone-up. Chatters are in a different phase of the sales process and taking them very seriously helped us to start closing more sales from chat.”

Rob has been so successful because he went with a vendor that has years of live chat and automotive retail sales experience.  Experienced chat vendors help auto dealers understand the intricacies and best practices of automotive chat conversations.  Vendors without extensive chat or automotive sales expertise will leave you on your own to discover success through trial and error.

Resources

Successfully self-managing automotive chat requires a dedicated staff.  In order to deliver significant results, a team of salespeople must commit to only answering chats.  Multitasking won’t cut it.  Dealership employees handling chats must be solely focused on answering automotive chat requests and moving website visitors forward in the sales process.

You will also need cutting-edge technology.  There are many different variations of automotive chat software on the market, but auto dealers experience the best return on investment if they choose technology specifically designed for automotive dealerships.  Additionally, live chat that comes with real-time business intelligence reporting is a must.  Thedetailed analytics of real-time business intelligence reporting show you website visitor:

• Click paths
• Geo-location
• Keywords

This information helps you understand the specific interests of each website visitor so you can better assist during their online shopping experience and craft a more thorough chat conversation.  Without these analytics, your website visitors control the conversation while you struggle to move them forward in your sales process.

Benchmarks

So, how will you know if you’re doing a good job managing your own dealer chat solution?  Are you getting contact information from online conversations with prospective customers?  Are automotive chat participants annoyed that you’re not answering their questions in a timely manner? How many chats on average do you miss each day?  Are your salesmen following upwith live chat leads with personalized emails?

Your answers to those questions will give you an idea of whether or not you’re achieving success with handling the management of your automotive chat.  The following benchmarks, developed by the most trusted brand in automotive live chat, are best practices off of which you can base your success.

• 6 seconds - The maximum time it should take for sales associates to answer chats
• 80% – The percentage of chat conversations that convert into leads, complete with name, phone number and email address.
• 9 minutes – The average length of each live chat conversation.  Auto dealers must be aware that automotive chat conversations are time consuming.  The time it takes to convert a chat conversation into a lead is more than 4 times that of converting a phone up.

Download Your Free Guide Today!

Feeling confident you have what it takes to manage your own dealer chat solution? Download this new ebook, “7 Reasons Live Chat Fails,” and learn how to avoid the most common causes of automotive chat failure.

Download your free guide today!

Auto dealers know the follow-up process is one of the most critical elements of lead conversion.  This is especially true for leads generated through automotive live chat.  To be successful in this business and build trust with consumers, dealers must follow-up with leads quickly and be precise and specific in their communication.  For leads generated from automotive live chat, the chat transcript holds vital information about the prospect’s desires and how far along he or she is in the conversion funnel.

But, how can auto dealers be specific, personal and build trust in a timely manner?

Understandably, auto dealers hate to email out a price without first talking to someone.  Dealers should simply focus on continuing to build the relationship with the prospective customer that was initiated by the live chat conversation while providing information that move the customer forward in the sales process.

In this blog, we analyze a real-life situation in which a dealer failed to follow-up appropriately with a chat lead.  Then, we discuss appropriate and effective ways to follow-up with chat leads (and all Internet leads) so that they convert into sales and move forward in the sales process.

Below is an example of a failed follow-up process, straight from the chatter’s mouth…er, their fingers.

“Hello. Not too sure if you can answer my question. But how long does it usually take to get the bottom line price on a car? I originally inquired on 1.26.12 and then again yesterday. I have received the same auto reply/generic email thanking me for my interest.

Its okay. I just wanted to know if the manager would take the time to reply or if I should just forget about it and move on.”

Nothing is worse than spamming your leads with robotic, impersonal auto-replies.  Something we stress to our auto dealer clients is to always be personal in your follow-up responses.  As you can see from the last sentence of the chat, this ready-to-buy prospective customer has lost all trust is on the verge of giving up on the dealership.

So dealers, how would you salvage this situation and prevent it from happening in the future?  Here are a few tips:

Send a personal email

A personal touch is all your prospects are looking for.  It doesn’t have to be long – both you and the customer live busy lives – 3 to 5 sentences addressing the situation will salvage the sales process.  Using the phrase, “My online sales assistant let me know you were interested in ______,” can be very effective.  Fill in the blank and take it from there.  Also, don’t forget to include a call to action.  Never end an email with a statement!  Conclude your email with a question to prompt a response.

Follow-up with relevant and specific information

• Confirm special features/options on the vehicle ( something as simple as leather seats or advanced options like Bluetooth)
• Confirm availability (and interior color and condition if it is pre/owned)
• Send a pic of the actual vehicle and offer to send more
• Give a bullet point of what the next steps are in the buying process
• Explain advantage of buying from you
• Remind the prospect of what is needed for the test drive( license, and whatever else they may want)
• Provide info on what services or reconditioning on the pre-owned vehicle has been done

Read what is given to you

Read the chat transcript, form lead or any other consumer insights you have.  Know what the customer wants and give it to them.  It’s that easy!  Remember that the chat conversation has already developed a relationship between your dealership and the prospective customer.  An impersonal auto-response removes the customer entirely from the sales process and ruins your rapport.

By acting as an advocate in the follow-up process, auto dealers can provide consumers with  information and then ask questions to assist them in moving forward through the sales process.  Keep in mind that consumers don’t buy a car every day, week, month or year.  Every “inside” tip you give prospects builds upon the trust already established by the live chat conversation.

Remember, the leads received through automotive live chat are a product of a two-way conversation.  A template email saying thanks for your interest just stalls customers and erodes any trust built during a live chat conversation.

Remember, the leads received through automotive live chat are a product of a two-way conversation.

In addition to these tips, ActivEngage CEO Todd Smith offers additional advice that will not only help ensure auto dealers successfully transform chat conversations into leads, but will help them stand out in the marketplace during the critical follow-up process.

Watch Todd’s video for more ideas:

How do you follow-up with leads?  Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation as the dealer above?  How did you salvage the relationship?

Let us know in a comment below!

Auto dealers know the follow-up process is one of the most critical elements of lead conversion.  This is especially true for leads generated through automotive live chat.  To be successful in this business and build trust with consumers, dealers must follow-up with leads quickly and be precise and specific in their communication.  For leads generated from automotive live chat, the chat transcript holds vital information about the prospect’s desires and how far along he or she is in the conversion funnel.

But, how can auto dealers be specific, personal and build trust in a timely manner?

Understandably, auto dealers hate to email out a price without first talking to someone.  Dealers should simply focus on continuing to build the relationship with the prospective customer that was initiated by the live chat conversation while providing information that move the customer forward in the sales process.

In this blog, we analyze a real-life situation in which a dealer failed to follow-up appropriately with a chat lead.  Then, we discuss appropriate and effective ways to follow-up with chat leads (and all Internet leads) so that they convert into sales and move forward in the sales process.

Below is an example of a failed follow-up process, straight from the chatter’s mouth…er, their fingers.

“Hello. Not too sure if you can answer my question. But how long does it usually take to get the bottom line price on a car? I originally inquired on 1.26.12 and then again yesterday. I have received the same auto reply/generic email thanking me for my interest.

Its okay. I just wanted to know if the manager would take the time to reply or if I should just forget about it and move on.”

Nothing is worse than spamming your leads with robotic, impersonal auto-replies.  Something we stress to our auto dealer clients is to always be personal in your follow-up responses.  As you can see from the last sentence of the chat, this ready-to-buy prospective customer has lost all trust is on the verge of giving up on the dealership.

So dealers, how would you salvage this situation and prevent it from happening in the future?  Here are a few tips:

Send a personal email

A personal touch is all your prospects are looking for.  It doesn’t have to be long – both you and the customer live busy lives – 3 to 5 sentences addressing the situation will salvage the sales process.  Using the phrase, “My online sales assistant let me know you were interested in ______,” can be very effective.  Fill in the blank and take it from there.  Also, don’t forget to include a call to action.  Never end an email with a statement!  Conclude your email with a question to prompt a response.

Follow-up with relevant and specific information

• Confirm special features/options on the vehicle ( something as simple as leather seats or advanced options like Bluetooth)
• Confirm availability (and interior color and condition if it is pre/owned)
• Send a pic of the actual vehicle and offer to send more
• Give a bullet point of what the next steps are in the buying process
• Explain advantage of buying from you
• Remind the prospect of what is needed for the test drive( license, and whatever else they may want)
• Provide info on what services or reconditioning on the pre-owned vehicle has been done

Read what is given to you

Read the chat transcript, form lead or any other consumer insights you have.  Know what the customer wants and give it to them.  It’s that easy!  Remember that the chat conversation has already developed a relationship between your dealership and the prospective customer.  An impersonal auto-response removes the customer entirely from the sales process and ruins your rapport.

By acting as an advocate in the follow-up process, auto dealers can provide consumers with  information and then ask questions to assist them in moving forward through the sales process.  Keep in mind that consumers don’t buy a car every day, week, month or year.  Every “inside” tip you give prospects builds upon the trust already established by the live chat conversation.

Remember, the leads received through automotive live chat are a product of a two-way conversation.  A template email saying thanks for your interest just stalls customers and erodes any trust built during a live chat conversation.

Remember, the leads received through automotive live chat are a product of a two-way conversation.

In addition to these tips, ActivEngage CEO Todd Smith offers additional advice that will not only help ensure auto dealers successfully transform chat conversations into leads, but will help them stand out in the marketplace during the critical follow-up process.

Watch Todd’s video for more ideas:

How do you follow-up with leads?  Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation as the dealer above?  How did you salvage the relationship?

Let us know in a comment below!

The benefits of automotive live chat for your dealership website’s sales process are pretty clear.  But, have you thought about what automotive live chat can do for your dealership service department?

As you know, your dealership service department is essential to the success of your dealership.  Service centers and/or body shops bring in vital revenue for dealers, often accounting for a majority of a dealership’s profit.  Yet, it is very possible that your service department’s resources are already stretched to the limit, inhibiting the amount of service leads and appointments your dealership is able to generate.

So, how do you improve your ability to capture service leads and set more service appointments?  If you incorporate live, automotive chat into your digital marketing mix, the answer is as simple as adding proactive invites to chat on your service department page.  If chat is something that you have yet to consider, below we first identify some of the common service-related issues your dealership might be facing.  Then, we discuss how full-service, automotive chat can resolve these common issues.

Why dealers should use managed chat for service:

1)      Your service department’s phones are always busy.

Does your dealership’s fixed operations department consistently experience peak times of calls and traffic throughout the day?  Most likely, your phones are ringing off the hooks during morning and mid-day peaks.  What happens to all the potential customers that call when your line is busy and fail to leave a message?  They are, more often than not, taking their business elsewhere!

Automotive chat on your dealership website allows customers searching for your phone number to get in touch with fixed ops as soon as they arrive on your site.  This new channel ofcommunication saves both you, and your customers, time and energy.  Chat will free up your phone lines for appointments to be set with non-Internet shoppers while providing tech-savvy customers a means of instant and hassle-free communication.

2)       Building your R-O (repair order) or service tickets is time-consuming.

How long does it generally take to build your repair order and answer all customer questions over the phone?  Too long?  Imagine what would happen to the efficiency of your fixed ops if you could have all of the information for your service tickets delivered to you without even having to pick up the phone!

Chat gives dealers the ability to get customers’ information ahead of time.  With chat, dealers can find out what the service will entail, get parts requests and ask if the customer if there is anything else that could or should be checked out.  At the same time, the instant communication of live chat discussions lets customers ask and find out about warranty information, how long the repair will take, get an estimate and request a loner vehicle.

Thus, automotive chat can streamline and cumulatively grow your service lead generationprocess in addition to building your repair orders ahead of time.

3)       Your Service Advisors and Managers are super busy, all of the time.

The expertise and management skills of your Service Advisors and Managers are critical to your fixed ops, but they only have time and attention for so many things during a day.  I’m sure both they and your bottom line would appreciate a more efficient lead capturing system.

Chat opens your net wider so you can capture more service opportunities.  Doing so allows your Advisors and Managers to prioritize follow-ups and better manage their time.

_

The value of full-service, managed chat for your dealership website offers you additional, high quality leads in order for you and your employees to focus more time and effort on setting appointments and selling and repairing cars.

Generate more leads from your website with ActivEngage, the most trusted brand in Automotive Live Chat!

Click here to learn more!

The benefits of automotive live chat for your dealership website’s sales process are pretty clear.  But, have you thought about what automotive live chat can do for your dealership service department?

As you know, your dealership service department is essential to the success of your dealership.  Service centers and/or body shops bring in vital revenue for dealers, often accounting for a majority of a dealership’s profit.  Yet, it is very possible that your service department’s resources are already stretched to the limit, inhibiting the amount of service leads and appointments your dealership is able to generate.

So, how do you improve your ability to capture service leads and set more service appointments?  If you incorporate live, automotive chat into your digital marketing mix, the answer is as simple as adding proactive invites to chat on your service department page.  If chat is something that you have yet to consider, below we first identify some of the common service-related issues your dealership might be facing.  Then, we discuss how full-service, automotive chat can resolve these common issues.

Why dealers should use managed chat for service:

1)      Your service department’s phones are always busy.

Does your dealership’s fixed operations department consistently experience peak times of calls and traffic throughout the day?  Most likely, your phones are ringing off the hooks during morning and mid-day peaks.  What happens to all the potential customers that call when your line is busy and fail to leave a message?  They are, more often than not, taking their business elsewhere!

Automotive chat on your dealership website allows customers searching for your phone number to get in touch with fixed ops as soon as they arrive on your site.  This new channel ofcommunication saves both you, and your customers, time and energy.  Chat will free up your phone lines for appointments to be set with non-Internet shoppers while providing tech-savvy customers a means of instant and hassle-free communication.

2)       Building your R-O (repair order) or service tickets is time-consuming.

How long does it generally take to build your repair order and answer all customer questions over the phone?  Too long?  Imagine what would happen to the efficiency of your fixed ops if you could have all of the information for your service tickets delivered to you without even having to pick up the phone!

Chat gives dealers the ability to get customers’ information ahead of time.  With chat, dealers can find out what the service will entail, get parts requests and ask if the customer if there is anything else that could or should be checked out.  At the same time, the instant communication of live chat discussions lets customers ask and find out about warranty information, how long the repair will take, get an estimate and request a loner vehicle.

Thus, automotive chat can streamline and cumulatively grow your service lead generationprocess in addition to building your repair orders ahead of time.

3)       Your Service Advisors and Managers are super busy, all of the time.

The expertise and management skills of your Service Advisors and Managers are critical to your fixed ops, but they only have time and attention for so many things during a day.  I’m sure both they and your bottom line would appreciate a more efficient lead capturing system.

Chat opens your net wider so you can capture more service opportunities.  Doing so allows your Advisors and Managers to prioritize follow-ups and better manage their time.

_

The value of full-service, managed chat for your dealership website offers you additional, high quality leads in order for you and your employees to focus more time and effort on setting appointments and selling and repairing cars.

Generate more leads from your website with ActivEngage, the most trusted brand in Automotive Live Chat!

Click here to learn more!