Last week our Director of Sales, Russ DeVries, participated in one of DealerStrong's semi-annual SuperGroup Meetings. Scheduled to coincide with the Industry Summit at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, the SF SuperGroup includes dealer principals and senior management from some of the highest volume SF stores in the country.

Russ spent the day rubbing elbows with these VIPs before presenting his own confidential specialized data relating to the economics of an Internet sales lead. He focused on the key metrics that these dealers must track and gave them suggestions for increasing conversions in their digital marketing funnel based on IFMG's 25+ years of experience.

These were the top 3:

1. Know which concepts, costs and metrics drive a dealership's lead performance.
2. Test, test, test. From landing page design to traffic sources to calls-to-action (CTAs), everything can be tested to optimize conversion. Focus on influencing consumer behavior.
3. Identifying lead traffic sources that convert at a lower cost per lead.

And as an added bonus, Russ got to see our friend from the Howard Bentley Budget Center, Kevin Laten.

Russ DeVries, IFMG's Director of Sales (L) and Kevin Laten, Special Finance Manager at Howard Bentley Budget Center

For more about why they get along so well, check out the Success Story in our eBook "Special Finance Quick Start." You can download it here.

We're continuing our closer look at our new eBook, "Special Finance Quick Start," this week with a peek at the checklist we've developed with DealerStrong for reviewing your operation's process.

Read through this list to see if your process is optimized for SF demand. The more elements you can check off, the better off your store is.

• Dedicated staff to work with SF consumers
• Tools to support consistent follow up: ILM or CRM; email marketing
• Focused on selling the appointment before selling the car
• Waiting to pull credit until the consumer is in front of you.

If you're not where you want to be, at least you'll know where you are.

Sound like something you'd like to take a closer look at? Download the new eBook here!

In honor of our new collaboration with DealerStrong, Greg Goebel, president and CEO and Special Finance veteran, has shared with us the top 5 mistakes that he's seen SF operations make. Take a moment to learn from his experience, we think you'll be glad you did.

Here are the highlights:

Mistake #5: Thinking "If Some is Good, More is Better" - More often than not, dealers are working too many leads with too few well-trained people simply picking the low hanging fruit. If more is always better, we'd be drinking out of fire hoses as opposed to drinking fountains (or plastic bottles).

Mistake #4:   Failing to Track  Your Activities - The SF department is the largest profit center that is not broken out separately on a dealer's financial statement. As a result, most dealers can't come close to knowing what they are really doing in SF.

Mistake #3:  Fire, Ready, Aim - There are so many ways to approach this, but let's try it like this. Baseball's best hitter over the past decade is Albert Pujols, and he takes batting practice every day. SF isn't brain surgery, but if it were easy, every dealer would have SF sales volume that was a minimum of 25% of their total, and deal gross profits of $3,000 or better.

Mistake #2: Inventory that Doesn't Work - Every dealership thinks that their dealership is different and that they can put SF deals together without modifying their inventory. Yeah, right. you have heard me expound on this for years, but it is still one of the biggest mistakes dealers and departments make.

Mistake #1: Lack of Team Commitment - Whether it is the dealer, executive management, key managers or sales personnel, people don't totally commit. Usually it revolves around one of two issues: cash or compensation.

We're just touching the surface here, you can read the entire post on the DealerStrong website here.

If you're looking for a fast way to get your SF operation off the ground or get your SF department humming, check out our new eBook created in association with DealerStrong. You can get it here.

We've collaborated with the executives at DealerStrong to put together a new eBook for you about working in Special Finance, all with the goal of helping you to SELL MORE CARS!®

The guide will walk you through the three pillars of a successful special finance (SF) operation to get you off to a fast start. The pillars are:

• Lending
• Inventory
• Process

We'll also take a look at what you can expect when you sign up for finance leads, as well as what a kickoff consulting session from DealerStrong looks like. And each pillar comes with a handy-dandy checklist for you to review your operation and check your progress.

If you're not where you want to be, at least you'll know where you are.

Sound like something you'd like to check out? Download the new eBook here!

Welcome to the final entry in our series on the Top 5 Best Practices for Following Up on leads at your store. We've worked our way through the top 4: "Make Contact Quickly"; "Sell the Appointment", "Don't Pull Credit First" and “Work Your Process.” Next up is one that seems like it’s implied -- #5: “Be Consistent.”

Yes you have a process (see best practice #4), but how consistently do you follow that process? Everyone has off days so make sure your team has the support they need to put in the effort day after day.

Put together store policies that support the process you’ve identified as the best way for your team to bring in prospects and sell cars. Then ensure that they’re being followed by reviewing and enforcing them on the sale floor.

Next, make sure that your team touches every lead – and if there’s only one person working them, you need to have a back-up in place to make sure that none of them slip through the cracks (we’ll get to that in a second).  Use a standardized phone script to set appointments.

If you’re getting email addresses, send professional-looking emails with a uniform look and feel to invite the buyer to make an appointment. The key is to make sure that the message in your phone scripts is consistent with your email copy and make sense when viewed in conjunction with your website – in short that there’s some level of standardization across all of those channels.

You’ve got your process in place, now you and your team need to use it all day, every day.

And there you have it! Our Top 5 Best Practices for Following Up. Keep your eyes peeled for our next eBook on this topic.

This week we're continuing our series on the Top 5 Best Practices for Following Up on leads at your store. We've worked our way through the top 3: "Make Contact Quickly"; "Sell the Appointment" and "Don't Pull Credit First." Next up is one that's easy to forget -- #4, "Work Your Process".

Like anything else, you have to know where you're going and what success looks like if you're going to get there. In the dealership, that means knowing what you're going to do with these leads before you start getting them. Get your process right before you sign up a lead provider or launch that new website or mailer.

But we're not telling you something you don't already know. 

So let's verify that you're following these best practices:

1. Do you have someone who is specifically responsible for prospect follow up? Accountability is a great way to protect your wallet.
2. Fine tune your scripts for setting appointments and use those each and every time you pick up the phone. 
3. Set the appointment for within 48 hours of your conversation with the prospect, and always always always confirm the appointment. 
4. As we covered in the last post on credit, discuss financing and the down payment in person.

We're coming to the end of the list here 

-- join us next week for the final entry in the series, "Be Consistent."

If you're just joining us, we're still working our way down the list of the Top 5 Best Practices for Following Up on leads at your dealership. So far we've covered #1, "Make Contact Quickly", and #2, "Sell the Appointment." Today we're taking a closer look at best practice #3, "Don't Pull Credit First."

We know you want to winnow your leads to find the best ones, especially if you've got a lot coming in from your OEM, your website, and any 3rd party lead providers you've signed up with.

We get that. But...

The problem comes when dealers pull credit in order to cherry-pick -- meaning that they don't even talk to some prospects who are ready to buy because those consumers don't fit a specific profile. Don't be tempted to take that shortcut. Get them in the door. 

If you conduct that financial interview in person, not only are they already on your lot and more likely to fall in love with a car, but you will discover cosigners and down payments that are not reflected on the credit application.  You will get a better picture of their work history and other important details that will factor in to your ability to get a deal done. 

Couple that with the fact that you're more likely to tick them off if you pull credit before you've talked to them, and it just makes sense to wait.  (We covered some of the legal and other implications involved in our April post, "Consumer Consent and You -- When Should You Pull Credit?", if you want to take examine that piece of it. )

How does your operation manage their consumer information? When does the credit pull happen in your process? Examine your process to determine whether it's working for you...and if it's not, make a change. 

Which is a great segue into our next topic, Best Practice #4, "Work Your Process."

I know it's a lot easier to talk to someone about a specific car over the phone, but you have to focus on getting them into your store if you really want to sell them a car. If you're talking to them, they've already raised their hand by applying for a car loan or submitting an inquiry on a piece of your inventory.  Working with them in person is the next crucial step.

In the course of your conversation, be specific on dates and times for potential appointments, ideally in the next 24 to 48 hours. These are car buyers who are looking for someone who can put them into a car today -- they're looking to move quickly, and you have to respond quickly to keep their attention.  Discussing too many details over the phone, such as financing options and terms, will result in fewer appointments.

Once you have them on your calendar, don't leave it up to them to remember their appointment with you. Reconfirm the date and time via email and call them the day of to confirm again. If they don't show, don't hesitate to call them and reschedule their appointment.   

If they do decide to hold off, don't panic. Continue to reach out to them periodically to keep them up to date with offers at your store and keep yourself on their radar. (Email marketing is a great way to do this.) 

Take a look at how you're working now - I would argue that you are more likely to close a deal if you've got someone in your store than not. Do you agree? 

Would love to hear about any exceptions out there.

Join us next week when we dig deeper into Best Practice #3, "Don't Pull Credit First."

Questions? Concerns? Can't wait for the rest of the series? Give us a call  at 800-222-8374 or drop us a line today.

Last week we introduced this month's blog topic, the Top 5 Best Practices for Following Up on leads at your dealership.

Today, let's take a look at the #1 Best Practice, "Make Contact Quickly."  

We can agree that this insight is not new or shocking -- it's been discussed on car dealer forums and in marketing blog posts like this one for years...which doesn't make it any less true.

Think about it this way: our leads come from people who are online now and expect a response now. Studies have shown that the best window for responding to an Internet lead is to call or email within 15 minutes of receipt for the best chance to connect. If you wait 24 hours or more, that person may go online and apply somewhere else.

Most dealerships have someone specifically assigned to follow up on leads, and we definitely recommend that. Designating a sales rep who is responsible for follow up and booking appointments means you're going to get better results.

We also recommend using multiple channels to contact the leads, including phone, email, text (certain restrictions apply) and even snail mail. A tech savvy consumer who won't answer his cell phone may respond to an email or text.

Something to think about when you're reviewing your current follow up process.

Join us next week when we dig deeper into Best Practice #2, "Sell the Appointment."

Questions? Concerns? Can't wait for the rest of the series? Hit us up on Twitter: @InteractiveFMG

New month, new blog series. This is a topic that is near and dear to our hearts -- following up on leads.

Sure, we deliver car buyers to you, but we that's as far as we can take it. Then we have to put these consumers into your capable hands and let your sales process take over from there. (Any sales rep will tell you that this is where the real magic happens.)

We've come a long way from our humble beginnings as 1-800-CAR-LOAN in 1989, and during that time we've collected some recommendations for best practices that will give you, our dealer partner, the best results.

Here are our Top 5:

1. Make Contact Quickly
2. Sell the Appointment
3. Don't Pull Credit First
4. Work Your Process
5. Be Consistent

It seems pretty simple, right?

Like most things, it's harder than it looks. Join us for the rest of this month as we dig deeper into each of these 5 best practices.