Selling comes naturally for many of us in the car business...

In most conversations, people in the automotive industry have a tendency to turn the conversation with the techniques we've been taught - building rapport, qualifying, leading the conversation, listening for hot buttons, etc.

On website chat, there's a slightly different mentality required to make it work. Unlike phone and face-to-face conversations, it's more challenging to utilize our natural and trained skills to lead people towards the goal. We have to, in many ways, earn the right to ask for the lead. This is contrary to some philosophies that attempt to go straight for the lead information on chat, but it's better to talk them through it rather than force the issue.

There are two common scenarios that we see on chat today. First, there are those who answer the chat and reply to any question with a request for contact information. Even if they ask something simple like, "what time do you close," the response is always, "I'm not sure but I'll check on that and contact you. May I have your phone number and email address, please?"

The second growing phenomenon is the "lead gate". In this scenario, requests for chat are prompted with a form getting all of their information up front. If they want to ask a simple question, they have to fill out a lead form just to be able to get through to people. It's like calling the dealership and having the receptionist answer by saying, "Thank you for calling Sterns BMW. May I have your name, phone number, and email address, please?"

On the surface, it can seem like a good idea to ask for the information up front. If they're serious, they'll leave the information, right? Wrong. Just because people aren't wanting to leave their information for the dealership doesn't mean they're not serious about buying a car. In fact, many people prefer chat because it's less risky to them. They aren't having to talk to a salesperson on the phone and they don't have to wait for a reply via email.

The wonderful part about chat is that we've seen thousands of instances over the years where a person is a bit standoffish from the start, but after being helpful and answering their questions quickly and informatively, they are willing later in the chat to give their contact information to the chat operator.

Earning a lead on chat means that you're starting off by meeting their needs so that they're more willing to meet your needs. That's the give and take that makes top dealerships the most successful.

Selling comes naturally for many of us in the car business...

In most conversations, people in the automotive industry have a tendency to turn the conversation with the techniques we've been taught - building rapport, qualifying, leading the conversation, listening for hot buttons, etc.

On website chat, there's a slightly different mentality required to make it work. Unlike phone and face-to-face conversations, it's more challenging to utilize our natural and trained skills to lead people towards the goal. We have to, in many ways, earn the right to ask for the lead. This is contrary to some philosophies that attempt to go straight for the lead information on chat, but it's better to talk them through it rather than force the issue.

There are two common scenarios that we see on chat today. First, there are those who answer the chat and reply to any question with a request for contact information. Even if they ask something simple like, "what time do you close," the response is always, "I'm not sure but I'll check on that and contact you. May I have your phone number and email address, please?"

The second growing phenomenon is the "lead gate". In this scenario, requests for chat are prompted with a form getting all of their information up front. If they want to ask a simple question, they have to fill out a lead form just to be able to get through to people. It's like calling the dealership and having the receptionist answer by saying, "Thank you for calling Sterns BMW. May I have your name, phone number, and email address, please?"

On the surface, it can seem like a good idea to ask for the information up front. If they're serious, they'll leave the information, right? Wrong. Just because people aren't wanting to leave their information for the dealership doesn't mean they're not serious about buying a car. In fact, many people prefer chat because it's less risky to them. They aren't having to talk to a salesperson on the phone and they don't have to wait for a reply via email.

The wonderful part about chat is that we've seen thousands of instances over the years where a person is a bit standoffish from the start, but after being helpful and answering their questions quickly and informatively, they are willing later in the chat to give their contact information to the chat operator.

Earning a lead on chat means that you're starting off by meeting their needs so that they're more willing to meet your needs. That's the give and take that makes top dealerships the most successful.

There is a ton of hype in our industry when it comes to lead conversion. Everyone seems to have the magic formula, but that formula seems different depending on who you're talking to at the moment. Are there really that many magic formulas when it comes to generating leads or do the majority of vendors act on gut feeling?

It's a question that you need to ask your vendors. Ask all of them. If they're generating leads in some way for you, whether it's through website wonder widgets or inventory secret formulas. I'm not saying all of this to call people out. It simply comes down to numbers, really. Numbers mean math. Math means science.

One of the most compelling reason that I came to CarChat24 in the first place was because I was a believer in the product when I was on the dealer side. It made sense to me, the way they tested, retested, and reretested everything. There is science behind all aspects from the images of the chat operators used to compel people to chat all the way down to whether it's better to start a conversation with "hi" or "hello".

Get feelings can lie. Not all of them, but there have been many situations where the component of lead generating that we thought would perform the best turned out to be the worst of the bunch. That's fine by us. We're not interested in being right with our guesses. We want to be right with the products we deliver.

The point I'm trying to make is this: with all of your vendors, get an understanding of the science behind their methodology. Do orange buttons on the right work better than blue buttons on the left? Have they tested every variation? Should you lead image on inventory have a branded overlay? Should all of your images have branded overlays? Should texting be an option above phone number and contact form or do you dismiss having customers text you altogther? Are big buttons on your mobile site preferable because they are easier for small screens, or do they make the scrolling harder?

There are a million questions you can ask a vendor. Guess what? They probably have all of the answers, depending on who you're asking. The most important question to ask them is how they know. Are they testing it? Are they applying science or gut feeling?

There is a psychology that goes into everything that has to do with lead generation, but even psychology fails sometimes. Best practices, benchmarks, and secret formulas are only as effective as the testing behind them.

Check on your vendors from time to time to see if they're improving their products for you. Find out if they're testing or if they've found something that sells easily and they don't want to mess with it. I know it might sound accusatory for me to be suggesting all of these things, but I've seen the results of the alternative. More importantly, I've seen the results that come from this constant adherance to testing, testing, and more testing. It works.

There is a ton of hype in our industry when it comes to lead conversion. Everyone seems to have the magic formula, but that formula seems different depending on who you're talking to at the moment. Are there really that many magic formulas when it comes to generating leads or do the majority of vendors act on gut feeling?

It's a question that you need to ask your vendors. Ask all of them. If they're generating leads in some way for you, whether it's through website wonder widgets or inventory secret formulas. I'm not saying all of this to call people out. It simply comes down to numbers, really. Numbers mean math. Math means science.

One of the most compelling reason that I came to CarChat24 in the first place was because I was a believer in the product when I was on the dealer side. It made sense to me, the way they tested, retested, and reretested everything. There is science behind all aspects from the images of the chat operators used to compel people to chat all the way down to whether it's better to start a conversation with "hi" or "hello".

Get feelings can lie. Not all of them, but there have been many situations where the component of lead generating that we thought would perform the best turned out to be the worst of the bunch. That's fine by us. We're not interested in being right with our guesses. We want to be right with the products we deliver.

The point I'm trying to make is this: with all of your vendors, get an understanding of the science behind their methodology. Do orange buttons on the right work better than blue buttons on the left? Have they tested every variation? Should you lead image on inventory have a branded overlay? Should all of your images have branded overlays? Should texting be an option above phone number and contact form or do you dismiss having customers text you altogther? Are big buttons on your mobile site preferable because they are easier for small screens, or do they make the scrolling harder?

There are a million questions you can ask a vendor. Guess what? They probably have all of the answers, depending on who you're asking. The most important question to ask them is how they know. Are they testing it? Are they applying science or gut feeling?

There is a psychology that goes into everything that has to do with lead generation, but even psychology fails sometimes. Best practices, benchmarks, and secret formulas are only as effective as the testing behind them.

Check on your vendors from time to time to see if they're improving their products for you. Find out if they're testing or if they've found something that sells easily and they don't want to mess with it. I know it might sound accusatory for me to be suggesting all of these things, but I've seen the results of the alternative. More importantly, I've seen the results that come from this constant adherance to testing, testing, and more testing. It works.

Website chat is viewed by many dealers to be an alternative method of communication, as it should be. There are some who view it as a lead generation tool and they can look at numbers to show that they're getting more leads, but to truly test their results that must take a closer look.

Properly positioned and managed chat on dealer websites can definitely be great for getting more leads. However, there are passive services out there, the ones that are pretty much contact forms with different branding, that are not generating more leads. They're simply capturing the leads from people who would have used a different method of contact whether there was chat on the website or not.

As we detailed on a post we titled, "A Great Automotive Chat Solution Will Increase Leads", one of the primary goals of website chat should be to give more of your website visitors a reason to make contact with you and become a lead as a result.

Reports from any chat provider will show you how many leads they're able to capture. You then have to compare that to the other lead-generating tools on your website. Are you getting more leads or are you simply replacing leads from other sources with chat leads? If your total number of leads is not going up, as is the case so often when we're talking to potential customers, then your chat is not positioned properly.

Analyze all of your reports together. Don't simply take what your chat provider shows in their report and assume that things are going well. What you may find is that your chat leads are present but that your other lead sources from your website went down once you installed chat. The goal is to get more, not replace pre-existing ones.

Website chat is viewed by many dealers to be an alternative method of communication, as it should be. There are some who view it as a lead generation tool and they can look at numbers to show that they're getting more leads, but to truly test their results that must take a closer look.

Properly positioned and managed chat on dealer websites can definitely be great for getting more leads. However, there are passive services out there, the ones that are pretty much contact forms with different branding, that are not generating more leads. They're simply capturing the leads from people who would have used a different method of contact whether there was chat on the website or not.

As we detailed on a post we titled, "A Great Automotive Chat Solution Will Increase Leads", one of the primary goals of website chat should be to give more of your website visitors a reason to make contact with you and become a lead as a result.

Reports from any chat provider will show you how many leads they're able to capture. You then have to compare that to the other lead-generating tools on your website. Are you getting more leads or are you simply replacing leads from other sources with chat leads? If your total number of leads is not going up, as is the case so often when we're talking to potential customers, then your chat is not positioned properly.

Analyze all of your reports together. Don't simply take what your chat provider shows in their report and assume that things are going well. What you may find is that your chat leads are present but that your other lead sources from your website went down once you installed chat. The goal is to get more, not replace pre-existing ones.

One of the most disturbing trends we're seeing on dealer websites is when they use chat areas as another contact form. It's true that chat is a way to generate leads, but when collecting contact information is the primary goal, the whole point of chat is missed.

Here are some things that we have found to be true with chat that dealers should keep in mind when they determine how to position chat in their digital marketing.

1. Stop Asking for Contact Information Up Front

A few months ago I saw an analogy in a blog post that positioned this statement in the right context. To paraphrase: You wouldn't have your receptionist answer the phone by saying, "Thank you for calling, may I have your name, phone number, and email address, please?"

Help first. Answer their questions and earn the right to get their contact information. When you put up a gate that requires them to give you contact information, you're pushing people who want to talk to you away. There are plenty of contact forms on your website. If they wanted to fill one out, they would have. Instead, they wanted to talk to you. The lead form gates might seem to inflate leads, but they actually decrease the quality and quantity of leads that you receive.

2. Don't let Chat be a Passive Part of Your Website

I've heard a couple of sales pitches from chat companies that talk about the way that chat cannibalizes leads if it's proactive. In other words, they're saying that your chat should be a discreet button that people have to hunt down if they want to use it. The theory is that if they really want to chat, they'll find a way to do it. No need to be proactive.

This is a con. I hate calling out competitors but here is a clear and demonstrable fact: proactive chat increases the total number of leads that your website generates while passive chat does not. With this being the case and something that is common knowledge amongst those of is in the chat industry, one might wonder why a company would promote the idea of passive chat. The answer is simple. It's more profitable for them. With managed chat services, the more chats you get, the less profits they make because they need people to operate the chat. When the total number of chats per dealership is reduced, managed chat companies make more money.

We look at things through a longer-term lens. Even though we won't make as much profit per month with proactive chat, we realize that serving your website visitors appropriately and generating more leads for the dealership will keep our clients on board for longer. Less profit per month, more profit over the life of the client. It's about aligning goals.

3. Stop Turning Chat Off

This is the biggest gap that chat fills. Most dealers do not have a receptionist manning the phones 24 hours per day. You might hear chat providers say that "serious buyers" are not online late at night or early in the morning.

This is clearly a falsehood. People are on the internet at all hours of the night and morning. Shame on the chat providers who promote this concept. As a dealer and someone who likely uses the internet, you should not fall for this.

Chat fills the gap of instant communication. Many people will call. When calling is not an option and they want answers immediately, they know that a live chat service is their best bet to get their questions answered at that moment. Don't fall for the idea that people only chat during business hours. It's simply not true.

Conclusion

Chat is an amazing part of the communication apparatus available to today's savvy car buyers. Many of them use it for various reasons to contact dealers. Having the right chat strategy is something that dealers today need to take seriously. 

One of the most disturbing trends we're seeing on dealer websites is when they use chat areas as another contact form. It's true that chat is a way to generate leads, but when collecting contact information is the primary goal, the whole point of chat is missed.

Here are some things that we have found to be true with chat that dealers should keep in mind when they determine how to position chat in their digital marketing.

1. Stop Asking for Contact Information Up Front

A few months ago I saw an analogy in a blog post that positioned this statement in the right context. To paraphrase: You wouldn't have your receptionist answer the phone by saying, "Thank you for calling, may I have your name, phone number, and email address, please?"

Help first. Answer their questions and earn the right to get their contact information. When you put up a gate that requires them to give you contact information, you're pushing people who want to talk to you away. There are plenty of contact forms on your website. If they wanted to fill one out, they would have. Instead, they wanted to talk to you. The lead form gates might seem to inflate leads, but they actually decrease the quality and quantity of leads that you receive.

2. Don't let Chat be a Passive Part of Your Website

I've heard a couple of sales pitches from chat companies that talk about the way that chat cannibalizes leads if it's proactive. In other words, they're saying that your chat should be a discreet button that people have to hunt down if they want to use it. The theory is that if they really want to chat, they'll find a way to do it. No need to be proactive.

This is a con. I hate calling out competitors but here is a clear and demonstrable fact: proactive chat increases the total number of leads that your website generates while passive chat does not. With this being the case and something that is common knowledge amongst those of is in the chat industry, one might wonder why a company would promote the idea of passive chat. The answer is simple. It's more profitable for them. With managed chat services, the more chats you get, the less profits they make because they need people to operate the chat. When the total number of chats per dealership is reduced, managed chat companies make more money.

We look at things through a longer-term lens. Even though we won't make as much profit per month with proactive chat, we realize that serving your website visitors appropriately and generating more leads for the dealership will keep our clients on board for longer. Less profit per month, more profit over the life of the client. It's about aligning goals.

3. Stop Turning Chat Off

This is the biggest gap that chat fills. Most dealers do not have a receptionist manning the phones 24 hours per day. You might hear chat providers say that "serious buyers" are not online late at night or early in the morning.

This is clearly a falsehood. People are on the internet at all hours of the night and morning. Shame on the chat providers who promote this concept. As a dealer and someone who likely uses the internet, you should not fall for this.

Chat fills the gap of instant communication. Many people will call. When calling is not an option and they want answers immediately, they know that a live chat service is their best bet to get their questions answered at that moment. Don't fall for the idea that people only chat during business hours. It's simply not true.

Conclusion

Chat is an amazing part of the communication apparatus available to today's savvy car buyers. Many of them use it for various reasons to contact dealers. Having the right chat strategy is something that dealers today need to take seriously. 

You see kids doing it all the time. They're on their smartphones texting their friends, sharing information on social media, and chatting through the various chat structures available to them. It's as if they're not as interested in talking anymore!

Wait a minute. That's not just the kids. That's just about everyone. I find myself doing the same thing. If you call my cell phone and make it to voicemail, my message even encourages people to text me. For the most part, all of us have fallen into the trap of real-time text-based communication rather than slower methods like email or contact forms. We're even talking less and chatting/texting more.

This is a trend that we talked about on our company blog and it's something that could even be considered a paradigm shift in the way that businesses communicate with their customers. This is why it's such an exciting time for me andmy company to be in the chat business and it's why so many dealers are finding tremendous success with their own website chat.

It's not isolated to websites. Even on social media, they're switching to as much real-time communication as possible. Facebook is promoting their Messenger chat system to the point of making it the exclusive way for people to chat on mobile devices through the Facebook interface. The trends couldn't be any more clear.

It's surprising to me when I find a dealership that does not offer chat on their website. When I talk to them, a common reason for it is that they tried it in the past and it didn't work. Things have changed. More people are chatting. They like the real-time communication that chat provides without having to engage on the phone.

If you have "been there, done that" with chat, you may want to give it another look. Things have changed since you last had it on your site. People have changed. Habits have changed. Take advantage of these changes and explore what chat can do today compared to what it didn't do for you in the past.

You see kids doing it all the time. They're on their smartphones texting their friends, sharing information on social media, and chatting through the various chat structures available to them. It's as if they're not as interested in talking anymore!

Wait a minute. That's not just the kids. That's just about everyone. I find myself doing the same thing. If you call my cell phone and make it to voicemail, my message even encourages people to text me. For the most part, all of us have fallen into the trap of real-time text-based communication rather than slower methods like email or contact forms. We're even talking less and chatting/texting more.

This is a trend that we talked about on our company blog and it's something that could even be considered a paradigm shift in the way that businesses communicate with their customers. This is why it's such an exciting time for me andmy company to be in the chat business and it's why so many dealers are finding tremendous success with their own website chat.

It's not isolated to websites. Even on social media, they're switching to as much real-time communication as possible. Facebook is promoting their Messenger chat system to the point of making it the exclusive way for people to chat on mobile devices through the Facebook interface. The trends couldn't be any more clear.

It's surprising to me when I find a dealership that does not offer chat on their website. When I talk to them, a common reason for it is that they tried it in the past and it didn't work. Things have changed. More people are chatting. They like the real-time communication that chat provides without having to engage on the phone.

If you have "been there, done that" with chat, you may want to give it another look. Things have changed since you last had it on your site. People have changed. Habits have changed. Take advantage of these changes and explore what chat can do today compared to what it didn't do for you in the past.