Auto dealerships have always strived to create seamless connectivity between the experiences on their website (trade appraisal tools, evaluators, etc) and their CRM, credit card processors, credit vendors, and so on.

As you’re probably aware, this type of connectivity is extremely important to the success of your dealership's day-to-day operations. All of the data that your dealership’s website collects needs transmit immediately transmit to your dealership’s CRM, and be appended to the records in your other programs so that you’re able to track the consumer’s history with your dealership.

Now, let me ask you this: have you ever stopped to think about how connected your website experience is for consumers? If you haven’t, then now is the time to start! In an age where consumers are online more than they are in your store, it’s arguably more important for you to create a connected website experience for consumers.

Websites like Amazon, Google & Facebook have already proven how important it is for connectivity to exist between a platform and its users. Between its ability to remember specific  details about you and its ability to provide suggestions, these sites are prime examples of ideal connectivity.

I realize that these are much larger sites, but much smaller sites are beginning to add improved connectivity between the consumer and the website. Who’s to say that your dealership can’t do the same exact thing?

Your dealership’s website can absolutely improve its consumer connectivity. The primary thing you need to understand are the common traits that make a consumer connected website successful. Check out the 4 most common traits below:

The Website Remembers the Consumer

One of the most common traits found in consumer connected websites is its ability to remember who consumers are when they return to your website. One of the major reasons why sites like Amazon are so successful is because of this particular trait. After you’ve logged into your Amazon account, you can return and the site still remembers your name, your shopping preferences, your credit cards numbers, and everything else under the sun.

For your dealership’s website, this trait can have a major impact on the way consumers continue to engage with you. Consider the experiences on your website, for example: your trade appraisal tools, your evaluations, your credit applications, etc. If they’re considered valuable, a consumer is going to engage with some of those experiences.

Considering most consumers pay your website a visit a 2nd or 3rd time, they’re continuing to peruse your website and go through other experiences. If your consumers have already visited your website, why should they have to enter in all their information again when going through a separate experience? They shouldn’t have to!

Integrating a feature that allows your website to remember consumer names is not only considered thoughtful, but it makes life just a little easier for the consumer. There’s no extra hassle and the consumer can keep browsing as they see fit.

The Consumer and Dealership Get Equal Value

Another common trait I’ll be discussing is “equal exchange of value.” What does this mean? Basically, an equal exchange of value is when a consumer receives something of equal or greater value from your dealership after they’ve submitted valuable that your sales team can use to follow-up with consumers with ease.

Essentially, it’s when an experience provides consumers and dealers with a win-win scenario. If a consumer is going through a trade appraisal experience, it means they want to know the value of their current vehicle. If they’re taking the time to go through the experience, then it’s clear that the appended dollar value is very important to them. In exchange for that estimate, they provide dealers with their contact information and shopping preferences — which again, is all very valuable information to dealers.

Smart CTA Implementation

Personalized Calls-to-Action or Smart CTA’s are another trait often found on highly connected websites. Like I’ve discussed in previous posts, Smart CTAs are calls-to-action that change based on an individual’s previous activity on your website.

After a consumer completes a certain action on your website (say, they go through a trade appraisal experience), the website will automatically generate button that suggests next steps. These next steps can be anything that helps a consumer push them further down the purchasing funnel: lock-in price, schedule a test drive, etc. The best part about Smart CTA’s is obviously that they’re customized to their individual consumer’s specific needs — so nothing is irrelevant.
 

Consumers Can Choose to Talk to a Salesperson

As much as we don’t want to admit it, consumers are still a tad weary about submitting their information to dealerships — even if they are getting something of immediate value from you. The reason for this is because consumers are fearful that they’ll get a million phone calls and e-mails from a sales person after they hit “submit” or “Get Trade-In Value.”

While the salesperson is an absolutely integral part of the purchasing journey for many consumers, consumers who are still in the research phase might not want to talk to anyone at that moment. A salesperson doesn’t have to available 100% of the time. Consumers might still need some time to figure out what it is they want from their next vehicle. Not only are they looking at inventory, but they’re probably looking at other dealerships too — and that’s perfectly okay!

When it comes to website experiences, it pays to be courteous. Simply adding a permission checkbox before submission allows consumers to feel more comfortable with submitting their information to you. If they want someone from the dealership to reach out, they can click the checkbox. If not, they can leave it blank — and they’ll still get the information they requested.

Does your dealership leverage any of these traits? Are there any traits that you can maybe add to the list? Let me know in the comments below!