Everyday, more website solutions are being introduced to the automotive industry. If leveraged properly, these solutions can have an extremely positive impact on leads. This is both from a qualitative and quantitative perspective.

By the same token, however, these solutions can make life confusing for your team working in your dealership. When new software solutions are implemented, processes and work structures remain the same — but we all know they need to adapt to changes.

Some of your reps are able to adapt just fine to the new software, but others will struggle. Regardless, there will always be a learning curve. In order to ensure a smooth implementation, education is imperative for everyone on your BDC team.

Now, you might be thinking, “Oh, that’s okay. I’ll just hold a one hour workshop or pow-wow to discuss the new software” and how it’ll impact their role. In an ideal world, this would be completely acceptable. However, your BDC team is composed of people with a diverse set of talents and skill sets. Newer BDC reps will likely be able to handle the changes better than a seasoned veteran who’s been doing things the same way for years.
 

Not only is employee education going to be crucial following the implementation of new software, but you might need to assign different work to certain employees or have them follow up with different types of prospects in different ways. You might need to adjust your overall strategy. Essentially, conversations need to happen so that everyone is on the same page.

In the midst of implementing new software solutions, there are a few things that dealerships must change in regards to their overall lead capture strategy. Here are some of the more common changes that dealerships experience when integrating new lead capture solutions.

The Number of Leads Are Increasing… And We’re Overwhelmed

In the case of PERQ’s online guided shopping solution, engaging interactive experiences are presented to prospective car shoppers who peruse your dealership’s website. The solution uses artificial intelligence to serve up the next best steps in the shopping process. Because a dealership’s website promises to provide consumers with the information and resources they’re looking for, they’ll be far more inclined to submit their contact information to your website in exchange for information that helps with their car buying decision.

Many consumers are hesitant to fill out static forms because the information is often thought to go into a void, and consumers get nothing in return. Guided shopping experiences, however, allow consumers to get valuable information on their trade, calculate payments on a vehicle of interest, take a quiz to determine the make and model match right for them, and more. So what do you think happens? If consumers have more incentive to submit their information to your website (and if they have the option of NOT being contacted right away), they’re going to complete those experiences — and that means more leads on your end.

Getting more leads doesn’t sound like a problem, but when you see a 30% to 40% increase in leads in a relatively short period of time, the results in sales you’re looking for can be hindered by an overwhelmed staff.  Your team are only able to reach out to so many people with the care and attention they deserve. So what does one do?

For starters, the information your BDC team receives from these prospects is likely far more in-depth and nuanced than the information received before. Consumers discuss purchase timelines and even how they prefer to be contacted. This information (and many other bits of information in the consumer profile) can give insight into which shoppers should be reached out to first. Instead of trying to reach out to each consumer in the order their forms are received, sales should FIRST focus on consumers who closer to a purchasing decision or in the market to buy now and then work their way up.

Some of your BDC reps might focus on trying to close a deal with shoppers who are clearly in the buy phase (they’ve scheduled a test drive), while other reps might focus on continuing to warm up consumers who are still researching (they got a value of their trade and say they’re in the market to buy in 90 days). Those reps might reach out via email to continue to nurture that relationship.

We’re Getting Far More Detailed Information… But We Don’t Know Where to Find it!

Along with seeing a significant increase in the number of leads received, the amount of different information (or rather, the quality of information) skyrockets. Again, this isn’t a problem at face value — but it can be a problem if things aren’t communicated and configured properly.

One of the most common pain points experienced by dealerships is a lack of knowledge of where to find this new and highly valuable information. Many CRM’s aren’t “up to snuff” when it comes to capturing and evaluating unique customer profile attributes. In a standard listing, contact information will populate a profile, along with the some feedback (from a comment form), but sales people might need to delve deeper to find unique information like “Are They Ready to Buy Now? Yes/No” or “When Do You Want to Schedule Your Test Drive? <Date of Choice>.” Many salespeople know the information is available, but they might feel exasperated not being able to find it.

The best thing you, as a dealership owner or internet sales manager, can do is to provide your sales teams with knowledge. Educate your team on where to find these unique consumer attributes and, more importantly, HOW they can leverage that information in their upcoming conversations. After all, what good is the additional information if you don’t know how to leverage it? Additionally, it’s not a bad idea to teach your sales people how to segment those leads (based on priority) and delegate them to the best people for the job.

Don’t Forget: Open Communication Is Key

Aside from educating your sales team on the different aspects of reporting and lead capture, open communication is another important aspect of integrating guided shopping solutions.

Your sales team wants to succeed and they absolutely want the business to succeed as well — so include them in the decision making process! When introducing the software to your team, let them know precisely what’s going on, step-by-step.

Schedule a vendor education session (or a few) with your team or ask for a webinar from your vendors to help educate your sales team further on the features of the website software. And ask for their feedback and questions along the way. It’s those meetings that will allow your team (as a whole) to determine what’s working and what isn’t. If some aspect of the software is working, keep at it. If something isn’t working, then everyone needs to evaluate its importance and determine what the next steps will be, along with openly communicating with your vendors - at times an issue might be a simple fix and there are times where the solution already exists, but the team needs more education. When your teams have a successful online guided shopping strategy that they believe in, they win and you win.