The differences between online and offline leads aren’t just limited to cost; salespeople need to use different tactics to improve their conversion rate depending on how the potential customer came to them. In the pre-Internet days, someone looking to buy a car would visit several dealerships to browse and price out vehicles. After their first visit, the salesperson might have given prospects a call several days later, and still have about a 40% conversion rate. The online world is much faster; once you’ve received contact information through your website, you need follow up within the first hour.
Profile of an online lead
18.5% are converted into customers.
They are 7 times more likely to convert if they are contacted within an hour of leaving their contact information than those contacted later.
23% feel too much pressure during follow-ups and defect.
Those contacted within the first 5 minutes are the most likely to be qualified (i.e., you learn about their budget and buying intentions).
Knowing these characteristics is just the beginning; now you have to develop a new conversion strategy that works for digital prospects. That’s where a live smart chat tool comes in; it’s the most effective way to turn web traffic into online leads and open up new ways of communicating to a prospect.
Live chat tools are more than just a call centre operator waiting for customers to ask a question. Using behavioral tracking, they can pinpoint repeat visitors an interrupt their research to push targeted inventory. For an example, take a look at the strategy implemented alongside the car dealer chat tools at Gubagoo:
Behavioral intelligence: An intelligence system tracks IP addresses and scores them based on which pages on your website they visit, how long they read pages, and how many times they return to your website.
Integrated inventory: Operators push product images through the window after identifying which vehicles have already drawn the visitor’s attention
Interruption: When a return visitor is scored as a potentially serious buyer, operators in the Gubagoo call centre can interrupt their browsing experience by being the first to engage in live chat. By engaging the visitor with content that’s relevant to their previous searches, operators are far more likely to overcome buyer resistance and book a test drive.
Live chat tools are making it easier for car dealerships to connect to online visitors and generate leads. They turn your website into your richest source for new leads, but there are other strategies you can implement as well for dealing with them. Another strategy enabled by Gubagoo’s chat tools is SMS integration, which makes it easier to reach out to prospects by text message. Inviting customers to communicate via text allows dealers to respond with up-do-date incentives and reach out in those first five minutes without applying too much pressure. Online leads have changed the sales game; they require a new kind of follow up strategy in order to work effectively. Evolve with the world by integrating a live chat window with comprehensive support onto your website.