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TRACKING HACKS second, the company took nearly 24 hours strategies, the experts said, so it’s incumbent
to reach out. upon them to consistently manage them.
To keep up with prospects and active
customers, it’s imperative to track them “You do not want to be in that position. Get Valachi advised that profile information
online to see where they are in the process back as quickly as possible.” be kept up-to-date and accurate and that
and therefore how best to market to them. current offers are highlighted.
Once you do follow up, make sure you
Don’t let the fact that site visitors often address what they’re asking about, Valachi Beyond that, “Look at Google vehicle ads.
abandon their search of your online said. He added that consistency is also key. Look at how people shop. Pictures resonate
materials stop you from reaching out, more than text – make sure you bring those
said McEvoy, who advises dealers to track FIVE STARS? two things together … If you don’t have that
prospects’ IP addresses. And if they don’t information out there, they’ll move on.”
fill out your outreach-request form, you can The experts agreed that online reviews are
still capture information about them for an essential component of building and Sabo said dealers should also consider
follow-up. maintaining a solid reputation among the how their service customers search for
car-buying public. That means not only them and to make it simple to get a read
“Think of it like they walked into your earning them but seeking them out and on how it is to work with your service
store. You want to know what they were responding to them once they’re posted. department. He added that dealers’ parts
interested in. They’re going to be shopping and service departments should be in their
somewhere, so the more likely you follow It may go without saying that such reviews profiles in order to narrow reviews to those
them, the more likely you are to get a sale.” are free publicity. More than that, they specifically.
amount to your online “rating.”
Sabo said dealers should understand what DIGGING INTO DATA
prospects’ profiles look like and therefore why Every customer should be given a chance to
they’re converting to customers, or why not. post a review on their interaction with your Then there’s the homework of analyzing
Once you determine that, you can work to business, and you should make the process available data about prospects and
avoid the failures and replicate the successes. as simple as possible for them, Sabo said. customers, an important exercise that can’t
That way, you’ll get a higher positive rating be overlooked, the experts agreed.
“Is it the offer? How it was displayed? Then due to the higher volume of reviews.
tweak that strategy.” Google Analytics is an unbiased data source,
“I think you’ll find the vast majority will be Valachi said, and the fourth generation
LEADS LOGIC positive,” he said. For instance, Uber fares is best for year-over-year statistics. “GA4
get a mobile prompt to review the ride gives visibility and transparency on the
Once you’ve reeled in a potential customer, experience before they leave the car, he said. traffic you’re driving … so you can shift
following up on the lead is a crucial step dollars around to different campaigns. You
in the courting process. And the speed at Most texts get read, Sabo said, but dealers can change strategies up.”
which you do so makes all the difference in should “meet the customer where they’re at”
today’s digital world, the experts said. by using the technology they’ve found most Third-party data augments the limited
effective. information a dealership can gather,
“It used to be hours, then 15 minutes. Now McEvoy said.
it’s less than two minutes,” said Valachi. “A In addition, if someone posts a four-or five-
lead will go somewhere else.” star review of your business, provide them “Within the people who’ve bought before,
with links to also post reviews on other sites. some have a higher propensity to buy
“It is the most important thing,” said again,” something you can learn from a
McEvoy of response speed. “You have to “Have a way of acting kind of like a traffic third-party provider. “You want to emulate
have a system to respond to those.” cop to address people who didn’t have a those profiles. Anytime you filter your
good experience and someone waving your database, you get much better (return on
He told the story of two companies he flag,” McEvoy said. investment).” n
shopped with, one of which won his
business, the other losing their chance. In GOOGLING IT Hannah Mitchell is executive editor of Bobit's
the first instance, he secret-shopped, filling Dealer Group. She's a former newspaper
out an online form, and was contacted by Dealers’ Google Business Profiles can journalist. Her first car was a hand-me-down
the company within 60 seconds. In the be important pieces of their marketing Chevrolet Nova.

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