Internet Advertorial -Part V of VI

Marina News

Nov/Dec issue

Great Website -But Where are the Sales?

In today's digital economy, most consumers do their purchasing homework online, some sending email inquiries with the goal of making a sound decision. In fact, 88 percent of prospects research units online before walking into your dealership.

As a dealer, this is an opportunity to position yourself as the customer's resource and facilitate the buyer's often-overwhelming research process. By doing so, you make that crucial, positive first impression that often marks the beginning of the sale. However, the products you sell are discretionary income items often associated with a long-term purchase time frame. In this context, the way to turn more web surfers into customers is to treat every lead equally, respond promptly and be on point, then follow up consistently until they're ready to buy.


Every online lead matters
When prospects walk into your dealership, you have no idea how close they are to signing a check or if a sale is even to be made. Nevertheless, you put your best foot forward because all you know for sure is that a potential buyer is standing in front of you so you have to do everything you can to seal the deal -obviously in due time.

When providing education to its dealer clients, Channel Blade, the leading provider of web sites, lead generation, lead management, and eBusiness consulting, underlines this best practice through a highly effective acronym: EO-ET-SW-SW-SW-Next. As a dealer, you must provide an outstanding experience from the get-go to Every One, Every Time; Some Will "bite," Some Won't, So What? Next customer.

The same principle should be applied to online leads and any other type of lead for that matter-whether it's a walk-in, a phone inquiry or a show lead. Potential buyers are at one of the five stages of the buying cycle: Awareness, Consideration, Preference, Action or Loyalty. With each stage comes a set of unique needs that you must consistently fulfill until the prospect is ready to commit. That¿s why all leads should be immediately treated equally and professionally, hence EO-ET-SW-SW-SW-Next.


Response time makes the deal
Online shoppers are used to and expect immediate access to accurate and helpful information designed to eliminate options (i.e. choose what they perceive as the right product and dealership for them).

The first expectation of a shopper is a prompt response. If you don't jump on that lead, another dealer-often located less than a few clicks away on the web -certainly will. Don't you stop whatever you're doing when a customer walks in or the phone rings with a prospect on the other end? Web leads should be given the same prompt, undivided attention. It's simply another way of communicating with your customers.


In fact, in this case, a quick response is even more crucial because you're competing with other dealers online. However, the leverage you have is that most of them will not respond at all. In fact, nearly 60 per cent of online leads go completely unanswered, so this is your chance to stand out in a highly competitive environment.

When you receive an email inquiry, make a point to respond promptly. Think "minutes," not "hours." You wouldn¿t make a customer wait in your lobby for more than a couple of minutes without greeting them. Why would you risk treating web leads any differently?


The most successful dealers begin their outreach within 30 to 60 minutes of receiving a lead. One of the simplest ways to reduce your response time is to empower your receptionist who, more often than not, knows where each salesperson is at any given time. She is the first point of contact for walk-in and phone prospects, so why not trust her with online leads? If you have limited staffing, consider a PDA and manage this personally.

Although most dealerships rotate lead assignment among the sales team members, the most efficient way to process leads is to assign them to the next available salesperson. And who better than the receptionist to know who that person is and to immediately forward a new, incoming lead so that it can be attended to promptly?

There are lead management tools available "off the shelf" that have the ability to be customized to fit your specific needs. Alternatively, Channel Blade offers Footstep, a lead management tool created specifically for marine dealers and manufacturers. Footsteps will help you take these best practices a step further and allow the receptionist accountable for all online leads. If the receptionist sees that a lead is not being processed in a timely manner, they should motivate the salesperson or reassign the lead to another team member who can attend to it immediately.

Another way to further reduce response time is to rely on template-based emails to quickly respond to inquiries rather than expect your salespeople to write a response from scratch every time a lead comes in. You can create these templates yourself or outsource the project. Again, Footsteps has this feature built in. If most of the e-mail responses are prewritten, all the salesperson has to do is add a few details to personalize them, such as adding that specific lead¿s name and/or the boat they were searching for.

Whether you develop your own templates or use Footsteps, you have the ability to send customized, branded emails; all it takes are a couple of clicks to respond to an online inquiry. With these templates, you and your sales staff can juggle your many day-to-day responsibilities on the showroom floor without missing out on the many web-driven sales opportunities in your inbox.

Stay tuned for the next edition that continues discussing ways to better manage your leads!

If you have missed the first four advertorials on how to the web to drive your business, email us at info@lifestyleintegrated.com and we will send you the PDF version.