For almost all our participating dealers, PERQ Convert’s automotive solution has proven to be exceptionally helpful at increasing the number of qualified leads and conversions dealerships see. While the software, all by itself, accounts for many these leads and conversions, honing your strategy as well as the overall customer experience can play an instrumental role in further converting those leads into sales.

Here are 5 ways your dealership can get the most out of PERQ Convert’s automotive solution:

USE CTA’S TO ENCOURAGE CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT

Although PERQ Convert’s website software has proven to be great bundle of effective auto dealer solutions for many of our current clients, it might not be as effective on consumers who aren’t introduced to these experiences to begin with. Even if your dealership’s website gets a decent amount of traffic, car buyers might simply be missing the experiences that have been integrated onto your website.

Sure, you can tell your consumers about the various experiences on your website; but that’s more likely to deter them than entice them. Even if you’re telling them that they’ll receive an offer at the end of the experience, there’s no real way of knowing what it is they actually want or need. And since consumers, nowadays, aren’t particularly interested in talking with a salesperson face-to-face (at least in the early stages), they’d rather attempt to find out certain information and get offers on their own.

One of PERQ Convert’s coolest features is its “Smart CTA’s.” Smart CTA’s (or Smart Calls-to-Action) are buttons or banners that change based on a consumer’s behavior on your dealership website. For example: If a consumer goes through a trade appraisal experience on your dealership’s website, and indicates that they’re in the market to buy NOW, the next page they land on will show buttons that lead them to the next best step — say, for scheduling a test drive.

LEVERAGE YOUR CRM FOR BETTER CONSUMER EXPERIENCES

The work doesn’t end after a prospective customer has completed an experience. In fact, the work has only just begun. After a consumer has gone through an experience, their contact and preference information is directed straight to your dealership’s CRM.

While the information captured depends on the questions asked in the experience, these types of auto dealer solutions can generate 5X the consumer information than an average auto lead. Through these experiences, you can learn about useful information like: the make and model of a consumer’s current vehicle, the type of vehicle they’re interested in purchasing, a general purchasing timeline (Ex: Immediately, 6-months from now, 1 year from now, etc), as well as information regarding their financing preferences and needs. Being able to capture this type of information is very powerful. Allowing customers to personalize their responses allows you (the dealer) to initiate and cater a discussion to a consumer’s specific needs.

FOLLOW UP WITH LONGER TERM LEADS

When it comes to capturing consumer info, it’s only natural that you’d want to follow up with folks who planned on making a purchase within the next month or so. But what about the consumers who want to purchase a little later? These folks might not be on your radar now, but they’ll definitely be on another dealer’s radar around the time they do want to purchase.

So, whatever you do, don’t disregard these customers. Six months from their initial experience will be there before you know it, and that’ll be the time to strike while the iron is hot. During that waiting period, come up with a strong follow-up strategy. 

When it finally comes time to call those consumers, ask them if maybe any of their answers have changed and inquire about other ways you can help them. Not only will the follow-up call serve as a reminder that they were interested in your dealership, but it’ll show that you actually care about what customers think and that you have pride in your work.

BRAND CUSTOMIZATION

By branding or customizing the experience, it’ll seamlessly fits in with the rest of your site and adds a high level of legitimacy to your dealership. This type of brand customization isn’t typically found in 3rd party applications; so those tools generally produce lower quality leads.

Why? Well, the lack of customization means consumers have no real connection to the actual dealership. 3rd party vendors will generally use their own branding on their applications; leaving barely any mention of the dealership your consumers would actually be shopping at. You want consumers to think of YOU when they think about their e-price, trade appraisal or assessment 2 weeks from now — and you certainly want them to give your dealership a call when they decide they finally decide to buy. Historically, 1st party leads are of a higher quality, convert better and are just plain more effective.