The decline of prospective customers walking into our dealerships is indicative of the new type of purchaser, the pandemic accelerated this trend.
When I was a salesperson many moon’s ago, all we had was the inquisitive customer walking into the dealership and a smattering of phone enquiries, and of course there was fierce contention for these potential leads among the sales team. These traditional car buyers wanted to gather information before they select a vehicle and importantly the dealership they will commit to.
In most cases today the buyer has already selected a car, they know the dealership they will buy from as a result of a very positive initial contact. They will know how they will pay for the car. And all this knowledge is attained way before the first serious contact with the dealership. This shift in buyer behaviour has been attributed to a number of things:
- The internet
- The pandemic
- An improvement in digital marketing expertise
- Website capabilities
- Online finance quotes, applications and approvals
- Communication and conversations selling platforms
- AI dealer tools
Because there are so many more Omi leads and phone leads (including when dealers were closed during Covid shutdowns), we neglected to shift how we communicate with some buyers. Let’s face it, Human 2 Human face to face selling has the highest conversions but that opportunity in the current environment is slowly declining.
Research has shown a decline in car dealership walk-ins is directly attributed to the way buyers are initially contacting us. This has dramatically shifted to Omni and telephone leads which is now the preferred method as there is so much more information for the consumer in the stratosphere.
The customer can obtain more information and so we must realign because there is much they don’t need us for anymore. And so, we need to provide something different, we need an approach that seamlessly attaches itself to this redefined customer.
Conversational selling is the updated version of what we did in the past. But what is conversational selling? It’s keeping pace with your customer, talking to them about their personal preferences on every level, their preferred contact method, and what they prefer generally, be curious about your customer, guide them through the sales process. Initially you will talk to them via web chat messenger apps, phone calls or online forms, but every customer should eventually land on your conversational selling platforms.
Your platform and strategy should have the ability to offer a fully remote Omnichannel selling experience without the need for the customer to come into the dealership. This needs to be seamless and offer the following services,
- Webchat
- Online deposits and payments
- Online finance quotes and approvals
- Remote signing of contracts
- Info Videos
- Online Valuations
- Home delivery
How do we do this?
Using all the information above and everything you can gather about Omnichannel, write a communication plan which outlines your strategy and how your dealership will communicate with these buyers. Select the platforms, prepare the team and you’re ready to go.