The Business Development Center Managing Internet Leads in today s marketplace Three most common processes for handling leads. 1. Sales Manager reviews leads at start of each day and distributes to salespeople for follow-up. Sales leads are distributed as they come in throughout the day. 2. Internet Lead Sales Manager responsible for answering all leads handling the lead through the entire sale's process from initial contact to sale. 3. Use of a Business Development Center (BDC) to handle all incoming leads with the purpose of converting the leads into appointments to visit the dealership. The appointment is turned to a salesperson at time of arrival and the salesperson is tasked with converting the appointment into a sale.
Concepts Associated with Operating a Business Development Center Where do leads come from (managing lead sources)? 1. The dealerships website 2. Manufacturer leads 3. Third party website Other sources might include: Go RVing Published Advertisement s - Purchased lead sources Definition of a viable lead? All leads are viable leads. Every day, hundreds of thousands of potential buyers are using the internet to obtain information on makes and models of new and pre-owned RV s. The Internet Specialist must be able to capture those viable leads and react promptly and professionally. Following up with the lead will build your success. A viable lead should consist of the following: 1. Realistic Phone Number 2. Legitimate Email Address 3. Ability to make contact.
How are leads received? This is dependent on what type of system your dealership has set up. Key Points: Who handles the leads? The Internet Specialists NOT the sales staff. Benefits of having an Internet Specialist: 1. Consistency in how leads are responded too. 2. Immediate action providing the best opportunity for results 3. Persistent follow-up insuring no opportunity is missed.
What characteristic s are you looking for in the person to fill this position? Skilled customer service professionals. 1. Professional communication skills. 2. Cheerful personality. 3. Positive attitude. 4. Persistent nature. 5. Goal oriented. The Process for the efficient handling of internet leads How quickly do you respond to a lead? The bottom line - 5 minutes or less Have you ever sent an e-mail to someone, and then wondered if it ever even arrived because you did not get a response in a timely manner? 1. Oral communication - more personal, faster, and gives one the opportunity to have misunderstandings clarified.
2. Timely Response - Many businesses have studied this issue, and many require their people to carry devices such as Blackberry's, so that response to e-mails is timely. 3. Why Important - the sooner someone gets a response, the more appreciated they feel, and thus it is particularly important for individuals who deal with the public, particularly in sales to respond quickly. 4. Most effective - Since face-to-face communication is considered the most effective, and phone calls are next, one must realize that e-mails are considered less effective than even text communication. Much of that is because of the less than timely response rate of much e-mail communication. 5. Chance for miscommunication - There are many times when e- mail does not speed up the process, because written communication is often misunderstood or incomplete. How to respond to a lead? Most inquiries come in the form of a customer seeking information usually accompanied with a best price request. The goal of the Internet Specialist is to create enough interest to set an appointment without giving up too much information over the phone or through e- mail. 1. If a phone number is unavailable, offer to review the unit in question and answer all concerns with a phone call. Use an email to solicit a phone number to make contact.
2. Conduct an interview in association to the unit in question. This provides the opportunity to get the customer talking and create rapport allowing the Internet Lead Specialist to take control and provide options. 3. Offer options to the unit inquired about to help create a need to come in and view all units available that fit the customer s needs. 4. When Price is a main concern, determine what price is desired and schedule an appointment to look at the unit in question. 5. When a trade is involved, encourage customer to bring trade into the dealership. 6. Never turn an inquiry into a confrontation with the customer. Follow-up routine calls/canned emails/time frame? You want to stay on track with each potential customer. 1. Put together a follow-up chart. 2. When followed very closely, this will assist the Internet Specialist in tracking their specific steps with their customers. 3. In all cases, the Internet Specialist will always know what their next step will be. All their follow-up steps are recorded and implemented with the customer. 4. There should be a 30, 60, 90 day routine all dependent on your dealership.
Process for appointment? Your Internet Specialist is tasked to ensure that they are able to address the products needs of their customers so as to entice them to finally agree to an appointment showcasing vivid details of the product offering. Your Internet Specialist is the rapport builder to bring the customer into your dealership. 1. 2. 3. When does a lead become inactive for follow -up? A lead never becomes inactive unless a customer says Please do not contact me. There are certain guidelines that can be followed to provide the time necessary for those genuinely interested. 1. 5 Day Rule If you have not achieved active communication in this time it is not likely you will. 2. 2 Weeks Don t disqualify, there may be a reason for missed communication. 3. 30 Days Check for changes in customer situation. Regardless, all customers become part of the dealership database for future correspondence.
Managing Lead Productivity How is the lead process managed? 1. The Internet Manager coordinates internet sales activities through a system of setting up follow-up s and monitors and tracks that the tasks are being completed by the Internet Specialists 2. An Internet Manager sets monthly objectives and ensures they are achieved by the Internet Specialists. 3. The general principles of lead management is to create an ordered structure for managing volumes of internet leads. Who does the Business Development Specialists Report to? This may depend on the size of the dealership and the staffing requirements for your BDC. 1. A dealership with less than 100 leads a month may only have 1 lead specialist. This person would report to the Sales Manager. 2. A dealership with 200 leads per month may have 2 lead specialist reporting to the Sales Manager. 3. A dealership with 300 plus or multiple locations would have an Internet Manager. In this situation there would be Internet Specialist that reports to the Internet Manager. The Internet Manager would work in conjunction with the Sales Manager to assign salespeople for appointments and pricing.
Who does the Internet Lead Manager Report to? 1. The Internet Manager should work in conjunction with the Sales Manager. 2. An Internet Manager should have staff reporting to them. 3. The Internet Manager should be responsible for a sub-section of the organization's results. 4. An Internet Manager should also manage the company s website to ensure that customer and sales efficiency in improved online. What are your current results? There are three basic areas of consideration that should be reviewed to gain an understanding of how your current lead sources are being handled. 1. Overall number of leads generated on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. 2. What sources are currently being used to generate leads? 3. What percentage of overall leads is associated with each lead source?
Using this information you can determine the following: 1. What percentage of leads are being converted to appointments. 2. What percentage of appointments are coming to the dealership. 3. The closing ratio of sales to appointments and sales to overall leads. 4. Percentage of sales associated with lead sources. How many calls should a Business Development Specialist make in a day? This question is huge, because simply dialing the phone can dramatically change the outcome of your dealership s Internet Sales. 1. The more people you dial, the more people you get on the phone. 2. The more people you get on the phone, the more time you can execute your phone process or sales script. 3. The more people you engage on the phone, the more appointments you can set. 4. The more appointments you set, the more appointments you can confirm. 5. The more appointments you can confirm, the more people show up.
What might this look like in actual numbers? In an hour: 7-9 outbound dials = 3 to 4 live conversations = 1 appointment. 50 to 75 call per day can equate to 7 to 10 conversations a day. This can generate 2 to 3 appointments a day. Number of appointments in a month = 56 to 84 Percentage of appointments that show 50% What is the best way to respond to an internet lead? When responding to an internet sales lead, which comes first, an email or a phone call? 1. Whenever you have the option, pick up the phone. If the lead comes in with a phone number and the customer hasn't indicated that they don't want to be called, then you call. If there's no phone number, then you have to resort to email, but live human contact, following up as quickly as you can, is the best way to start a successful sales effort. 2. Consumers, if properly approached, won't look at it as an annoyance. They look at it as a service. It's a better service to get with a client quickly and understand what their goals are.
3. An email response that provides the information requested by the customer is a non-negotiable aspect of successfully responding to internet leads because it is what consumers expect and usually what they have been promised by the website where they submitted their inquiry. 4. However, immediately following that initial email, your most successful approach is to get the customer on the phone as soon as possible. The quick email providing fast and written answers to the customer's questions can help you start to establish some rapport on the phone. 80 60 40 20 0 Sampling Breakdown Of Dealership Leads Internet GoRVing RedZia Manufacturer % to Overall % Appointments % Sales Statistics of an efficiently operated BDC. Notes: