Automotive Website Chat is an Opportunity to EARN a Lead

“If it comes too easily, it might not be worth it.”

It’s a truth that becomes clear all-too-often in the automotive industry. The shortcuts that we all encounter often lead us to a fruitless ending. This is true on test drives, in the finance department, and quite often at the desk while working a deal. Skipping steps can yield terrible results in all of these aspects of selling a car.

The same is true in the digital marketing world. When it comes to chat, there are those who believe that putting up a contact form barrier to entry is a great idea. If they want to chat with you, they had better be willing to put in their contact information first, right? Wrong. In chat, it’s imperative that your software and your team follow the process to earn the lead rather than trying to force the issue up front.

Just as you wouldn’t answer the phone by making people give you their information up front, you shouldn’t do it with chat, either. Chat is an ideal way to gather lead information from people who would not have contacted you otherwise. That’s really one of the primary reasons that people engage in chats. They don’t want to call for whatever reason and they don’t want to fill out a lead form, but they have questions that they want answered. When you put up a wall between them and the chat operator, you’re discouraging some from ever contacting you at all.

During the chat process, you should be helpful and guide them to the end goal. In some cases, the goal is to get their information so you can contact, but that’s not the case every time. Sometimes, they just want to know if the parts department is still open. Other times, they are very interested in a vehicle but are not willing to give their information at this time. When you use chat as a way to help them in their path, you have an opportunity to gain their trust enough to make them want to do business with you. In many cases, it’s the only way to get them to give you their contact information.

In a world where people are visiting several dealer websites before contacting anyone, wouldn’t it be nice to be the only one who earned the right to get their contact information? It puts you in the driver’s seat towards earning their business.

With CarChat24 managed and backup chat services, we serve your website customers by answering their questions, guiding them through your website, and earning their trust. Sometimes, they still won’t leave their contact information, but even in those cases we leave a great impression with them so they’re more willing to contact you.

If your competitors are not as helpful (and chances are that they’re not), you’re positioning your dealership in a positive light. In many cases, our operators are able to earn automotive leads when your competitors cannot. This is the advantage that can generate more and better leads that will help you sell more cars.