Jumping Into the Buying Process
You hear it all the time. That we need to fit into the customer’s buying process and not force them into our selling process.
The thing is, the customer’s buying process is constantly evolving. A major factor in that evolution is technology. There’s no doubt that the Internet changed the way customers buy cars, but the Internet isn’t static. So as the Internet evolves, so does the customer.
In recent years, instant chat/instant messaging capabilities on dealer sites and third-party sites like CarsDirect have given the consumer an anonymous way to communicate with a dealer while still getting the information they are looking for. Of course, there is still the traditional e-mail/lead transmission, there is the phone call, and VDP/banner ad to a click-through to the dealer’s website. And there’s always printing out the dealer information and driving to the store.
Increasingly, the consumer is opting to provide less information about themselves online. This is due to privacy concerns, abuse of traditional lead programs across many industries (one lead submission leads to dozens of unexpected phone calls for the customer), among other reasons. As a result, instant chat capability has become an attractive option for car shoppers.
This shift is forcing dealers to sharpen their skills to acquire control of that consumer during their buying process. This past week, I personally shopped several dealers on instant chat to get a feel for how dealers are interacting with these customers. I encountered a wide variety of techniques, from not giving a price online until some consumer information is provided, to stalling so that “I can put my hands on the car to make sure it’s available. What’s your e-mail address/phone number so I can get back to you?”. A few dealers seemed willing to legitimately try to earn the business by giving the information up to the consumer while simultaneously selling the value in working with their dealership.
There are lots of opinions about how dealers should handle this key moment in the chat customer’s buying process, but I have yet to find compelling data that tells me what the best strategy is to capture the opportunity. I know how I shop, and I know I want the information I’m asking for. And I’m perfectly happy to hear the value proposition of why I should use a particular retailer. Price, convenience, service, and overall value are the same factors that we have historically seen as the contributing influences in making this choice. So give customers what they are asking for (often silently), and sell your value. If you make a compelling offer, chances are you’ll win the customer because you gave them what they asked for, and were willing to fit into their buying process.
Read our next article below for an overview of the current state of instant chat products for dealers and some data on what customers think about chat. In the meantime, sharpen those chat skills, because more and more, it will be the way that the customer is communicating with you.
Todd Dearborn
VP Sales, CarsDirect
310.280.4282
todd.dearborn@carsdirect.com
