Present day, dealerships and car buyers know this is far from reality.
The lead generation system is supposed to provide dealerships with quality leads.
For the car buyer; they are supposed to get what they sought out...a bottom-line price quote not having to submit personal information to a third party.
By now dealerships know that 83% of car buyers begin their research online.
Why are car buyers doing research?
They want to gain the advantage over the sales person.
Car buyers are dreading walking into a dealership and facing a sales person. It's their number 1 frustration when car shopping.
Today's online lead generation process only magnifies that problem because the very thing that customers are looking to avoid, or to at least gain an advantage over—the salesperson—not only still has the advantage but also now has their personal contact information and can pursue them at home.
Under this current model, neither the dealership nor the car buyer win.
The car buyer has a poor user experience and the dealership loses a lead and is out the money they spent for that unqualified lead.
With dealers spending between $18 - $24 per lead and conversion rates between a dismal 1% - 3%, dealers need to undoubtedly find a new method of lead generation.
The only ones that win are the automotive-lead generation websites. There are more than 50 companies providing automotive lead generation. They buy the clicks and sell them to aggregators, such as Dealix, Autobytel.com, and AutoUSA.com. The aggregators then sell those leads to as many of the 39,708 new car franchised dealers nationwide as they can.
Beyond that, the lead generation method and the consumer experience are not aligned.
The purpose of lead generation is to provide dealerships with qualified buyers and as always more leads.
Car buyers are looking to conduct research, remain anonymous, and get a price (not MSRP).
Less than 40% of dealerships provide a price quote in the first email response to a car buyer.
Their focus is on getting car buyers in the showroom. This tug of war adds to consumers' distrust of dealerships..
Fixing the current lead generation problem will take a little effort on the dealerships part and a new lead generation model from online marketers.
The solution has always been under our noses. Give the user what she/he is looking for and everyone wins.
The Internet is successful because users can get the information they need, quickly and for the most part, for free.
Yes, we at Publik Monarch have the solution. Contact us to discuss: 832.209.2171
or email sseverino@publikmonarch.com
Publik Monarch
1707 Post Oak Blvd #103
Houston, TX 77056
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