New Car Lead Generators
I was wondering if anyone could give some sound advice toward what the best of the best are using in terms of new car lead generators.
Also, what do you feel is the benchmark for closing percentage should be on third party leads?
All the answers and help would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Matt Kelly
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Seyler on -
Matt, I guess I am little biased when it comes to this area of lead generation as my company does just that, I also was on the forefront of Internet Sales back in 1999 when CARS.com could still deliver a car directly to a consumer without the dealers assistance.
By far Autobytel is one of the leaders in this department. Nearly all of the big box lead providers buy leads from generators such as ourselves and then Retails them in buckets to dealers. A lead can sometimes get sold as many as 10 times and have a life cycle as old as 60-90 days. From my personal experience with AutoNation the best lead is the Exclusive Lead, you may pay twice as much as the going rate for an Exclusive Lead but it is always worth the added premium. Real Time delivery of the same lead is an extra bonus. You can get quality leads from CARS.com, AUTO TRADER and KBB but you have to be a real pro on the Internet Sales side of the spectrum. Paying a discount for a shared lead and then not have the time to jump on the lead is a poor investment of money and time.What is the scope of business that you are involved in with your desire to have and use these leads?
Jeffrey
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Permalink Reply by Doug Davis on
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You can get quality leads from CARS.com, AUTO TRADER and KBB but you have to be a real pro on the Internet Sales side of the spectrum.
I totally agree with Jeffrey. I didn't purchase leads from any source including the manufacturers third party leads. If you generate leads from Cars, AutoTrader and your website, your closing ratio will be three to four times greater. It is about marketing. How well you do this will determine the number of leads you get. It will also free up your budget for other things like SEO/SEM and PPC.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. Natural on
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I've been running an Internet/BDC department for three years, and have had pretty strong results. When it comes to buying leads, by far, I like chat leads. Leads generated by chat providers like Active Engage who monitors our own pages.
Leads from chat services have at least two advantages: 1) They are from your own pages. Our best leads always come from our own pages. 2) Instead of just an overly generic lead, you get a transcript of a conversation with the prospect. You can tell so much more about the customer when the lead is a conversation. 3) You don't pay by the lead, so you don't have to worry about returning them. 4) You can have the chat service insert any word track or protocol you like. They are very flexible.
And that's what I have to say about that!
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Permalink Reply by jeff sterns on
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"...by far, I like chat leads. Leads generated by chat providers..."
I can't be unbiased on this subject! I was like you Mr. Natural in my opinions as a GSM. I liked it so much I joined the company! Funny, I don't know if a chat lead is "better" but my staff was! When they could read the transcript of the conversation (fuel economy, interest rate, seating for 5, room for dog...whatever), they were better when they made their call and validated everything the client was asking about or interested in. In my store best ROI was contact forms through my site, #2 was chat leads for years. This was still true when the manufacturer put some heavy spec requirements (for coop) on our site and how chat invites had to look and where they could be that greatly reduced the chat leads (by nearly 20%!). It still was #2 ROI.
3rd party we used to do very well with AutoTropolis which sold to AutoByTel. At least on their site, "market value" that they told the customer to pay was a workable deal.
Jeff Sterns
VP of Sales & Business Development
CarChat24
Twitter: @JeffCarChat24
Toll Free: (800) 510-7567 ext 702
Mobile: 727-638-0069
Fax: 800-430-1535
"Helping car dealers sell more!"
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Permalink Reply by Mathew Koenig on
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Hi Matthew,
There's no 'right' answer but there are more beneficial ones depending on what your strategy is. When it comes to buying leads it really depends on what your focus is.
What's most important to you in the lead you get: email or a phone number? This post is a bit long but I PROMISE it will help.
It's safe to say that most pay-per-lead folks are looking to connect you with as many people possible that are shopping for vehicles because that's how they make their money. That doesn't mean the leads are bad by any means. Let's face it, everyone is eventually a buyer, the only questions are 'when will they buy?' and 'who will get the sale?'. The question is, will you really follow up long enough to find out who ends up buying what. Most guys, if they're honest, will say 'no'. Instead, if a lead doesn't buy they write off the lead provider as junk.I think most dealers would rather have phone conversations than emails, but that's my opinion and 100% of the reason why I started my company.
My company uses SMS technology to generate leads from Cars.com & Autotrader but we focus on getting you a valid mobile number so you can turn a shopper into a phone up while they're still online. Our unlimited leads programs start at $199/mo with no contract and work for new and used car shoppers.
Every lead that is a real human being is a 'good lead' in it's own right. It really just depends on what your ultimate goal is: now business or down the road business.
Here is a link to a customer that received 38 leads and sold 5 cars in his 1st two weeks: Steve Leep 15 Year Veteran at Seelye Wright Auto Group (youtube.com/konigco)
Here is a link to our site for more info: www.konigco.com
Like some of the other folks, I'm biased too but I'll give you my background in a nutshell. 12 years in retail, 8 Years on the other side of the desk including work with Cars.com for 4 years as one of their sales training managers doing dealer workshops and training for affiliate and local Cars.com reps so I had a ton of experience with their New Leads Plus program and it's effectiveness with dealers. I also spent a few years launching the first ever successful Tier 3 program for Edmunds in 2010 so I have experience with new and pre-owned leads from every angle.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Mitchell on
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I am with a GM store. We sell about 230-250 new/used per month. We purchase leads from Autobytel, Edmunds, Cars.com, carsforsale.com, and the GM 3rd Party program. They are all decent, but keep in mind, you are not just getting these for their lead generation...You are also getting the advertising on these sites, and the SEO relevance. These sites will generate some walk in traffic along with the internet traffic.
Hope this helps a little, if you have any questions, holler at me
JAson
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Permalink Reply by jeff sterns on
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Hi Matthew,
your site is the best source in terms of ROI. I hear from BDC managers all day, ratios from 10-17%. NADA says 10%.
Third party (unscientific, informal numbers here), dealers tell me more in the 7% range as those leads are often sold to multi dealers. In running my last store (the end of my 28 years in retail!), we did near 10% in 3rd party and 15% from our own site.
Regardless it's all good because it's all measurable and you can affect it. A smart dealer I met at AutoCon told me that he reassigned a few of his staff around to call only 60-120 day old leads and IMAGINE! There were deals there. We all "do" that but let's face it...the BDC person or salesperson will always naturally be most excited about today's lead.
Best luck!
Jeff Sterns
VP of Sales & Business Development
CarChat24
Twitter: @JeffCarChat24
Toll Free: (800) 510-7567 ext 702
Mobile: 727-638-0069
Fax: 800-430-1535
"Helping car dealers sell more!"
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Permalink Reply by Kim Essenmacher on
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The research that I have done has shown that 3rd party leads close around 3-5%, The inventory leads such as AutoTrader.com, Cars.com and Edmunds.com are around 7%.The OEM leads are higher (not sure on the percentage) and your organic dealership website leads are around 10%. The leads for our dealership that have had the highest closing ratio have originated from ActivEngage chats, our Google PPC leads and AutoTrader.com leads. I haven't noticed a higher close ratio on our OEM or organic dealership website leads at this time. However, one must remember that many of our showroom and organic dealership website leads are coming from the top 3 inventory lead companies. These leads as you know are very hard to track. However, one way to track these type of leads is to have a checklist you can show the customer when they come in to find out how they found you.
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Permalink Reply by Anne-Marie Baumann on
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Mike -
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Brooks on
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Permalink Reply by Anne-Marie Baumann on
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Thanks Bryan - I'm glad you like them!
As a former GSM... I never saw myself in the lead "buying" business... it' really all about the resulting sales, isn't it?
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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey Seyler on
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It's all about the sale! But when a dealer is spending $25-$50k a month on paper print and radio what exactly are they accomplishing? Being a buyer of Internet leads is placing yourself in front of the most desirable individual, a buyer! How many times have I seen an GSM choke on a $4-$8k monthly commitment to exclusively OWN the full intent of a motivated buyer, and then spend the rest of the afternoon proofing a weekend sales copy for the local newspaper that no one is going to read!
The Internet changed the way People look for a vehicle to purchase long ago. The one thing the Internet has not changed nearly enough is how Dealerships use the Internet to acquire these buyers and consummate the transaction. The Internet Car Buying Experience is still a broken wheel.
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