It may seem a bit counterintuitive, but if an auto dealership wants to establish a successful website live chat program in-house, it is wise to position your chat staff as online operators, and NOT as internet salespeople. There are three reasons this strategy will help create live chat success:

• Allows the operator an excuse to gather lead information. Shoppers have an aversion to salesperson that is nearly encoded into DNA. When you position your staff as ‘operators’, their role is merely to provide information for the shopper and earn enough trust to gather lead information and hopefully, even an appointment.
• Stops 30-minute live chats that have salespeople reading numbers off tires on used cars. If your chat staff are operators, the shopper won’t have the power to demand that they run from car to car worrying about speed rating on tires, or transmission ratios. They can stay on script moving toward a quality lead or car sales appointment.
• Less likely to prejudge or sell the car online. As sales managers, we have all had sales people who ‘knew’ whether a prospect was going to buy, or avoided an appointment because they ‘knew’ the shopper couldn’t get a loan approved. Chat operators won’t have all this ‘expert knowledge’. Additionally, they won’t be focused on scheduling appointments around a shift or day off, as a salesperson might be tempted.

Numerous factors affect the success or failure of an in-house dealership website live chat program, and having proper fundamentals and training in place can make a huge difference. What is your live chat success (or lack of) story? 

Tom LaPointe CarChat24 Marketing Consultant

www.carchat24.com/ 24/7 Interactive Automotive Dealer Website LIVE CHAT Solutions Managed Chat, Backup Chat Support, and chat software options 727-638-0195

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Tom has an MBA in Marketing and is an automotive writer and author with nearly 20 years experience in virtually every aspect of the retail auto industry. He has been involved with the internet from the beginning, building websites at Johns Hopkins University in the 90's, and has been a performance leader in nearly every dealer role, from sales and service, to BDC / internet sales and viral marketing.