Research indicates that buyers will only visit about three dealerships IN PERSON before taking delivery of their new car, but they may shop dozens online. How do you make sure your store is one of the few they visit? Connect with them using a live chat support software solution 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are a general manager or sales manager at an automotive dealership, your biggest objective is to increase your sales lead volume and sell more automobiles. And with a steady stream of vendors traipsing through your doors and stalking you on the phone, how do you tell which one offers the best ROI? More importantly, how do you know that Live Chat Support Software is the key puzzle piece in your website marketing strategy that will generate more auto sales leads and help you sell more cars?

Three ways Live Chat Support Software gives you a competitive edge

As the competitive landscape becomes more fierce every year, and educated buyers demanding immediate access to information, live chat software offers several features that can add to your bottom line.  A dealership website that doesn’t engage visitors the moment they land on the homepage is about as ‘old school’ as one that doesn’t display updated inventory. Here are three ways to maximize your Live Chat investment:

1 Greet them early – but not too often

Rather than risk a guest dropping onto your site, checking your hours and maybe a car or two before heading for Facebook or Angry Birds, give them a chance to click through and initiate a live chat session. This is much more effective than crossing your fingers or rubbing a rabbit’s foot and hoping they take the time to fill out a ‘contact us’ query form or write down the dealership’s number.

2 Use a script that results in leads

When a shopper who clicks to initiate a live chat session is greeted within a few seconds by a well-trained chat operator who uses a proven script, odds are more than 60 percent that a quality car sales lead will be generated.

3 Integrate your Live Chat communication into your CRM / BDC processes

With a well-designed Live Chat software (or service), the data can feed straight into a dealerships CRM system, including the live chat transcript. Not only do you end up with a lead that has much more potential than one generated by a bulk mailing center, auto sales list broker, or even third party auto lead vendor, but you have already begun the rapport-building and information-gathering steps in the sales process.

Use live chat to embrace the mobile mentality

Because SMS text messaging and text chatting on mobile phones, tablets and computers is so common in people’s everyday lives, shopping for a car via chat is merely an extension of their daily routine. A dealership that leverages this behavioral phenomenon can not only set itself from the clutter of competition, but it can increase ROI, generate more sales leads, and ultimately sell more new cars or used cars.

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.