Is it A, B, C or D - No its None of the above!!

I wanted to share my experience from last week. It has been a rising question to me over the last few weeks. A dealer calls me up and asks me about Lead providing companies. Should I continue with A, B, C or D? Yes, almost like a multiple choice question, only difference is the answer is NONE OF THE ABOVE. Now, many of you might disagree and that is ok. Many lead providers ( Not all )raises question and hesitation for dealers. Why? The lead volume has decreased by much and the lead quality can be challenging to say the least and yet the cost has increased. Dealers complain about the volume and quality but are afraid not to use that provider because they fear they might miss an opportunity or the competitor dealer might gain more. Funny thing is even the competitor dealer tells the same story. What do we do? I think its time to get back to basics. The industry is ever changing and we all feel obligated to add this and that because everyone else is doing it. My question is, why are you adding or trying to expand and grow your business with a low or poor website conversion? Why are you looking to spend so much money on a "must have" company when you lack proper phone skills in the dealership? The CORE of your business is your website and I think its time to OWN YOUR BACK YARD before you jump to the next town. Yes, we all want to grow and we all want to gain but if you don't own your backyard why expand or try and market in your competitors area? In my opinion - get rid of the low producing high cost lead providers - make sure you have a department or person that TRACKS the lead results and pricing and compare it with the previous 3 years (do not just pay the bill)- increase your website SEM SEO optimization budget by a good amount - Correct and step up your dealership phone skills - product knowledge and training. YOU MUST FOCUS ON YOUR WEBSITE, INCREASE WEBSITE CONVERSION, EXCEPTIONAL PHONE SKILLS AND INVEST IN YOUR OWN WEBSITE. Unless you OWN your BACKYARD you need stop, think and review. Drop the Lead providers that make much promises but yet result in little. The money you save from that should go right into all of the above mentioned. Lead providers will always be around and its ok to sit out for a little. After all it is up to them to show you results in order to gain your trust and business. It is not ok to just pay high fees monthly because you feel forced and because you are already a customer. We are in the car business!! Let them earn your business all over again. In the meantime focus on the core of your business. Unless you are happy with your website conversion and lead quality - dont worry about what other people are doing. Time to correct the basics. Once this is dramatically different feel free to jump to the Next town and the next and the next....

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Comment by Stephanie Young on April 19, 2011 at 12:22pm: Own your backyard!!! Love it!!! So often we think someone else has the skills to do the job right, but no one knows your market like you do. Get some one to help if you need the assistance, but always stay in the game. Michael Jordan never sent in a stunt-player....he made his own magic!!!