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The Problem May Not Be Your 
3rd Party Lead Provider 

Contributing article written by 
Sean Bradley, Founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy

I'm frequently asked: What should I do about my third party lead source providers? Who is the best? Who has the cheapest leads?

Dealers are quick to cancel a 3rd party provider because they think the grass is greener on the other side of the marketing fence. They are so quick in fact that they will shut the provider down without doing the research to find out what is really going wrong. The provider gets the blame for things that happen on the surface; the closing ratio is off or they aren't making enough gross or they didn't meet their quota. You are probably saying, "Yes! That is exactly why I would cancel a 3rd party provider" and that is exactly the problem. Most dealers make a decision based on the outcome of the lead and not how they handled the lead.

The first thing to realize is what a lead represents. A lead is simply an opportunity to do business, nothing more and nothing less. They are not any different than an "up" from the lot or showroom floor. Granted, some leads are higher quality than others. CarsDirect is an industry leader and their leads are of higher quality than many of the lesser-known providers. Why is it that a Ford dealer 50 miles away from another Ford dealership, both on the same lead program, may not be doing as well? They are on the same program; they are receiving the SAME lead quality. It is not just about getting a lead.

You need a certain percentage of opportunities to close sales. If you purchase 100 leads you will close a certain amount. Let's say a modest 10 percent. That means you will have delivered 10 units. That still means that you will not sell 90 other people that month. Is that ok? If you just made $20,000 off an investment of about $2,000 in 30 days?

But how do you know if it is the lead provider or something else that isn't working? Well there are several things you need to be aware of:

• Where are my leads coming from and why did they use this service?
• I have a lead, what's next?
• Leads don't sell cars, people do.
• How am I going to handle all these leads?
• How do I know what my people are doing with all the leads?

Where are my leads coming from and why did they use this service?

Understanding your 3rd party provider is imperative to your success online. How can you engage a prospect if you have no idea what they know or where they have come from? There are many different auto websites out there and they all have different purposes and strategies. You must know everything about your lead source provider in order to understand your prospect's motivation for contacting you. For example, CarsDirect makes a dealer's life very easy when it comes to price. On their website there is the CarsDirect price. If the customer asks if you can give him price, you can respond with, "Sure, the CarsDirect price is…" Mission accomplished — I can't tell you how many dealerships I go to train and they have no idea about their lead source providers and their services.

I have a lead, what's next?

You need to have a standard operating procedure in place for everything from a fast first response to asking for a referral after the sale. Most dealerships have a process on how to handle the showroom prospect it's called the "Road to the Sale." You need a solid Internet sales process that hits all the important buying motivations, not just price. You need to map out everything for the department — how to respond to the leads, how often, how long, and most importantly, what you are going to say. For example, if you told the showroom prospect, "There it is and there's the price," how many cars would you sell? The Internet is no different. Simply sending a price to an Internet lead may not be enough. You need to uncover other buying motivations and counter other objections before you can secure an appointment to make the sale.

The lead doesn't sell the car — people do.

Let's say you have the lead and a strong follow-up process in place, it's still not enough. You need the right people with the right skill set, well-trained and motivated to make money. You need to have enough people to handle the leads and make the sales. If you are too busy to review all your leads every day, you don't have enough of the right people and you are leaving a lot of money on the table.

How am I going to handle all these leads?

You need an ILM/CRM tool. This will make you more efficient and allow you to manage all of your leads. The tool needs to have the proper templates, scripts and contact schedules to minimize the time it takes your people to follow up.

How do I know what my people are doing with all the leads?

You must read the reports. Don't just look at a recap and see that you received 200 leads and you only sold one car. Look at the report that shows how many times your staff attempted to make contact with those 200 leads through email and phone calls. Also, look at how many times those 200 people sent your staff contacts.

A proper follow-up process allows you to focus on the facts. For example: how many appointments were made, how many were confirmed, and how many people actually showed up for their appointments. Out of those who didn't show up, how many of those were followed up with an attempt to reschedule? All of the people who showed up and didn't buy — why not? And for the no-shows, how many attempts were made and who tried to bring them in?

This is the information you need to evaluate a lead provider. All of those "bad leads" you have, what makes them bad? What is the protocol in your dealership to check out the "bad leads" to determine if they are in fact "bad leads"? Remember, the average buying cycle is over 60 days. Unless your staff is diligently following up on ALL of the leads for at least 60 days, methodically via email and phone… you are leaving money on the table.

There just aren't any magic leads that sell cars for you. A lead is simply an opportunity to do business. Your 3rd Party lead provider did the hardest part… they are providing you with the opportunity to do business. Now, it is up to you what you are going to do with that opportunity. Are you going to follow up with a measurable process that adds value to the prospect or just send an email or two? Before you decide to cancel a 3rd party provider remember this article and make sure you are doing everything on your end. If not, maybe you need to reevaluate your decision.

And if you still aren't convinced, when you cancel your 3rd party provider what do you think happens? The leads go away? Someone else is buying them. I would hate to have my competition buying leads in my PMA and selling MY customers automobiles…but that's just me.

If you have any questions regarding this article or would like more information about Dealer Synergy, please contact Sean V. Bradley either by email at sean@dealersynergy.com or telephone at 856-264-0564.