Internet Customer Phone Call Basics

Internet Process Best Practices Below are some quick and helpful tips for managing your Internet lead management process. You can find more information about setting up an effective Internet lead management foundation (i.e., the right people, processes, and tools) under the “Training” area on the FMC Lead Management portal. Internet Process Objectives

 Reply to 100% of leads, within one business hour utilizing the five key drivers 1. Make direct contact 2. Show genuine interest 3. Provide a price quote 4. Confirm vehicle availability 5. Make multiple contacts

 Continue long-term follow-up for 180 days

 Use a consumer-friendly appointment process

Internet Process Best Practice Tips

 If you have trouble with caller ID, consider using a cell phone to call customer

 Desk the deal like every other customer

 Send a link to FMC

 Send customers to KBB

 Create an assumed appointment early in the timeline

 Troll for referrals

 Create the “Used Car of the Week” special

 Send a copy of the “retail” view of the Contest and Incentive Grid as a bulk email

 Use the Internet lead database to target market

 Input your walk-in traffic (we-mail) into SalesPoint for follow-up

 Send an American Greetings free “e-card” thanking customer for his inquiry; when he opens the “e-card,” it sends a read receipt so you’ll know he is at his computer an you can call

 Send a copy of the dealership’s newspaper ad as a bulk email

 Measure and monitor lead response time and close rates on a regular basis

 Dealership has a lead management Process Champion in place appointed and accountable for lead management success Identify Your Areas for Improvement The questions shown here provide a guide for identifying areas you can improve your Internet lead management process. Review the questions and see which ones you answer “no.” Those are your areas for improvement you should discuss and work on in your dealership.

Answer “yes” or “no” to the following:

YES NO

Is your closing ratio above 10%? Are the Dealer Overview Report, Lead Response Time Report, and Combined Leads Report reviewed regularly? Are all Internet leads routed to your lead management tool? Does your dealership advertise its URL? Is your Web site content updated regularly? Does your dealership optimize ConsumerTRAC capabilities? Does your dealership actively use a lead management tool? Is there at least one dedicated person to respond to leads? If yes, is there a backup person in case the dedicated person is unavailable? Is the lead response process reviewed regularly and revised as needed? Is your dealership’s personalized response time within one hour of normal business hours? Do your dealership’s email responses confirm vehicle availability and pricing? Is a call made to set an appointment within 15 minutes of the First Quality Response email? Is a script followed for the call to set an appointment? Do staff confirm appointments? Do staff know outcome of appointments (kept, sold, or no show)?

Process Champion instructions: Periodically review this checklist as you are going through process improvement initiatives. You don’t want to lose sight of the complete list of necessary aspects of lead management. The goal is to be able to answer “yes” to all of the questions above.