One of the great achievements in the automotive business is the ability to get repeat and referral business. It’s really great to reap the benefits of a job well done for years to come. However, no business can survive solely on repeat and referrals alone. In order to generate new business, especially in the car business, new automotive sales leads must be generated and/or purchased. Third party generated leads are popular in the automotive business. Every now and then, you may want to do a spot check of your current lead sources, their effectiveness, as well as checking other sources that may be available. Many dealers turn to Google for the answer to their questions of what automotive sales leads are available. They may do some brief keyword play and try “new car leads” or “lead source providers”. Even if you throw the word “quality” into the mix, no search engine ranking can guarantee the quality of a third party lead. However, something you may want to search for is “Dealer Chat Leads” or “Automotive Sales Leads”. Dealer Chat is the new kid on the block when it comes to automotive sales leads. This is most likely due to the fact that dealer chat is a relatively newer technology. Many dealers are technologically driven and have jumped onto the opportunity to try something new a few years back when dealer chat was released. Other dealers weren’t so sure about this new lead source and held tight to their reservations. Some of these reserved dealers have moved on to use dealer chat to generate high quality automotive sales leads. Others are still on the fence about the idea. Sub-prime and vehicle specific leads have been around a lot longer. Third-party leads are very beneficial to a number of dealers. Despite the reports and feedback that many dealers will give to support third party leads, try to take a logistical view for a moment; where do third party leads come from? The easy answer: Third Parties. When lead source providers “acquire” their leads they sell to you, they really cannot guarantee the prospective customer was looking for a vehicle when they submitted their information. They may have been filling out an online survey, or playing the newest Facebook online game. Somehow, they’re asked if they’d be interested in a car, they click yes, fill in their information, and here comes the lead delivered to you. Let’s assume this is the kind of lead you receive in your inbox. If you do contact the prospect on the first try, you’re quite lucky. From there, if your luck is going strong, they may be able to be talked into an appointment. If your luck is really going well, you might just get a sale. This is all assuming that the prospect deep down, somehow, was in the market for a vehicle. The tune changes when the lead is generated from your own website by engaging the visitor using dealer chat. Since they’re on your website, the chances are very good they have a vehicle related question. From there, you’re much more likely to generate a high quality automotive sales lead that will hopefully result in a sale. Time and time again, research shows that automotive sales leads generated from your website have a much higher closing ratio than those of third party lead sources. Plain and simple: more sales for you. The key to capturing these website leads is having dealer chat software on your website. Staff your virtual showroom just as you staff your lot; with knowledgeable people who are ready to answer questions and give the proper attention necessary to make a prospective customer feel appreciated. No matter where you decide to get your automotive sales leads; from a third party or from your own website via dealer chat, just be sure you’re giving visitors what they want; attention, credibility, and a great experience. That’s the stuff that sells cars.  Read more...