After all the amazing feedback we received around our latest Purchase Analysis Report, you know - the one we published last week that drilled down on the performance dealers using HookLogic on their Dealer.com websites, it only made sense to continue on by comparing and calculating additional/other groups of dealer clients utilizing our Web2Show and Lead2Show products.
Some of you may know that early on we built a product called ShowPro for AutoUSA. ShowPro is based on our existing Web2Show and Lead2Show products. The included Purchase Analysis Report was originally put together for AutoUSA and HookLogic internal performance meetings, but we figured why keep all this great performance data and results to ourselves?
Lets get to the good stuff…
The results in the below AutoUSA Purchase Analysis Report could potentially have you re-thinking your current position on 3rd Party Lead acquisition.
Too often, industry consultants and online marketing/Internet sales managers are quick to dismiss the potential and performance of new vehicle 3rd party leads. A majority of the time dealers only measure the closing ratio of their leads, while missing out on measuring the Show rate of their leads – that’s an article for a other time.
Before we get too far, allow me to clarify how I view what a 3rd Party Lead is.
To me, a 3rd Party Lead is a lead that is NOT associated to a particular vehicle in your inventory (new or used). It’s a new vehicle lead you purchase through a new car lead aggregator such as AutoUSA, Dealix or AutoBytel.
These leads typically derive from a “get your price quote” or “configure your next vehicle” call-to-action, where a customer chooses or configures a new vehicle of their choice on a vehicle information website like Edmunds.com, TrueCar, AOL Autos, or one of the other million websites designed to capture "in-market" leads.
Click here for more specifics around my views and opinions of a 3rd Party lead vs vehicle classified leads.
Al-l-l-right – that’s enough talk around the difference in 3rd party leads. In the end, we just need to get more of your leads to show up at your dealership.
Getting back to this AutoUSA Purchase Analysis Report; starting from the top, you see “Leads Generated“. During the months of 1/1/13 – 6/30/13AutoUSA ShowPro generated 20,990 leads for their dealerships clients.
Of the 20,990 incentivized vehicle shoppers, 5,985 customers walked into a participating AutoUSA ShowPro dealership during this time frame to test drive a vehicle after engaging with ShowPro.
Of the total amount of leads submitted or engaged, 1 in 3 showed up at the dealership for a 29% Lead to Show Rate. Considering the average national lead to show rate is around 17%, this is outstanding!
Now lets get to the SALES Data.
Of the 5,985 that were incentivized and that walked into this group of 119 dealers for a test drive, 58% purchased a Vehicle.
Let’s agree, HookLogic / ShowPro nor any other marketing / lead generating feature has a direct correspondence to how well your sales floor can close deals. However let’s consider this - J.D. Power studies show that consumers are visiting LESS than 2 dealerships before purchase. That equates to a 50% show to close ratio on average by default.
This group of dealers are closing incentivized ShowProshowroom ups at 58% with an overall lead closing ratio of 16%.
Are you tracking your dealer’s Lead to Show Rate?Without shows, there's no test drives, no writes up and no opportunity for sales.
As I have pointed out before, most dealers do a good job at closing the customer once they show. What dealers need to be measuring is the customer Lead to Show rate.
Whether it's from a lead originating from your dealer’s website, 3rd Party Lead, Online Chat lead or HookLogic Lead2Show or AutoUSA ShowPro – if you can get more in-market shoppers to Show Up at your dealership, you get more opportunities to make more sales.
