The caliber of your website depends on your budget and the expertise of your Webmaster. There are many schools of thought on website designs, button sizes, page layouts, and so on. However, when it’s all said and done, your website must be/do three basic things:

• Your website MUST BE PROFESSIONAL and well-designed to invoke customer trust. It’s expensive to run a dealership, so the last thing you want is an unprofessional presentation of your dealership. Most auto manufacturers have website compliancy requirements that will guarantee a decent looking website for each dealer.

• Your website MUST GIVE A FULL PRESENTATION of your products and services. It must have enough good information to keep the customer from needing to visit another (maybe a competitor’s) site for the full picture. Contrary to what most people think, shoppers are not only interested in your inventory, but everything about your dealership. The more information you present, the greater will be your chances to capture the lead.

• Your website MUST SELL YOUR COMPANY. Studies show that people buy from names that they trust and that buying is driven more by emotions than any other force. Hence, you must sell them your dealership -- who you are, what you stand for, your great team, why they must purchase from you, etc. Basically, all that "too much talk" that many of us on the sales end are not quite fond of, is necessary for a good website. Besides, people love spending time on the Internet, so give them more to look at, click on, or read up.

The Three Types of Internet Lead Acquisition

After over a decade of being Webmaster for auto dealers, The Rogee Corporation’s research shows that there are mainly three types of lead acquisitions that the Internet provides for auto dealers: (1) Web Forms, (2) Phone Calls, and (3) Dealership Visits. To gauge the success or failure of your Internet dealership, you must simultaneously engage in and effectively track all three areas:

• Web Forms Lead Acquisition

  Web Form Leads happen when a user enters his/her information into any number of forms at the website and submits the data to the dealership. The various types of dealer website forms including new/used vehicle inquiry, finance application, test drive scheduler, quick quote request, trade-in appraisal, service scheduler, parts request, general contact, and a couple of other types.

  The Web Form Lead is the most popular type of Internet lead. In fact, many dealerships only track the web forms and mistakenly do not regard the other two types as true Internet leads. Depending only on Web Forms is not a true method to accurately determine your Internet RIO (return on investment) with 100% confidence.

  Tracking Tip: You should have a lead managing mechanism (with software or on paper) that you can use to track and assign all incoming Web Form leads.

• Phone Calls Lead Acquisition

  The Phone Call Lead is one of the most frequently missed opportunities for many auto dealers. First of all, it can feel awkward to ask customers if they are calling you because they have visited your website. To solve this problem, dealerships are now providing Internet-only numbers at their websites. This way they know that the customer must have, at some point, been to the website.

  There is a large chunk of customers who will never submit a form, but would rather call to speak with a live person. Research shows that people are now using the Internet as their main source to get information (phone number, address, and hours of operation) of the business that they want to patronize. Yes, they visited the website, but they only wanted your phone number. Hence tracking the phones for Internet callers is necessary in this era.

  Tracking Tip: You can setup dedicated phone numbers that are published only at your website or you can devise a clever way to conversationally find out from the customer if he/she is calling from or because of your website.

• Dealership Visits Lead Acquisition

  It is true that because of the Internet many customers like to browse dealership websites from the comfort of their homes without having to deal with a salesperson. However, the opposite is also true, that people love talking with other people about the products and services they want to buy.

  A portion of your buyers will be shoppers who have been to your website, did not fill out a form, did not call, but decided to come to the dealership in person. Many of these are savvy shoppers who want to get the best deal from you and would only mention that they have been to your website if (a) you ask them directly, or (b) they find that they can leverage their position during the negotiation process.

  Tracking Tip: Train your sales team to find out earlier on from the customer if they have come into the dealership because of exposure to your website. You should also have a special Internet survey sheet as part of your forms that the customer can fill out when they buy or service their vehicle at your dealership.

Consider the "Local Community" Factor

Ways to Promote Your Website

• Search Engine Promotions SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, comes into play as your webmaster tweaks your website so that it places well in the Search Engines results. SEM, which means Search Engine Marketing, is when you buy clicks directly from the search engines. Generally, you put money into an SEM account and each time someone clicks from the engine to your website, they will deduct a pre-set amount from your funds. For more information on search engine marketing, visit TrcSEM.com.

• Third-party Lead Provider Websites Depending on your budget, you can sign-up with any number of Internet lead providers. They will get the customer, collect the lead, and then send (usually, email) you the lead. Unfortunately, many lead providers will also sell the same lead to other dealers in your market -- your competitors. Along with sending you the pre-collected lead, they usually have links from their website to yours. A few examples of automotive lead providers include: AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, usaAutoSearch.com, and even new vehicle manufacturer websites.

• Offline, Traditional Promotions Newspapers, Magazines, Flyers, Billboards, Radio, TV, and the likes, will always be around to a certain degree. Periodically, it is necessary to promote your website through some of these forms of media. Your website address must be prominently displayed on all correspondence. There are even dealerships that now refer to themselves by Internet name in most radio, TV, and newspaper ads.

• In-Dealer and Employee-involved Promotions Another place to consider promoting your website is at the dealership itself. Have banners and flyers available to all customers. Promote your website at all departments within the dealership. There are also clever ways you can get your employees involved in promoting the website. Many of these ideas can be found in our "DealerSERVE Internet Managers Manual" -- a FREE gift for dealerships using TRC as their Webmaster.