Our previous blogs included a corproate blog, Presence Bits,  and an Auto Dealer Live Chat Tips and Techniques Blog.  All historical posts and content from those blogs has been migrated to the new blog and are easily searchable using the site search function.   This new blog logically organizes content so you may also search using categories - searching posts categorized under the “Auto Dealer Live Chat” or “Tips, Tricks and Best Practices”, for example. 

If you are not yet subscribed, you should subscribe via RSS or email right now!

If you subscribed to either of the previous blogs via RSS you will need to update the feed URL to http://feeds.feedburner.com/ContactAtOnceBlog.  

If you subscribed to either of the previous blogs via email, you need not do anything.  You will continue to receive emails whenever content is added to the new blog. 

Oh..and if you have not already done so, please follow us on Twitter as another way to stay up to date on all the latest from ContactAtOnce!.

1. Is this specific vehicle available?
2. What is the price?

An outsourced automotive dealership instant messaging company cannot know with certainty if a vehicle is available nor can they negotiate pricing. All they can do is take the lead information and pass it along to your salesperson. Then your salesperson is tasked with returning the call and trying to reach the customer. This is fine for a small number of chats, but not all chats. If your salesperson can answer chats, they can strike while the iron is hot and when the customer is available; not three hours later after they spoke with your competition down the street.

The process for answering telephone calls and answering chats is exactly the same; you either end up with an appointment, a lead, or an anonymous customer. Each dealership has their own procedures for how to work with and follow up with customers; the only difference is how the lead arrived.  So don’t over complicate your automotive dealership instant messaging!

Read the full press release here. It includes a more detailed description and signup instructions.

• Site layout is important because site visitor tendencies will dominate specific pages or things of interest.  How you display those things can and will determine how successful you are.  Google has tools to help with this in the webmaster tools.  Change your site layout and move things around often to accomplish the most effective conversion.
• Remember “The Fold”.  The fold is an old newspaper term that has been adopted by the web design business.  If you can accomplish showing what’s important above the fold so people don’t have to scroll down you will have better success.  Some people will scroll down but some will not.
• Colors are important….remember “red” means stop, “green” means go, and “black” can mean cold.  Does stop mean stop hear or stay away?  Does green mean go here or keep going?
• Are you promoting too much on the home page?  Too much shows clutter and people need to know what’s important within 2 seconds.  A video will postpone that 2 seconds to 6 seconds so be careful with your use of video.
• Call to action….what in the world do you want them to do?  It has to be a common goal.  (Here is my plug…Chat is perfect because it allows the site visitor to ask their question and gives the dealer an opportunity to schedule an appointment or schedule a follow up action).

All of the above need to be considered when you are optimizing your site.  Conversion is extremely important.  Dealers want shoppers to land on their sites and buy a car.  The shopper has questions and wants to see it, smell it, touch it, drive it, show their friends, compare to others, and once they feel comfortable they buy.  You need a common ground.  Chat is just that. 

Which chat solution?  You need to take a few suggestions from the professionals.  Companies like Cars.com and Carsdirect.com have been researching the most effective chat solutions to convert site traffic to leads.  Take it from the big boys….after examining different chat companies they chose ContactAtOnce!  (I guess most reading this blog already figured that out!) 

And as with all things internet, you’ll need a way to track everything…..I suggest Google Analytics or Omniture.  The price is right for Google (free) but it will be more work and it is all about you and how well you keep up with it.  Omniture is your analytics assistant.  They will share with you information about your site that would take years to learn with Google Analytics.  They are not cheap but how important is your website to your business?  Invest wisely in your website and convert more website traffic into quality leads. 

I hope this helps someone.  Please feel free to ask questions in the comments and I will answer them.

If  you are already using ContactAtOnce! on your dealership’s website or another 3rd party site, and you use CarsDirect, ask your rep to get you hooked up.

If you aren’t using CarsDirect, give them a try.   From the release:

“CarsDirect has always excelled at connecting consumers shopping for new and used vehicles online with reputable dealers,” said Ken Potter, Vice President and General Manager of Automotive Sales and Industry Relations at CarsDirect. “Adding car dealer chat features to our rich portfolio of products and features makes it even more convenient for our users to ask questions and set appointments and as a result, we are delivering more qualified leads to our dealer partners.”

CarsDirect Screenshot Showing ContactAtOnce!

Atlanta, GA – September 21, 2009 – ContactAtOnce!, a leading provider of car dealer chat and other internet marketing tools that move online shoppers into live conversations with car dealers, today announced that CarsDirect, a leading online automotive shopping service and lead provider, has licensed the ContactAtOnce! chat service.

“CarsDirect has always excelled at connecting consumers shopping for new and used vehicles online with reputable dealers,” said Ken Potter, Vice President and General Manager of Automotive Sales and Industry Relations at CarsDirect. “Adding car dealer chat features to our rich portfolio of products and features makes it even more convenient for our users to ask questions and set appointments and as a result, we are delivering more qualified leads to our dealer partners.”

ContactAtOnce! powers presence-aware “drop-in business cards” that appear on CarsDirect web pages alerting shoppers when dealer personnel are available to answer questions about the specific car shown on the web page. Shoppers may then initiate instant communications whenever they choose. The ContactAtOnce! car dealer chat system automatically measures advertising effectiveness, helping both CarsDirect and dealers constantly improve their businesses.

“CarsDirect is a pioneer among automotive website providers,” said John Hanger, President & CEO of ContactAtOnce!. “We are honored to have been selected as their provider of car dealer chat services.”

ContactAtOnce! chat features are available immediately, at no additional charge to CarsDirect customers with the premium advertising package.

About CarsDirect
CarsDirect (www.carsdirect.com) is a leading online automotive shopping service, research portal, and lead provider, providing new and used automobiles and related products and services, such as loan and lease financing. CarsDirect is a division of Los Angeles-based Internet Brands (www.internetbrands.com), a leading operator of community and e-commerce consumer websites.

Whether advertising is online or offline says nothing about its contribution to connecting the shopper with the store. Contact is a result of preference, for the vehicle and the dealership. Until the shopper has some level of preference for a vehicle at the store or preference for the store itself as the solution for finding a vehicle, most shoppers will avoid contact. For the shopper, searching online or across a variety of print ads until a preference is established makes a great deal more sense than hopping from store to store on an exploratory basis.

Dennis’ analysis is excellent and insightful.  Read the free white paper and get educated about marketing to car shoppers.

1. Answer a customer’s questions promptly, even if you are looking up information for them. In a phone conversation you’re naturally going to say, “Hang on for a second while I check on that info.” In chat the need to acknowledge the customer is even more important because they can’t hear that you are actively doing something and might think you forgot about them. In the ContactAtOnce client you can use the predefined Status shortcuts to help you out, for instance “Bear with me a moment while I look that up.” Is the very first shortcut in the Status group.
2. Be polite and professional. In a phone conversation, if a customer gets heated and begins to raise their voice, you remain professional and do not raise your voice back. The same goes with chat, you do not have to YELL just because the customer is YELLING. Your attitude could make or break the customer’s experience and could send them, and their money, down the road to your competition. You would never want your receptionist to answer the phone “ABC Dealer, what do you want?”, just as you would never answer a chat “You’re bothering me, what do you need?”.   As your mom said, “Be nice and saying please and thank you can go a long way”. And remember that if you use another application that requires caps to turn off your caps lock when you answering the conversation.
3. Tell the customer who you are. Just as you would on the phone, say “Hi, My name is ___”. Usually the customer will respond with their name, and you didn’t even have to ask. Now that you have their name, it will be easier to get their contact information later in the conversation. For example, if the customer asks if a certain vehicle is available, you can say “Mark let me check on that for you, but it could take several minutes. Can I call or email you when I have the information?” Since they asked the question, they want the answer, and will usually give you their contact information.