How Good Car Salesman Get Leads Using These 17 Strategies

Although 95% of motor vehicle purchases happen at the dealership, a typical buyer visits about 4.2 websites during the entire car buying process. It's through this knowledge how good car salesman get leads. Most Successful car purchases start with an online contact!  

It also explains why dealership websites in the US accounted for nearly 8.1% of all digital ad spending in 2021.

But how do you optimize your strategies to stay on top of the game and acquire more leads? Here we reveal the best 17 lead generation tips for car dealerships in 2022 and beyond.

How To Get Car Sales Leads In 2022

1. Go Back To Your Website

Digital connectivity is now stronger than ever in doing businesses, thanks to the pandemic. A majority of your potential customers will likely interact with your website before making a buying decision. 

Revamp your website to gain a competitive edge and offer buyers a more intuitive experience. That means going for a user-centric automotive UI design for simple navigation.

On top of that, work on the site’s responsiveness with respect to all internet-accessing gadgets. This includes mobile phones, tablets, and PCs. 

Remember, the average buyer doesn’t want to spend the whole day figuring out whether they can trade in at your car dealership. Make it easy for customers to scan through and find out what they want.

To stand out, add an accessible database with multiple users and access levels. This allows everyone who uses the site to have a good experience, including car salesmen. 

Typically, this move segments access with privileges and permissions. Everyone will access what they need without waiting in line. 

With streamlined operations, you can engage more qualified leads and stimulate automotive sales.

2. Leverage Google Analytics

Car salesmen should measure and track the results of their online marketing efforts. Although there are various tools that can help you do this, they often come with premium packages. This might be a little more expensive in the long haul. 

But on the flip side, Google Analytics is absolutely free. Moreover, it gives insightful marketing information that can help generate quality leads. Some of the information that you’ll get insights into include:

• The number of visitors to your dealership website over a certain period
• Valuable leads that accessed the site through the marketing channels, for instance, social media pages
• The geographic locations of your potential customers
• The amount of time car buyers spend on your dealership website

These are just a handful of data insights that you can get in Google Analytics. Moreover, getting started with the platform is pretty easy and quick. 

All you need to do after opening the free account is to track KIPs and you’re good to drive car sales. These KPIs include sessions, new and returning visitors, bounce rate, and organic vs. paid traffic.

3. Search Engine Optimization

As a car salesperson, you already understand that potential buyers have varying preferences for vehicle purchases. For instance, one may need a new car, while another customer wants a used car. 

Other new customers may also be interested in a particular type of service. Despite the varying preferences, these customers have one thing in common. They all rely on the internet to weigh their options.

That said, internet leads are probably responsible for most automotive sales in your car dealership. But that will be accurate only if search engines direct more customers to your business. 

In other words, your dealership website should rank among the first search engine results pages. Moreover, automotive search engine optimization positions your dealership website to garner more traffic. 

One of the ways of positioning your site for customers to find it is through keyword strategies. For instance, long-tail keywords featuring your city name will position the site for greater visibility within that location. 

You would also want to create content that gives users information about a new car. Simply put, leverage content pieces that add value to the visitor.

4. Conversions Optimization For More Car Sales

Conversion optimization in dealership websites entails positioning the sites to compel visitors to take an action. This lead generation strategy is pretty new in the automotive industry. However, it is very crucial as far as getting quality leads is concerned. 

Moreover, it doesn't make sense to spend more time and money optimizing the site only to lose hard-won prospects immediately when they make the first contact. Similarly, the main reason why businesses have dealership websites is for lead generation.

So, how do you go about it? It’s easy. You only need to ensure that you smoothen all pain points on your website. This will offer easy ways for prospects to initiate communication and drive car sales.

If done right, you'll get the contact information of new buyers and funnel them all through the sales channel. You can do that through:

• Contact information cards on the header or footer. This is where your website for visitors to enter their details, such as email, phone number, or even address
• Automated chatbots that engage customers on the go, to answer simple but pertinent concerns
• Lead magnets that incentivize visitors to exchange their email addresses, such as free how-to PDFs
• Contact forms on all listings for the visitor to book a test drive or make reservations

5. Enable Chat And Push Notifications On Your Site

Chat and push notifications can be a turn-off for many customers. That is false. In fact, 72% of online shoppers have enabled these notifications to stay in touch with brands anytime they want. 

Moreover, lead generation through chat and push notifications is personalized. This could mean driving more leads to your site. Typically, these notifications engage car buyers directly with their consent. This is because they have to turn on the prompt manually. 

For this reason, it’s a perfect lead generation technique to notify prospective car buyers about upcoming deals.

Moreover, chat and push notifications are nearly the same as direct mail when generating car sales leads.  They can also convey tailored messages based on car buyers behavior and preferences. 

Other benefits of push and chat notifications include monetization opportunities by adding value to other ad platforms.

6. Content Priority For Better Lead Generation

Besides social media networks, written online content can also boost lead generation for more car sales. This is  especially when your dealership doesn’t rely much on ground car salesmen. 

However, this only works if you can provide valuable content. The content should benefit average car buyers interacting with your various sales channels. 

This includes how-to blogs, research content on various car models, and quick car reviews that touch on the main features of the unit in question.

Although it sounds practical to ask your car salesman to create your written content, hiring a professional copywriter can give you a competitive edge. Moreover, copywriters are more knowledgeable in writing content geared towards the needs of typical website visitors. 

That doesn’t sound like full-time car salespeople. The tips and tricks that a professional copywriter brings to the table could be the difference that will sell more cars by the end of the year. If some of these online methods take too long for you, a quicker option is sms lead generation. Reach out to SmarterContact to drive lead generation through text messages! Anyways, let's continue.

7. Take Advantage Of Social Media Platforms To Drive Automotive Sales

Social media is a powerful tool in driving lead generation across all businesses.  Not only car dealerships websites. If you get it right, say by leveraging a personalized inbound model for unique prospects, you’ll likely garner all the leads. 

Start by researching the most popular platform where your car salespeople encounter many prospective buyers. Work on this platform and fill all the necessary dealership information, including location and contact.

Although building a following on social media can be pretty challenging at first, keeping the followers can be more daunting. Always upload high-quality photos with detailed descriptions of prices and features. You can also include mileages, and the overall condition of the car. 

Even better, you can run targeted promotions on Facebook marketplace and other social media platforms. This allows your posts to reach as many people as possible, even beyond your target audience.

8. Create More Video Content On YouTube

Average customers who buy cars have one thing in common. They all need in-depth insights into the details of the units that they wish to buy. They need this information even before reaching out to car dealers. 

Simply, prospective buyers want you to walk them through all unit features. Otherwise, other car dealers will do that and funnel them through their sales channels. 

That said, focus on establishing a fully-fledged car review YouTube channel. This will complement your other video sharing platforms, such as websites, Facebook, and Instagram.

However, other car salesmen also do this. It will help if you stand out in your strategy. Otherwise, you'll just be producing generic walk-through video content that doesn't add value to lead generation. 

To make your YouTube channel a go-to option for prospective customers, you can present your walk-through videos in an exciting way.  For instance, give a brief but detailed description of the car model under review. 

You can also discuss all the interior and exterior features of the model vividly to create a visual impression. On top of that, make the videos engage customers on what they want to learn about the unit under reviews. 

Most importantly, always include a CTA at the end of your videos. This might just encourage customers to book a test drive and boost your overall lead generation techniques.

9. Optimize Social Business Pages For Quality Sales Leads

Are your social business pages optimized to collect leads on the go? If not, you need to streamline all pain points that discourage customers from initiating conversations. 

The pain paints also downplay your lead generation techniques. This is especially when targeting new customers. Remember, an optimized social business page helps you harness customer attention and generate leads to sell more cars online. 

Besides leveraging multiple platforms to generate leads, you can encourage all your customers to leave reviews. Positive reviews will act as a magnet for lead generation. This could mean fewer phone calls and more car sales on an average month. 

Similarly, responding to negative reviews on your social business page could also mean more car sales leads. Prospective customers will likely appreciate how attentive to detail your dealership is. 

However, it will help if you give your customers the best experience throughout the sales process.  This will bring more positive reviews on your social business page.

10. Get Acquainted With Names And Remember Them

Do you ever wonder why prospects go through the entire dealership marketing sales funnel, only to perform a test drive and vanish into thin air? 

Well, maybe you didn’t get a car salesperson to follow up on the potential buyer. Or, your sales pitches don’t appeal even if you try to follow up. 

So, how can you ensure that these customers end up buying? Remember, getting just one customer to complete a purchase every day can make a great difference revenue-wise.

It will help if you get acquainted with the names of your quality leads. Most importantly, remember them when reaching out with marketing communications. 

Combine that with an irresistible offer to entice the customer. They might even make a commitment to buy a new car within a certain period. 

If this doesn’t work, don’t lose hope. Get your sales team to reach out to past customers and ask for direct recommendations. Daily sales calls can be the difference between meager and ten-fold profits.

11. Question And Answer Practices  

Your social media followers are yearning to learn more about a new vehicle that just launched. And of course, they want to hear this from their best car dealer in the city. 

Your walk-through video reviews on YouTube can give as many details as possible. However that doesn't mean they will answer all the burning questions customers have.

In that case, you would want to embrace question and answer practices. This will engage more customers and generate car sales leads. It can be a weekly or bi-weekly session where you hold virtual discussion sessions on social media platforms. 

But with the shrinking pandemic restrictions, you can even invite buyers from the local community to your dealership. This will allow them to engage the sales people one-on-one and ask their questions. 

Don't hesitate to reach out to old clients too. You do repeat business, especially if you have a car they wished for earlier.

12. What Do Your Customers Need? Give Them That

Of course, your potential car buyers want an intuitive website that is to navigate. They also want detailed car descriptions to make informed decisions on a crowded online marketplace. But what else do they need besides fancy pictures? Or even elaborate unit descriptions on social media? 

A recent report suggests that nearly 81.2% of new motor vehicle purchases in the US, in the fourth quarter of 2021 were through loans and asset financing. Moreover, asset financing accounted for more SUV unit sales during the same period.

This statistic gives you an insight into what the majority of your prospects want. This might also include  previous customers. That said, include a credit check and financing option appeal on your website. More customers will be looking for this information before initiating contact. 

Moreover, the more financing options you offer, the greater the leaps you’ll realize with your lead generation strategies.

13. Be Patient For More Sales Leads In The Future

Patience is a great virtue, often associated with success and prosperity in business practices. Don’t lose hope when the leads generated with your strategies don’t yield complete purchases.

Sometimes, the prospective buyer is just among many online shoppers. They share the goal of buying a new car in the near future. When the time comes, they'll eventually get in touch with your car salespeople.

That said, you can always take a break. Focus on improving your existing lead generation strategies before implementing new ones. For instance, you do research and zero down to the best third party site that compliments your lead gen strategies. 

After finding the third party site that stacks up competitively to others, focus on improving your listings there. This may include leveraging high-quality photography and detailed descriptions to stimulate car sales.

14. Check In After Closing Deals For Referral Sales Leads

Did you know that direct referrals are not only efficient but also cost-effective in getting good leads? Well, referral leads  likely end in purchases. 

One of the ways to collect leads directly is by checking in with customers after closing deals. For first-time car buyers, they likely watch out for this opportunity to inquire more about their newly acquired units. For instance, where can they source the parts? Can you refer them to the best mechanic around?

That said, make that call to find out if your customer had a good car shopping experience. Reach out with an incentive that will make the customer happy, and probably refer someone to your dealership. 

With these, you can build a robust referral program through your happy customers, their friends, relatives, and even business associates. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with auto dealers initiating cold leads to drive sales.

15. Spearhead Online Marketing To Drive Automotive Sales

Another lead generation tip is to take charge of your online marketing campaign to generate valuable sales leads. Be at the help of ensuring that all social media posts. Ensure they all align with the dealership’s goals and consumer expectations before rolling them out. 

Even better, you can chair marketing meetings from time to time. Take a deep dive into the reasons why your business isn’t generating more sales leads as before. 

All this ensures that you keep a close touch on everything that might hurt all complement your existing sales leads.

16. Stand Out In Car Sales Arena

    

Another crucial but often underrated lead generation strategy is by standing out ahead of the competition. For instance, you don’t have to follow the same sales process leveraged by every dealership. 

Be unique and encompass after-sale services that excite car buyers. That way, they might even refer other customers directly to your dealership. Remember, direct referrals are the most cost-effective way of generating organic car sales leads.

You can also focus on training your car salespeople on how to enhance customer experience.  Many dealerships often sideline ongoing training programs. However, additional knowledge can make the difference in generating more car sales leads. 

For instance, updated car salespeople will advertise the same car differently from someone leveraging outdated techniques.

17. Leverage Direct Mail Campaigns To Drive Conversions

Did you know that 57% of businesses in the auto sales industry send monthly email campaigns to sell more cars? Moreover, emails have a relatively high open rate of up to 12% . That is especially when sent at the right time, to the right target audience. 

Email campaigns that encompass all the necessary informational aspects about upcoming offers and sales will likely boost ROI. 

direct mail marketing works in many instances. But how exactly can a car dealership optimize its strategy for meaningful gains? First, you would want to segment your direct mail list. This will allow you to personalize communication for all car buyers. 

That means digging into your CRM software databases and sorting it out in various subcategories. They can be age, purchase history, or even gender. That way, you can understand what your customers expect in the upcoming newsletter.

After that, customize your direct mail campaigns for mobile phone access. Hubspot notes customers open nearly half of email campaigns on the phone. With reference to the statistic, this strategy generates as many car sales leads as possible. 

Don’t miss out on many potential customers that other car dealers will gladly funnel through their sales channels. 

The last tip goes even without mentioning. Track results and measure performance as needed to improve your overall strategies.

How To Drive Car Sales With Smarter Contact

Smarter Contact is your go-to trusted partner for driving lead generation through text messages. The success of text messaging for real estate can also be replicated in the automotive industry. This is especially if you have the right partner who knows what works and doesn't. 

Smarter Contact is arguably the best contact skip tracer. We leverage the most advanced geolocation data in the industry. That means you can reach out to a specific audience in your locality through text messages and invite them for a test drive.

On top of that, the platform offers an intuitive user interface for your car salespeople. This ensures the highest message delivery rate at all times. Sign up for a Smarter Contact free trial to drive your lead generation through text messages today.

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