Digital Dealer - August 2018 - 40

M A R K E T ING & ADVERT ISING: Ph o n e Pr ocess, Lead H andl i ng

By Jim Boldebook
Founder,
CBC Automotive Marketing

Phone Power!
There is a resurgence
in the use of the
telephone by customers
seeking information on
availability and pricing.
While many thought the use
of email, texting, and
website inquiries would
replace the phone altogether, many dealers are
reporting increased phone
activity in the past year.
Recently, I read where the
president of a large West
Coast dealer group said his
dealerships have seen a
10-15% shift in total internet
leads coming from the
phone.
Apparently, people
are landing on one of the
dealership websites, but
rather than waiting for even
a five or 10-minute email
response, they pick up the
phone to get questions
answered right away, also

40

AUGUST 2018

getting conversational
clarity on issues without
the back-and-forth time of
email. Of course, handsfree talk is much easier
than email and texting in the
car, and texting and email
while driving are illegal while
driving in most states.
Thirty-five years ago,
when I started my career
in automotive retail marketing, the telephone was a
powerful tool in our recommended arsenal. Our
agency encouraged dealers
to get a regional or national
toll-free telephone number
to broaden the territory
customers could call from
without toll charges. 800
numbers were also easier to dial from the phone
systems of some companies and 'pay telephones.'
We encouraged dealers
to get easy-to-remember

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

numbers such as 1-800-Hi
Jolly or 1-800-Go Galpin
so listeners could easily
remember phone numbers
in radio ads. As websites on
the Internet cranked up, web
addresses took precedent
of phone number mentions
and prominence in advertising.
Another powerful alteration in the 'phone-up' business was the introduction
of a process where every
advertising medium has its
own distinctive telephone
number in an effort to track
effectiveness. While that
theory may sound like an
effective tracking mechanism, in my opinion it dilutes
the branding effort of a
major customer portal. Even
though all numbers may
end up being answered in
the same incoming line, advertising 15 different phone

numbers eliminates any
possibility of 'share of mind'
retention. And by the way,
which number gets stored in
a customer's phone contact list? That is the phone
number that will always be
tracked by the dealership
regardless of a different attribution source in the future.
Using different numbers also
adds another potential layer
of confusion when different
offers are tested. The person
handling the incoming call
must interrogate the caller
on the nature of the offer and
is often unaware of details
of specific offers on multiple
advertised channels.
I really like a quote attributed to Jeff Jackson who is
president of the GEE Auto
Group in Washington State.
"The customer wants three
things: Trust, Transparency
and Timeliness." I agree Jeff.
Every one of those three
things comes into play. Trust
in the dealerships brand
reputation, transparency in
the offer being made, and
timeliness in how quickly
the customer can get the
information they are seeking whether it be specs and
details on a vehicle, pricing
information, and availability.
In phone conversations, there
is one more important factor
in the equation: rapport.
The person answering the
phone has to have that same
friendly handshake, greeting
and smile in their voice that
an effective greeter on the
salesroom floor has.
Think about the times you
have called a company or
business and how that phone
call was answered. How were
you greeted? Did you feel
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - August 2018
