Lately, we've been fielding a lot of questions from customers about handing their online leads.  Not just the leads that email the store, but really anything coming in on the phone, on the web, from GoRVing, manufacturers, etc.  While many dealers have been investing in their websites over the years and growing their traffic (and leads) they are often under equipped to handle these new "online" prospect.  Here are just a few highlights from a recent conversation I've had with a dealer we've been working with for a few years:

1. Think about your website as a separate store location.  In fact, based on the stats we see, it’s your largest location in terms of traffic.  Too often the “website” is thought of as a brochure but in fact it’s how your customers find you and shop the lot, long before they enter the store.  So, if you think about it like a location you would: 
   1. Staff it appropriately
   2. Give it management priority
   3. Market it like it was a location...put your web address on everything. 
   4. Treat Web Leads like Gold (but get good at separating the good leads from the bad leads)
   5. Realize that for every “web lead” or “email lead” you get ten – fifty more people will just visit the site and call or walk through the door later. 
2. Hire the right people.  Salespeople are hunters, they are designed to close the deals in front of them.  For this business, sometimes you need farmers, people who understand how to cultivate relationships from something as small as a email.  Don’t put your new guy or lowest performing salespeople on your web leads, hire people that are wired for a wired world.  If they live on a blackberry and have three blogs and a MySpace account going all at once that’s a good thing. 
3. Consider a Business Development Center (BDC) for lead cultivation.  Web leads often get filed in the recycling bin by salespeople on the floor.  This is normal.  Given the choice between an email and a person at the door, a closer (hunter) will always go for what they see.  The issue is that web leads degrade within minutes so if you’re not following up on them immediately they will die quickly.  A BDC can manage all of your inbound leads, not only from your own site (or sites if you use micro sites) but from manufacturers, GoRVing, promotions and campaigns, etc.  Some even handle all of the inbound 800 traffic form the websites which is far more leads than are generated through more info requests.  The BDC team functions somewhere between canvass marketing and sales.  They are there to move an initial contact to an appointment.  That said, one dealer we work with closes 8 out of 10 online leads on a “fly and drive” program before the customer even sees the coach in person.  Only the final walkthrough, paperwork and PDI occur at the store.
4. Split Commissions with the Closers.  You still need closers on the floor who can get the deals done.  Keep the BDC and the sales team invested in success with splits.
5. Measure, track and change.  One of the best parts of web marketing and a CRM system (Lead Management) is the ability to track and measure everything.  Stay on what works and change what is broken.  By segmenting the web leads out, you can see exactly what is working and how things flow (or breakdown).  Your management team should live on lead, follow-up and traffic reports and resolve issues and communicate changes on a daily basis.

 Some of our largest customers have entire teams managing their websites and leads (one dealer’s Web Marketing/BDC department is larger than our entire company).  By separating the efforts, but keeping them connected to each other they both benefit from each other and the system works.  What we’ve seen over the last few years is that the web has moved from a nice to have for dealership to the top marketing vehicle a dealership has at its disposal.  In comparison to other marketing programs like print, outdoor and broadcast media or consumers shows, it’s very inexpensive, flexible and measurable.  But, it requires a strategy and a fully integrated approach so that the improvements you make in traffic, turn into more leads which get followed up on, which then turn into sales.  Everything is connected and the dealerships that have figured this out and integrated it into their operations are making money with a great looking ROI.