Live Chat For Auto Dealers – How Important Is It?

Today’s digital world has been a game-changer for the automotive industry. Rather than physically going dealership-to-dealership exploring options, savvy automotive shoppers now prefer to search online to find the best deals. Prospective customers are likely to have already researched and decided which make, model, and trim level they would like before even stepping into your dealership. Online research is an important stage of the customer’s buying cycle. If your dealership fails to engage with customers while they are actively researching their purchase, it could result in a lost opportunity. We will examine the importance of automotive live chat marketing and explain how it can be a useful tool in your marketing arsenal.

What is Dealership Live Chat?

If you have spent time online, you are likely to have encountered live chat. This tool helps both customers and the auto dealership. A chat feature for auto dealers lets customers communicate with sales representatives in real-time via a web browser chat box. Customers like live chat because they can obtain information without making a phone call or waiting for an email response. Automotive live chat marketing can increase a dealership’s conversion rate and sales. Some analysts report live chat can boost a dealer’s conversion rate by as much as 50%.

Personalized Interactions With The Dealership

In today’s marketing landscape, merely having a website is no longer sufficient. Dealers must study their website visitors’ behavior, including the time the customer accessed the site, the number of pages they visited, and the specific models they viewed. Automotive live chat marketing allows the dealership to ask customers questions based on their online behavior and answer their queries. Being accessible is important, but interacting with the customer at the right time is even more valuable.

Provides Fast Answers and Leads

Buying a new car is an important decision. When making such a large purchase, customers are bound to have many questions, including a vehicle’s features and the differences between the trim levels. The purchase decision can depend on how well the sales representative answers these questions.

Answering a customer’s question using live creates a point of contact with the dealership before an in-person visit. This allows the customer to get a quick answer without needing to wait on a phone call. Furthermore, by obtaining all the necessary information from the comfort of their home, customers do not have to make unnecessary visits to the dealership.

Live Chat Builds Relationships

A recent study indicates that customers who engaged with the dealership through the chat feature were more willing to return to the website and more likely to buy based on the information received from the sales representative. Additionally, customers perceived that chat provided a higher level of customer service than a phone call. These customers felt the sales representative they engaged with in a live chat had made an extra effort to help and answer their questions, compared to visiting the dealership in person.

24/7 Interaction

Millennial customers are always connected. Many of these customers do not want to call or visit dealerships. At the same time, dealerships are unable to answer customers’ questions around the clock in person or via phone. Live chat gives dealers the ability to quickly respond to queries in real-time, when it’s convenient for the customer.

Auto Dealers Gain More Leads

It costs money to drive traffic to your website and generate leads. But many visits never result in a lead due to a lack of real-time interaction. Live chat helps to reduce bounce rate and boost sales. The personalized communication provided by live chat increases the probability of a purchase and offers a better customer service experience. A happy customer is likely to return to the dealership and recommend friends and family members.