The perfect lead doesn’t exist.
Yet, dealerships are constantly in pursuit of the perfect lead, burning both time and money along the way. The logic is easy enough to understand, but it’s flawed. Better leads should equal better sales, but there’s more to it than that. The secret to success isn’t finding that perfect lead, it’s crafting the perfect response. Dealerships need to prioritize timely, relevant, and most importantly, personalized follow-up with their customers if they want to see results. It’s not the quality of your leads that make you stand out, it’s the quality of your response.
The Perfect Lead is a Myth
Honestly, sometimes it does look perfect. Your lead is basically screaming "I'm ready to buy!" You see which car they've locked onto, and you know what kind of payments they're looking for. Let’s even throw in detailed contact information–no undeliverable emails to worry about and that's a valid phone number! They’re eagerly waiting for you to respond and take the next steps…right? The truth is, you probably aren’t the only website they’ve visited. If it looks like a perfect lead to you, there’s probably other dealerships thinking the same thing. If your shopper is taking the vehicle search seriously, they could be researching
at least 15 different vehicles, and are actively trying to narrow down their list of options. So how do you stand out?
The Truth Lies in the Data
It doesn’t take a perfect lead to deliver the perfect response. The first response is crucial to laying the groundwork to a relationship with your customer, and the remaining follow-up can’t be taken for granted. No matter the quality of the lead, you can maximize the quality of your response by keeping a few things in mind.
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Respond quickly to capture the customer’s attention, either catching them before they’ve glanced elsewhere or bringing them back to you.
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Personalize your response and make it clear you understand what the customer is looking for, and you are capable of helping them.
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Don’t neglect your follow-up; the car-buying process can be a lengthy one, so continuous engagement will help you stay relevant in your customer’s search.
Turn Every Lead into a Conversation Your Customer Wants to Have
Training your staff to value every lead will set you up for success, but equipping them with the right tools definitely helps make their job easier. A Unified Intelligence Engine like
Curator utilizes its Sales Enablement tool to show your sales team actionable insights, delivered into the CRM they’re already using without needing to learn a new program or process. Sales Enablement includes AI-powered talk tracks and templates that assist you in personalizing every customer interaction with a relevant and timely response. That's a valuable tool that makes it possible to treat every lead as a perfect opportunity, and better engagement leads to better conversions.
While there’s always going to be leads that look better than others (and there’s a reason we have lead scoring!), the real differentiator among dealerships is how you respond to these opportunities. The best dealerships don’t wait to hit the lottery with a perfect lead, they make their own luck by perfecting their interactions and delivering the best experience possible for their customers.