How to Create the Best Automotive Internet Sales Process Ever! – PART 13

How to Create the Best Automotive Internet Sales Process Ever! (PART 13)

How to Create the Automotive Trade-In Lead Internet Sales Process

TRANSCRIPT: So, Section Six, the Trade Lead Internet Sales Process. Let’s understand. First off more than anything else, let’s understand the trade prospect. Think about them for a minute. They were on your site either looking at vehicles or scheduling service. Right? You entice them correctly to value their trade.

Now, most people complete the form expecting a value much higher than what the book told them their car was worth. Right? I mean, we know on the floor that’s what happens.

So, we need to understand this prospect. They may or may not be looking at vehicles. We ask them to value their trade and then in their mind they got low balled. Right?

But why do trade leads need their own process? Don’t most trade leads arrive in the CRM with a vehicle of interest attached? Yeah, they do, but focusing on the vehicle of interest instead of the trade gets you lower connection and close rates.

Why? ‘Cause it’s caused by two primary factors. First, think about that trade form on your site. How did the customer get there? They’re trying to value a trade and they may not be that sold on the selected vehicle of interest.

See, the vehicle of interest was a required field from your trade company. And that’s fine, but I don’t want to focus on their 2018 Camry their interested in. I want to buy their 2007 Taurus that they’re trying to trade in.

Second, even if they do want the vehicle of interest, even if it is the 2018 Camry that they’re interested in, when you focus on that vehicle that makes you the seller. All of your employer messaging focuses on that Camry. You’re the seller. Focusing on their trade makes you the buyer.

Now, first we’ll talk about the process. Then, we’ll talk about the templates.

When you download this process, you’ll notice it’s 60 days, it’s a little longer than the traditional and the no phone process. It’s 60 days instead of 45. And here’s the reason.

If they were a service customer there, they were higher funnel than a traditional lead is today. Okay? In 2017, this year, my trade process was only 30 days long. And then we started to do some AB testing. We went back to 60 days with some clients and we did AB testing. We saw responses to this process coming in on day 45 and later and that’s why we lengthened the process back to 60 days.

Alright. So, back to the trade lead process. You know, the goal is a reconnection. Phone calls still end on day 15 or nine calls. Why? Two reasons. One, your team isn’t gonna make more than that. Let’s be fair. But also again, there’s zero ROI in making calls after nine. There’s no calls that’ll generate enough ROI after you’ve made nine attempts.

Now, our message, however, has to be more for these trade lead customers than call me. Right? Because there’s a good chance they didn’t like the value. Right?

See, with every trade lead we need to assume that they got low balled in their mind. Right? That their vehicle of interest in the trade lead is just a placeholder at best. Right? That they really do wanna trade. They’re just not sure since they owe X and we offered them something less than X.

And so, what do we do when we have these people on the floor, right? We sell them a car. We roll in the negative equity and then it’s no big deal. But these people aren’t on our floor. And so, we have to give them some hope that we can get them a better value, but only a trained appraiser knows what the vehicle is worth.

So, our focus needs to be on we need your trade. Right? We’re excited to see your trade. Let’s schedule a quick appraisal so we can get you the most money. Only a trained appraiser knows what your vehicle is worth. Right? It would be irresponsible for a dealer to give that information over the phone. Right?

So, these are the things that we’re gonna say in our emails and our voicemail scripts. Things like, “We’ll buy your car even if you don’t buy ours.”

Alright, let’s write a quick trade lead email template. Again, the goal is a reconnection. Remember that. But they’ve been low balled in their mind. So, we need a compelling reason for them to reconnect.

Now, with this process, let’s look at one of the last emails that we actually sent. So, this process goes 60 days. I’m gonna give you the day 45 email that I send and why. Now, you can move it up in the process. You can get rid of it. You can do whatever you want. Actually, let me say that about the processes that you’re gonna get for free, make them your own. Okay? Make them your own. Don’t just take my processes and throw them in your CRM. Make them your own. Read through them. Make sure that they make sense to you.

Alright. It’s day 45. You’ve sent nine emails to this prospect already. You’ve made two requested texts. You’ve left nine voicemails. Yet, they still haven’t reconnected. Why? Two reasons. One, they either bought elsewhere or they were a high funnel prospect. Maybe a service customer. They really didn’t want to trade in their vehicle. They just wanted to see what it’s worth.

Nothing you’ve said or written so far has worked with them. It’s time to look for another compelling reason. And my favorite compelling reason this far in the trade process is the old repair versus replace argument.

So, the subject line, and this subject line’s long and I get it. If you want to shorten it down, go for it. The subject line, “Repairing is nearly always more expensive than replacing.”

Alright, the body of the email. “Hi Bob. I wanted to give another shot at connecting with you; and give you some info that might help you make a decision on whether to trade-in now or not.

The average driver puts almost 15,000 miles each year on their vehicle. If your car is out of warranty, those 15,000 miles might lead to costly repairs. That’s why most experts say it’s usually better to replace your used car with a new or certified vehicle covered by a manufacturer’s warranty than to get hit with expensive repairs. (Especially since the next big repair bill could come at any time).

Now, we’ve got a great selection of vehicles under warranty and can even help you get the best finance rates available. Just call me today at 208-555-212 to schedule a time to come in for a no-hassle, priority appraisal. (We’re paying over the book price for a lot of good, clean trades these days).”

Listen. Like all steps in these processes, don’t overthink this email. It’s been 45 days and in all likelihood you’re ending up in their spam folder by now anyway. Okay? The goal is a reconnection. That’s it.