Bulk leads in automotive industry

Why You Shouldn’t Send Bulk Leads…

What kind of leads did you say? Bulk leads, meaning a large quantity of leads that the dealer has to follow up on, but they all come in at the same time. These are bulk leads.

What’s going on?

Last month, I visited an importer of a European brand in Belgium who was dissatisfied with the lead follow-up by his dealers. We’re talking about the entire funnel: too few connections, too few appointments, and ultimately, too few sales. So, I thought this would be a great opportunity for our six-step philosophy to achieve more and faster connections, more appointments, and thus more sales. And all of this connected to Calldrip, only…

That’s not where the problem lies.

The real problem is that all the leads are collected daily. All of Monday’s leads are sent to the dealers on Tuesday at noon. So, following up within five minutes makes little sense if the leads are already 24 hours old or even older. The chance that you catch the customer in their ‘peak interest moment’ is slim, and this late follow-up won’t create a wow moment either.

There’s more hindering proper lead follow-up. Out of 100 leads, you’ll hardly get 40 into a meaningful dialogue because the most important person is handed what we call a “hospital pass.” In other words, the salesperson—the person who’s supposed to sell—is given the worst possible support: the opportunity, the interested customer, regardless of where they are in the customer journey, is passed on to the salesperson far too late. This drastically reduces the chances of success and lowers the salesperson’s motivation to give it their all.

Another success killer

Another pitfall is the daily stack of new leads the salesperson receives and has to call back. Out of ten, at least eight won’t pick up because they don’t recognize the number. Moreover, the salesperson hasn’t triggered the call with any prior action. Those eight leads should be called a second or even a third time in the coming days. But in the meantime, the same salesperson is receiving even more bulk leads! However, there’s a better way: follow up immediately, call within five minutes! In more than 70% of cases, this leads directly to a connection and thus fewer leads to call back later!

The reality is different

The salesperson sees a mountain of leads and starts selecting who to call when, all while still having priorities in the showroom. In other words, the leads are never called in the agreed-upon way, and the investment in marketing becomes almost worthless.

The arguments from the lead collector, in this case the importer, are not convincing. With today’s technology, it’s possible to send real-time online opportunities directly to your dealers; and it doesn’t matter whether or not they’re using Calldrip (preferably they do, of course). If you use the right technology and provide the salesperson with opportunities they can actually work with, they’ll be far more effective with those good setups than with the hospital passes they’re getting now!