Kristen Stanton: How did you become Parks Chevrolet at the Lake's (of Huntersville, NC) business development center manager?
David Palmer: I started out as a retail floor sales person and did that for about a year. Then about two years ago, they asked me to build an Internet department. The first leads we got were from GM BuyPower. We’d dole those out to the floor salespeople. However, because the follow-up and customer maintenance is so different with Internet leads, our floor sales people would eventually drop the ball. So, we turned our attention to hiring people who could focus on the Internet customers.
Early on we used E-Biz Autos, a third party launcher; and then Dealerskins to build our website. With Dealerskins, I could do everything in-house. Basically, I’m self-taught. I picked up a lot from Dealerskins and the lead providers we use. Eventually, we were getting leads from AutoTrader, Cars.com, and Dealix.
KS: How did you structure Parks’ Internet department, once you knew you had to have some dedicated personnel for Internet customers?
DP: First, I hired someone to assist me. Then, I hired another person who also focused strictly on serving Internet prospects. Eventually, we built up to three full-time Internet sales professionals and also a business development center representative. Our business development rep takes photos of cars and does other duties to support the business development center.
Hiring dedicated Internet sales professionals has been the key. We’ve taken some successful floor sales people and turned them into successful ISPs. You can teach a good floor sales person technology, but it’s hard to turn a techy into a good sales person.
KS: What percent of your dealership’s overall sales would you say come from the Internet?
DP: At least 25% of sales are from Internet leads. However, we get a lot of “cross reference sales.” Most people research online, and then they’ll walk into the dealership, so really about 35%-40% of sales originate from the Internet.
KS: How do you manage your relationships with your Internet prospects?
DP: We say we practice CRM from cradle to grave! We use our CRM tool to launch an immediate auto responder that’s in HTML. We send emails with incentives and rebates, some with deadlines, to motivate the customers to come in. Some Internet prospects take three-to-six months to close, so we maintain the relationship with them for as long as it takes.
KS: Looking forward, what role do you see the Internet playing in automotive sales?
DP: I see it playing a total role. Dealers who are not using the Internet to sell cars must get on the bandwagon. Newspapers will always be around, and everyone advertises in them, so you have to be there right now, but the Internet is an absolute necessity. We’re continuing to build our department. I need to hire about 10 more ISPs right now. The challenge is finding good people.
