Why Your Dealership’s Website Needs A Chat System
By Renee Rose
As we’ve talked about many times on DealerPlatform’s blog, your dealership’s website must be user-friendly, responsive, and easy to navigate. Just as you want to ensure the best customer experience possible when potential car-buyers visit your dealership, your website should be built to do the very same. One of the most helpful tools you can integrate into your dealership’s website is a chat system. Let’s talk about this important website feature that can even have an impact on attaining leads that you can then convert to sales!
Photo by: Small Business Bonfire
Faster Customer Response
When potential customers land on your website, first impressions are everything. The ability to quickly respond to customer questions and inquiries can make all the difference. Don’t leave the visitors to your website waiting just because you’re busy with other things!
Improving the customer experience by setting up a chat system on your dealership’s website can lead to dramatic success. Not only will a chat system improve your dealership’s reputability- but it will also prove to be a useful tool in turning those leads into sales.
It is a proven fact that slow response times of 48 hours or more will likely mean they aren’t even considering your dealership anymore. In an effort to get an answer to their questions, they may have even moved on to one of your competitors. As you know, as a part of the car dealership industry, this is one of the worst things that can happen. When your dealership’s website improves customer experience with a live chat system, your customer’s questions will be answered on the spot- even if you can’t be there to answer them.
Your Car Dealership Will Get the Jump On the Competition
Speaking of using a chat system to maintain customers and keep them from flocking to your competitors, let’s talk about how a live chat can even steal away and keep customers on your website. In a study of 1,000 different business websites, it was found that only 9% of business websites use a chat system to offer adequate, real-time support to potential customers.
With such a low percentage of businesses actively using a chat system to gain and retain potential car-buyers, the chances are high that at least some of your competitors have yet to do so either. While your competitors are busy giving their attention to the other demands of running a car dealership, you can effectively attract their displeased customers.
Again, slow response times will have a negative impact on lead generation. When their website visitors turn elsewhere to have their car-buying needs met, you can ensure you’re there to meet those needs.
Get Rid of Useless Contact Forms
Upon visiting almost any local business’s website, you’re likely to find a contact form present on either their “contact us” page or as a pop-up immediately upon visiting a landing page. While contact forms used to be an effective way of answering your customer’s questions and even building an email list, these communication methods are largely a thing of the past.
As compared to a chat system, contact forms are tedious and impersonal and immediately give a visitor to your dealership’s website the impression that their questions won’t be answered in a timely manner. In fact, many dealership’s websites even advertise these slow response times right on their contact forms! How many customers do you think you’ve lost simply because visitors see that unimpressive “complete this form and we’ll get back to you within 48 hours”?
With live chat systems becoming more widely implemented, a simple contact form will eventually give potential customers an unprofessional first impression of your dealership. Without a chat system, website traffic that you do attain will likely bounce and will likely never give your dealership a second chance.
Let DealerPlatform increase your chances of turning leads into sales with the integrated chat services we provide. As we’ve talked about before, most people in the market for a car will research car dealership websites extensively before even opting to make a visit. Your dealership’s website needs a chat system to give them yet another reason to choose you for their car-buying needs.