Have you ever had someone leave your dealership and wondered why you stopped getting leads from your website or classified site?  Or has someone left your dealership and then weeks/months later you find out that you haven't been receiving email leads from a particular lead source?  Believe it or not it happens more than you might think.  So, how does it happen?

Well, here's a story of a lovely lady, who was having a grand time handling email leads all on her own.  She had been asked to setup leads through her dealership's website and a few other classified type websites.  Things are chugging along nicely and she is showing you now and again the great leads she is receiving.  Then one day something happens and she leaves the dealership.  A few weeks later you overhear a conversation at the front desk that folks keep calling in saying that they've sent emails and no one is getting back to them.  Then it dawns on you...

So, how do you make sure that doesn't happen to you?  Simply use email aliases for your website or other places sending you leads.  For example setup a simple websales@yourdealership.com email alias that gets forwarded to the saleperson(s) email address you would like.  Then if that person ever leaves you only need to change where those email leads get forwarded.

Email aliases are super simple to setup and manage. Just ask your email admin to help you out if you don't already know.

Now, that you know how to proactively handle a potentially harmful email situation make sure you make it a part of your employee termination checklist.

Credit Apps from your website to your lender in the blink of an eye.

InteractRV has recently launched a new credit application process that can save you time and in the end, money!

What if you could :

• Have a future customer fills out your secure website credit app
• Receive an e-mail or text notification letting you know the new credit app has arrived
• Open the new secure credit app as a PDF that..
  • Looks exactly like your lender approved form
  • You can print and/or fax directly to your lender

Secure, Simple and Fast!

Contact a team member at InteractRV today about getting your credit app process faster and more accurate!!

Contact us at (800) 515-9672!!

Thought about changing the look or feel of your website?  Maybe now is the time to consider a website face lift!  Whether you are a current client of ours, or a dealer looking for something new….we can help you! 

For many years, researchers have been studying the best time for a site re-design and why.  Most people are informed not to change their site because most consumers don’t accept change well.  Most people find it difficult to navigate through a newly designed site, and don’t like to create new techniques or habits. On the flip side, a new site re-design might make it easier for consumers to use, rather than harder!

Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself if you are considering a site re-design:

Do your analytics show that your site is performing well? 

• Are visitors immediately leaving?
• Is the time of visitors on site low?
• Are they viewing more than 1-2 pages?

Would changing your site really make a difference?

• Will changing the layout of design really make a difference?
• Will you have the same customer feedback?
• Will you have the same traffic?
• Will you increase traffic?
• Will you keep them on the site longer?

As stated above, will you upset previous consumers if you change the site or excite them?

• Will it be harder for them to navigate?
• Will they get confused?
• Will they love the new layout?
• Will navigation be easier for them?
• Will they view it as a dramatic improvement?

Could the current design be hurting your company in Search Engine rankings?

• Have new technologies in web design come along over the last few years that could help you generate more leads, possibly by getting rid of tables and like such?
  • Have you asked your current provider if they use old technologies?

Does your current site look outdated?

• Many new web design concept have come along over the past few years, which can make old sites look old.  Does your site seem to look “old” compared to others?

InteractRV does all of these things mentioned above!  If you would like to discuss the possibility of a site re-design, please call today! You can reach us at (800)515-9672.

Also, take a look some of our current dealers RV web design.

Call Tracking can help on a number of different levels.  Most people assume that is just tells you where the call came from, but call tracking does MUCH more than that! 

If a customer were to call a dealership on a call tracking number, you would be able to gather all this information about the call (Plan Depending):

• Listen to Call
• Name of Caller
• Phone Number of Caller
• Geographic Location of Caller
• Address of Caller
• Answered/Voicemail/Hang Up/Other
• Date of Call
• Time of Call
• Length of Call
• How they landed on your site (PPC, Classified, Organic Search, and Many More)
• Unique Caller versus Repeat Caller
• And Much More!

Most dealers also assume this just helps gather information on the leads, but it can also do much more like:

• Train Employees 
• Improve Lead Follow-Up
• Track Employees Performance
• Start a Lead Follow-Up Guide 
• Give a Better Understanding of where to Focus Marketing Efforts
• Deciphering which Classified Sites are Worth Using
• Managing PPC Campaigns
• Tracking PPC Performance
• Highest Traffic Lead Days 
• Callers for RV Sales versus Parts Sales
  

We would love to speak more about the Call Tracking Services that InteractRV have to offer.  This can greatly improve your Online Marketing efforts, Increase Sales, Increase Employee Retention and much more. 

You can also feel free to give us a call at (800) 515-9672 for more information, or learn more information to start using our Call Tracking Services!

 

 

I received a phone call late this afternoon from one of our dealer/clients telling me about a wild phone conversation one of his salespersons just had with a web lead.

As part of our simple RV Dealer CRM one of the options is to receive notification of your web leads via text message on your cell phone.  So, when an website shopper submitted a request through this dealership's website a salesperson received the lead info within 10 seconds and made a call back to the shopper within the minute.

When the shopper answered the phone she honestly believed that this salesperson was watching her through her computer video camera while in her bathrobe and all.  It took a bit of convincing, but the online shopper eventually understood that all was well and there was no need to worry, but that this salesperson had just responded to her web request VERY quickly.

So, can you respond too quickly?  I don't think so.  Yeah, you might get a few strange conversations like the one in this example, but 99 out of 100 times the person on the other end of the phone will be ecstatic that you considered their request important enough to get back wtih them so promptly.

The big question is ... who is your website designed for? The vast majority of RV Dealership websites are designed for the Buyer. The person coming to your website knowing exactly what they want. You know the typical navigation path .... New RVs > Travel Trailers > Less than $20,000 > List of what you have in-stock on the lot. Seems like the right thing to do, after all that's what every other dealership does, right?

With the typical Buyer taking 90 days to 1 year being a Shopper before making a decision shouldn't you ask yourself ... how does my website persuade the Shopper to trust my RV Dealership so that when they do become a Buyer you've already met their initial needs as a Shopper and naturally they look to buy from you first?

In the early buying stages (shopper), you save the visitor time by providing them with information and insight they would have otherwise had to work much harder and longer to obtain. They give you their time because they sense they are saving some in return. Conveying this information and insight with engaging and enjoyable website content further leverages this relationship by ensuring that visitors are not only saving time, but enjoying the time they do spend with you. Do that and it's a fair bet you'll end up turning your Shopper into a Buyer (customer).

How do you do it? What can you possibly do on your website to meet the needs of your website Shopper's? Start by listening. Get a simple feedback form where your Shoppers and Buyers can tell you what they like and don't like about your website? We've tested over 5 different forms and have narrowed down which one gets the best results.

Next, think simply about how your shoppers behave on your lot. Believe it or not your online shoppers have similar needs. For example, make it easy for them to get around your entire website so they can learn. Soaking it all in is alot of the experience for a shopper.

It might be something as simple as allowing your shoppers to find all your travel trailers with bunks in them. That's how people shop, isn't it? We've done this on all of our RV Dealer websites and it works!

That's a simple start and there are many other things you can do to get your shoppers hooked on you today ... so they'll be back. If you would like more info on how we might be able to help your dealership website give us a call at 1-800-515-9672.

So, you've got your website all cranked up and ready to go for 2009.  You've gone over it with a fine tooth comb and the traffic is coming in.  You begin to watch your web stats to see where your website traffic is coming from.

While most is coming from search engines you notice that very little or no traffic is coming from the manufacturer website's for the brands you sell.  Not so great ... you think to yourself.  Curious, you hop over to one of the manufacturer website's and put in your local zip code to see how your dealer info comes up.

What you find makes your lunch turn over in your stomach.  There is your dealership name with only a phone number and address, but no email address and no website link.

Think this is abnormal?  Unfortunately, it isn't, but don't get too discouraged.  With a little effort you can get this changed and start putting the manufacturer's you represent to work for you and stop flushing leads down the drain.

The PO!NT: If you haven't reviewed all your dealership information on the manufacturer and supplier website's you represent, now is the time. Make a list and get someone to go through each manufacturer website using the dealer locator and make sure your dealership address, phone, email, and website are correct!