The world of auto sales has changed dramatically in recent years due to a number of advanced online sales and marketing solutions that are working towards bringing the capabilities of the dealership online. With this change in technology, the attitudes regarding the function of a dealership’s online presence are also changing the face of dealership marketing.

Changing Attitudes in Dealership Websites

For many years, while the rest of the retail world was experiencing an enormous growth in e-commerce, dealerships were left behind. A dealership website was viewed as a supplement to the physical location and nothing more. The reason for the strategy is that auto sales are more complex transactions than what it takes to purchase smaller items online. Deals must be built up step by step in partnership between sales staff and the customer in order to provide tailor-made offers.

Going Beyond Online Advertising and Research

The first major step in changing how a dealership website functioned was to stop thinking of it as a place for existing customers to go to research information on inventory, and present advertisements to potential new customers aimed at enticing them to travel to the physical dealership location.

While these are services that are still useful for dealerships to offer on their website, the dealership marketing strategy has changed from using that space as a passive showcase to an active environment where deals can develop.

Online Lead Generation

In order to start using websites to drive more business, dealerships has to change from thinking of the internet as a supplement to their physical business to using it to actively generate more business. The first stage of this process was to enable lead generative capabilities using advances services like an automotive live web chat solution and video conferencing.

Expanding the Possibilities

Advanced sales and dealership marketing services like live chat open up auto dealerships to more online services with the potential to generate more and more sales. Digital insurance and financing applications help to advance deals further along and increase the likelihood that potential new customers will maintain a relationship with that dealership that will progress to a finalized sale. The entire process helps to build customer loyalty as well.

Using Your Online Services Together

Live chat operators are available throughout the entire experience in order to ensure that customers are satisfied, informed, and able to navigate each step of their sales process with ease. Live chat works in cooperation with every other new service that you can add to your dealership website. So, new offerings can be accessed quicker.

Digital services like live chat and video conferencing are aspects of online sales that new shoppers have come to expect out of every online retail experience, so adding these services to your website also helps to attract a new generation of car owner to your business. This combined strategy has been proven to provide dealerships with a sales boost of up to 134% overall.

If you want to boost sales in automotive today, the best strategy that you can employ is to update your website with the most effective solutions available. Contact a digital dealership marketing specialist today!