In a year when auto sales are stable but healthy, one area posting strong growth numbers is luxury cars. Strong stock market performance, a healthier economy that’s creating jobs instead of cutting costs, and a lot of optimism for the future mean that luxury car buyers are feeling better about splurging a little, and many are in the market for new, high-end cars. That’s great news for dealers of high-end brands like BMW, but when it comes to reaching consumers in all spending brackets, a lot of dealers have a long way to go.
Everyone likes a good price, but the luxury car market is arguably influenced less by who has the best deal than who provides the richest experience. It’s up to you to make the process of buying a car easy and enjoyable, emphasizing the qualities of a superb make and selling them on the features that they know they want. It’s also up to you to reach your prospective customers online, because fewer and fewer shoppers are visiting the showroom. In fact, one study shows that older, more experienced car buyers, who are more likely to shop for luxury brands, take fewer test drives, with 1 in 6 shoppers skipping them altogether.
The question of selling cars today is now, “How do you close a deal when buyers won’t visit the showroom and may not even take a test drive?” The answer is that dealers need to take a multi-pronged approach to improving their online presence, including improving their social media, creating email newsletters, and introducing live dealer chat software like Gubagoo to their websites.
#1 Get Social
AdWeek reports that around 25 percent of car buyers use Facebook when they’re looking to purchase a new vehicle. When you advertise on social media, you have to play the long game, and that means persistently appearing on your buyers’ feeds over a long period of time. Almost no one purchases cars without doing extensive research and thinking about it, but throughout that process, buyers are checking Facebook and Twitter for all kinds of reasons. Integrating social media into your live dealer chat also means that social users can contact an operator who has their fingers on your inventory without having to leave Facebook.
#2 Live Dealer Chat
Facebook Messenger integration is one of the features offered by Gubagoo, but a live dealer chat solution also changes the way your website works. Right now, it works kind of like a billboard: it’s passive, customers can visit, check out the prices and bargains, and contact you if it clicks. With live dealer chat, your website becomes more like a storefront, with 24/7 customer service available to walk customers through inventory, provide recommendations, video reviews, and financing applications, and book service or test drive appointments on the lot.
#3 Email Newsletter
Live dealer chat systems like Gubagoo are an effective way of finding more leads and creating a better customer relationship online. You can contribute to that relationship by sending value-added, relevant content, whether it’s emails personalized for the prospect or an informative newsletter. Take the idea of a monthly newsletter seriously – it should have relevant content with advice on maintenance, leasing, trade-ins, or buying cars, not just your own specials. Online customer relationships aren’t flash in the pan moments, they’re a long-term relationship that will help make your dealership their destination.
