IN-HOUSE VS. FULL SERVICE MANAGED CHAT - Everything you need to know to choose the chat solution that's right for your dealership
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IN-HOUSE VS. FULL SERVICE MANAGED CHAT Everything you need to know to choose the chat solution that’s right for your dealership
Chat Will Transform
Your Internet Business
Auto dealers eager to boost website conversion, Internet leads, and their bottom
line are increasingly using automotive chat solutions to engage visitors on their
dealership websites. Automotive chat is an effective and proven method for
growing the volume of a dealership’s online leads but the success of chat largely
depends on specific qualities of the automotive chat vendor and the dealership’s
Internet business department.
There are a variety of automotive chat solutions available to dealerships today,
but the most important chat decision that auto dealers are faced with is whether
to manage chat in-house at the dealership or outsource to a full-service vendor
like ActivEngage.
This eBook identifies the most important aspects auto dealers need
to know when deciding if in-house or full-service managed chat is right
for them, including:
• What you need to self-manage your chat solution
• Best practices for proactive chat invitation deployment Dive into this eBook and
• Benefits of full-service managed chat learn the facts about
• Statistics of inhouse vs. managed chat choosing the live chat
• Why 24/7 chat does not work solution that is right for
• What automotive industry experts say your dealership.
• Why choose ActivEngage for your chat service
Implementing an automotive live chat solution for your dealership is no small
decision. Choosing a vendor that doesn’t meet the specific needs of your
dealership can cost you lost time, money, and sales opportunities.
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2
What You Need to
Self-Manage a Chat
Solution
First and foremost, auto dealers must put on their customer service hats.
Automotive chat is a communication channel used by website visitors seeking
quick answers to questions. The primary job of a dealer managing automotive
chat in-house is to assist chat participants in their decisionmaking process while
providing personalized service and developing a relationship with them.
Rob Campbell, eCommerce Director at Harnish Auto Family, has been successfully
managing his dealership’s automotive chat for over two years. Rob offers the
following advice to auto dealers just starting out with in-house chat:
“It took us a little while to get our heads around how
to leverage live chat. We realized that chats must be
viewed as somewhere between an email lead and phone-up.
Chatters are in a different phase of the sales process and
taking them very seriously helped us to start closing
more sales from chat.”
Rob has been successful because he chose ActivEngage, a vendor that has years
of live chat and automotive retail sales experience. Experienced chat vendors
help auto dealers understand the intricacies and best practices of
automotive chat conversations. Vendors without extensive chat
or automotive sales expertise will leave you on your own
to discover success through
trial and error.
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3
Resources
Successfully self-managing automotive chat requires a dedicated staff.
In order to deliver significant results, a team of salespeople must commit to only
answering chats. Multitasking won’t cut it. If you miss the opportunity to chat with
a Web visitor then you miss a prospective sales lead. Dealership employees
handling chats must be solely focused on answering automotive chat requests
and moving website visitors forward in the sales process.
You will also need cutting-edge automotive specific technology.
There are many different variations of automotive chat software on the market, but
auto dealers experience the best return on investment if they choose technology
specifically designed for automotive dealerships, not retail moguls or
insurance companies. Additionally, a live chat service that comes with
real-time business intelligence reporting is a must. The
detailed analytics of real-time business intelligence
reporting shows you website visitor details such as:
• Geo-location
• Keywords used in search
• Preferred search engines
• Most viewed pages
This information helps you understand the specific interests
of each website visitor so you can better assist them during
their online shopping experience and craft a more thorough chat conversation.
Without these analytics, your website visitors control the conversation while you
struggle to capture lead information and vehicle preferences.
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4
Benchmarks
How will you know if you’re doing a good job managing your own dealer
chat solution? Here are some questions you should use for your analysis:
• Are you getting contact information from online conversations with
prospective customers?
• Are automotive chat participants annoyed that you’re not answering
their questions in a timely manner?
• How many chats on average do you miss each day?
• Are your salespeople following up live chat leads with personalized emails?
Your answers to the above questions will give you an idea of whether or not you
are achieving success with managing your automotive chat in-house.
The following benchmarks, developed by ActivEngage, are best practices
with which you can measure your success.
pICk up tIme Statistics show that shoppers will begin to drop off
6sec. the chat if it is not answered after 6 seconds.
ConversIon Percentage of chats that convert to full leads complete
80% with name, phone number and email address.
average The time it takes to convert a chat conversation into a
9 min. Chat length lead is more than 4 times that of converting a phone up.
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5The Benefits of
Full-Service Managed
Chat Why you are better off partnering
with ActivEngage, an award-winning
The alternative to self-managing automotive and trusted automotive chat vendor:
live chat is partnering with an automotive chat
service provider. Not all managed dealer chat MAnAgEd LivE ChAt is Cost-EffECtivE
solutions offer the same quality of service, 80% of chats are converted to full leads
reporting, or support. We have built our reputa- complete with name, phone number and
tion on our ability to successfully manage chats. email address. activengage virtual sales
Our understanding of how to facilitate powerful associates pride themselves on the speed
of which chats are answered and are
chat conversations to build trust with prospective
highly trained.
customers and move them forward in the sales
process is what makes ActivEngage the most fuLL-sErviCE LivE ChAt is ConsistEnt
trusted automotive chat provider in the industry. activengage employs highly trained,
chat-focused virtual sales associates who
With all that is required of you to run a successful ensure each conversation results in a
Internet department in today’s marketplace, you trust-building customer experience.
are better off partnering with a vendor you trust every word, every chat, every time.
to manage your online chat. ActivEngage converts
rECEivE high-QuALity AnALytiCs
twice the amount of website visitors into leads
activengage’s console and dashboard
than that of dealerships handling automotive
offers over 100 different reports which
chat themselves. Why stretch yourself and your gives you volumes of detailed analytics
Internet department to dedicate the time, to help make educated Internet business
resources, and attention to self-managed dealer decisions.
chat when a trusted vendor can be just as, if not
more, successful? Partner with ActivEngage, a foCus on WhAt you do BEst
Focus on sales while we focus on delivering
trusted automotive chat service provider and
a powerful first impression and a dynamic
have ready-to-buy shoppers delivered into experience for your dealership website
your dealership. shoppers.
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6Statistics of In-House
vs. Managed Chat
You might be thinking to yourself that you can manage chats on your own, but
our statistics show that is not the case. On average, our Virtual Sales Agents (VSAs)
take more chats than those who elect to chat in house. Here are more numbers
that might change your mind:
In-house managed Chat
-36.83%
less chats engaged by
310%
more hard leads captured
self-managed stores by full service stores
28SECS.
to answer chat
25X
more sales leads captured
by full service stores
Notice the difference between in-house and managed chats that ActivEngage
handles produces dramatic results. Would you settle for less than 1% conversion
if you answer your chat in-house? How can we produce these results? Our VSAs
only handle chats, that’s it. Our VSAs undergo continuous training throughout
their careers at ActivEngage so that they stay up-to-date on the industry events
affecting the inventory and promotions of our clients. They also use cutting edge
live chat communication best practices to better assist website visitors.
We all know that information is potential power and combined with our highly
trained chat staff that information is translated into a lead generation machine
for your dealership. On average, our trained staff collects vital information of
80% of the people that engage in chat on your dealership’s website translating
into more leads for your dealership with the highest closing ratio.
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7Graphic Placement
Makes a Difference
At ActivEngage, we are our own largest customer. We use the very
same live chat and real-time analytics reporting software we sell to
dealers every day to engage visitors on our own website and to
provide the managed live chat service for which we are so respected.
The analysis of more than one million live chat conversations allowed
us to develop the following live chat deployment best practices.
These are the same strategies that we employ on our website and
recommend to our clients for the greatest success:
Avoid chat graphic styles and designs that blend in with the
1 content and background of the web page.
Chat graphics should be eye-catching and pop from the page so consumers
take note of their location and availability. These graphics can help promote
your brand, but should be quickly noticeable too!
Place chat buttons on the header of each web page.
2 If chat buttons are placed at the top of the page, they are more quickly and
easily recognized by consumers. Our data shows the higher the button’s
placement on the page, the higher the conversion rate of visitors to chats
for your website.
Make sure the placement and design of chat graphics are
3 consistent on all pages.
Consistency allows users to easily recall chat button locations and
readily engage in chat without having to search the website.
Keep visitors on your site while they engage with your social media.
4 A connectivity toolbar on each Webpage will create an integrated social
shopping experience for website visitors by allowing them to engage with
your social content without leaving your site. When used in conjunction with
proactive invitations, connectivity toolbars achieve the highest conversion
rate on non-inventory pages.
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824/7 Chat Does Not Work
As alluring as having live chat available on your dealership website 24/7 is, the hard reality is
it is not practical for a dealership unless their physical store hours mirror 24/7. Some of the
reasons for this are similar to why your dealership is not staffed and open 24/7.
1. Chat reps that work the night shift are not automotive specialists
Hiring and training staff to work the graveyard shift is one of the most difficult things
to accomplish. The companies that offer 24/7 chat coverage most likely outsource the
service to a call center and this brings into question the level of customer care and
training the call center reps have received. Are you prepared to entrust your website
shoppers to non-automotive, untrained call center reps?
2. Late night chats fail to solve shoppers’ problems
or satisfy their needs
Dealership Visitors
If someone goes to chat on your dealership website
in the middle of the night, what can the rep actually
accomplish for them? They can’t have someone call
5000 per month
them right back with pricing or availability since it isWhat Automotive Industry
Experts Say
You may ask yourself, “How can your chatters be better than my salespeople or Internet
staff?” All chat vendors do for a client is chat. Professional chat representatives don’t take
phone calls or send emails. They only chat.
“Internet managers are overwhelmed with all that is required of
them to run a successful department in today’s marketplace. CRM
management, phone skills training, email response times, website
management, SEO, and SEM are just a few of the average Internet
manager’s daily tasks. To put live chat on a dealerships plate for
them to handle is just unfair and inefficient.”
Todd Smith
CEO and Co-Founder of ActivEngage, Inc
“We are convinced that live chat on a website is essential to providing
exceptional engagement for your website visitors. Our clients that
are excellent in managing live chat in-house see great benefit but if
you cannot provide this level of service we recommend dealers employ
the services of a managed chat solution like ActivEngage.”
David Kain
Internet Sales Trainer and Digital Marketing Specialist
Kain Automotive
“If you want to sell cars to today’s automotive consumer, you
have to have well-honed written communication skills to engage
customers on the Internet,” Jerry said in a recent interview.
“However, most automotive salesmen do not have the highly re-
fined skills necessary to manage live chat.”
Jerry Thibeau
Founder and President PhoneNinjas
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10Why ActivEngage?
With more than 80% of today’s automotive consumers
conducting part of their vehicle shopping process
online, your website’s ability to engage automotive
shoppers and convert them to leads is critical to
the success of your dealership. Hopefully, after
reading this eBook you’ve gained all the facts you
need in order to confidently choose an in-house
or a managed chat solution that is right for
your dealership.
At ActivEngage, we offer both managed chat and an
in-house solution that will meet your dealership’s needs.
When you choose ActivEngage to manage your chat
solution, you can rest assured our highly trained Virtual
Sales Associates will be readily available to answer chats
and deliver qualified leads into your dealership. Or, if managing
your own chat solution is right for you, ActivEngage has unrivaled
software and analytics available to help increase your Internet leads
and develop your digital showroom.
Either way, ActivEngage will be there for you with highly
trained staff and industry experts to guide you through every
step of the chatting process.
Copyright ©2012 All Rights Reserved.
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