Lead Management using the example of car trading
How CRM software can help turn potential customers into real buyers
The Germans love cars – yet the car trade, the automotive industry, does not have it easy. There are many reasons for this. This makes it all the more important to keep existing customers happy with innovative offers and to reach out more to potential buyers. But how can this be achieved?
Good ideas are in demand
Dealers need to come up with a lot of new ideas for their sales strategy and successful lead management. Creativity and ingenuity are required in order to set themselves off from other providers and to make new contacts (= leads). Providers must send relevant information to potential customers.
Different ways to the buyer
This can be done in different ways. For example, via online marketing with newsletter seam, own website, sales portals (mobile.de, etc.), search engine advertising and social media. On the other hand, offline marketing in the form of poster campaigns, trade fair stands, exhibitions or an open day. The variety of possibilities is great.
Marketing department or advertising agency
Advertising agencies help with the selection and implementation of the appropriate measure. Each of the above marketing campaigns ideally brings leads that can increase sales. The prerequisite for this is the correct processing and management of contacts in a CRM system.
CRM software for the entire lead management process
A lead management program facilitates the entire process of lead acquisition, evaluation and management. It is a part of a CRM software (CRM = Customer Relationship Management).
There, the leads are evaluated, opportunities for a business conclusion are shown and the success of marketing campaigns is made transparent and measurable. With a selection of promising contacts and helpful features, the efficiency of the sales process increases.
Car-interested people for the car dealership
Winning valuable leads can be conveniently given directly to sales via the program. The strategic tracking of leads with potential is done via specific lead lists for all sales people. This ensures the optimal overview across all purchase phases.
More teamwork with lead management features
CRM systems also provide transparency of internal workflows and provide information about the status of campaigns. Correspondence, documents, appointments and events are available at any time, from any location and from any device (whether desktop, notebook, tablet or smartphone with CRM app).
CRM is worth its weight in gold:
- Without CRM, 79 of the leads cannot be converted (Pardot)
- A CRM increases sales rates by 65 (Innopple Technologies)
- A sales increase of 41 is realized with CRM (Trackvia)
- In total, 74 of the companies that use CRM report better customer relationships (Software Advice)
Staying on the ball with Lead Management
In order to be able to deliver the appropriate offers to interested parties and to find out the quality of a contact, names and addresses alone are not enough. In order to be able to target customers in a targeted manner, further data must be determined for Lead Management and entered in CRM.
Important customer data in CRM
- Budget: Within what financial framework is the potential customer?
- Authority: private or business customer? What decision-making competence does the contact person have? Is it worth negotiating with business customers, or is another person in the company better suited?
- Need: What ideas and wishes does the customer have? Does he want a particular model, equipment or color?
- Time: How urgent is the purchase effort? Does he want the new car as early as next month or only next year?
Customer retention strategy
This information is used to define priorities and strategies. But only if all employees follow the identification and maintenance of customer contacts together and conscientiously with CRM in sales, the company can benefit from this. Everyone has to stay on the ball with lead management, whether via regular phone calls, customer visits, trade fairs or surveys.
Supporting creativity
Once all data has been collected, the CRM is used to plan events that are suitable for an target group, to coordinate appointments, to prepare mailings or to send invitations. Checking how many leads have actually become customers evaluates all actions in a campaign. This will later measure success and draw conclusions.
Benefits of Digitization
This helps to keep track of the amount of information and allows marketing activities to be extended to a wider scope. Ultimately, there is who knows how to take advantage of digitalization.