Porsche dealers rank first in Internet lead effectiveness study
Porsche dealerships ranked highest in the annual Internet Lead Effectiveness study by Pied Piper PSI. The study measures how auto dealerships responded to customer inquiries received over the Internet.
Industry average performance dropped slightly from 2015 to 2016, with 21 of 33 brands declining. In 2016, dealers responded to half of the customer inquiries within 30 minutes, but one customer in 11 failed to receive a response of any type within 24 hours.
There are three reasons for poor performance, said Fran OêHagan, president and CEO of Pied Piper Management Company. First, dealership handling of Internet leads is often invisible to management. Second, itês not easy to be perfect all the time. And third, OêHagan said, third-party CRM software often fails.
Rounding out the top five automakers after Porsche were: Lexus, BMW, Ford and Mini. Among the largest manufacturers, Ford was ranked highest, with Toyota, Honda and Nissan close behind, all above the industry average. Using a mystery shopper process, the study looked at questions, such as: How reliably did the brandês dealerships respond within 24 hours? How often did they provide a qualified response within 30 minutes? How often did they answer the customerês specific question?
Download Bulletin PDF