A new mystery shopper survey shows that dealerships who respond quickly and effectively to internet leads are getting an edge over the competition.

According to the survey, auto dealerships have a quicker response time to internet leads. Half the time, salespeople respond to customer inquiries within 30 minutes, down from 1 hour two years ago. Even busy dealerships have set up automated e-mail responses to internet inquiries so that the person gets a response right away if the dealership is too busy to call in the next hour.

One problem that arises for dealerships receiving internet leads and inquiries is that it takes time to contact these potential customers, answer their questions, and convince them to stop by for a test drive. Dealerships that had a quick response time weren’t always the best when it came to thoroughly answering questions, while other dealerships had the exact opposite problem. Mini had a 15 percent non-response rate with leads, but they got a 63 percent satisfaction rate for answering customer questions, 19 percent higher than the industry average. Besides that, the sales team has to take care of customers walking in the door and can’t always help every internet lead satisfactorily.

As part of Special Finance Group’s Complete Special Finance Solution, dealerships get the advantage of a fully-staffed business development center which tracks internet leads, answers customer questions, and schedules appointments to stop by the dealership. With Special Finance Group, you can focus attention on the customers coming through the door while still getting the most out of internet leads.

Want to learn more about the Complete Special Finance Solution? Go to http://www.specialfinancegroup.com, and connect with Special Finance Group on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

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