Articles

Website Tracking

Ask Tory: Business has fallen off the past couple of months and we’re down; any tips on boosting sales?

Tory Hornsby | 10/22/2019

Out of anyone in the world, who’s most likely to buy a unit from you right now?  Hands down, it’s the prospect standing on your showroom floor. 

Who is the second most likely person to buy a unit from you right now?  It’s the folks browsing inventory on your website (your virtual showroom). 

While I have a lot to say about increasing your closing ratio for customers who are already at the dealership, in this article we’ll hone in on the second type – people browsing inventory on your virtual showroom.  I’ll warn you that this is an advanced subject, but if you’ll follow me for a minute you’ll discover a new type of lead that’s grossly underutilized.

On average, only about 2% of your website traffic fills out a form and identifies who they are, and not all of them are sales leads.  Do the math and that’s 98% or your website traffic that remains anonymous.  You have no idea who’s on your website unless they fill out a form. 

Here’s the crazy compelling part…  here is breakdown of page views for the typical dealership:

• Inventory/Sales Pages: 80% 

• Home Page: 15%

• All Other Pages Combined: 5%

Bingo! Of the 98% who don’t fill out a form, most of them are looking at your inventory!

Based on the huge gap between the 80% of prospects viewing inventory pages on your website and the 2% who fill out a form, we realized something had to be done.  Therefore, we developed our Firestorm Onboarding system. 

Once activated, we’re able to begin identifying past customers who are browsing inventory on your website, even if they don’t fill out a form! Whether your website generates 20 leads per month or more than 200, we’ll identify hundreds of additional customers looking at inventory. 

This is exciting because all customers fall into 3 phases:

Phase 1: Ready to buy right now, just waiting for the right moment. With good marketing, they’re more likely make a move and buy from you.

Phase 2: Planning to buy somewhere between 2 weeks and 12 months. Left to their own timeline they’ll procrastinate, but with good marketing you can advance their buying cycle.   

Phase 3: Will not be buying another unit for at least 1 year out.

Of these 3 phases, which ones would be browsing inventory on your website? 

It’s not Phase 3 customers because they’re at least a year out from purchasing. So, they’re not really doing any research yet. That means it must be customers in phases 1 and 2, which makes complete sense. People don’t often waste time researching/browsing things they’re not interested in buying in the near future. 

Our Firestorm Website Tracking system sends you a list every day of the Phase 1 & 2 customers we’ve identified so you can market to them and increase the chances they buy from you. In fact, we automatically email these folks a Buy Back email, or another customized message. 

These emails are sent out automatically every day only to customers who’ve visited inventory pages on your website. You don’t have to lift a finger. The email comes from a person at your dealership, usually the Sales Manager, with an offer you’ve approved. Then, our most successful clients take the next step of having a salesperson follow-up to make sure they received the email and move them to the next step, which is hopefully a visit to the dealership.

While the email is triggered by a website visit, we don’t mention it. Both the email and the phone call have the feeling of, “we’re reaching out to some of our customers and you were next on my list.” We even provide a script and training to the Salesperson who’ll be following-up with this new type of lead.

If you want to quantifiably sell more units and make more money, schedule a demo of our Firestorm Website Tracking system. We make what could be very complicated, easy to implement. Give us a call at 1-877-242-4472.

- Tory

P.S. Want to submit YOUR question for “Ask Tory”?  Just email your question to marketing@powersportsmarketing.com and let Tory know what question you’d like to have answered in a future issue of the UMM Newsletter.

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Ask Tory: I keep hearing about your Firestorm products. Are those included in the Local Web Dominator, or are they a separate product?

Tory Hornsby | 11/11/2017

 

In this 100th Issue, I’ll breakdown what’s offered in our Local Web Dominator, which is Powersports Marketing’s suite of digital solutions.  Here is what’s available within our different packages:

 

Reputation Management – It’s no secret that online reviews are just as powerful and trusted as word of mouth.  Our reputation management system grows online reviews (primarily Google reviews) to make your dealership the obvious choice in your local market area. We even create a custom review site to boost SEO. The good reviews go for all to see. The bad is sectioned off into what we call Feedback, and only the dealership’s management team can view them. (Note: We do not remove bad reviews. Call 1-877-242-4472 for more information on our proprietary Feedback system.)

 

As consumers view your review site they’re able to see reviews for your team members. Consumers are more likely to choose the employee with the best reviews, so your staff has something to gain by asking for reviews. This is called the Employee Ranking System.

 

Reviews & Rankings Mobile App – This app really drives the Employee Ranking System because your frontline staff uses it to email the customer a picture of their purchase at the point of sale. This is particularly effective in the Sales Department. Who doesn’t want a picture of themselves with their new ride shared on Facebook the day they bought it?!  This image is also saved in our database to be used for future marketing to that customer. 

 

Directory Listing Submission – We submit accurate data to the top four Data Aggregators to boost SEO. This includes your dealership’s name, address, phone number & website. The more your dealership’s information is consistently listed online, including your website, the more backlinks/citations it creates. 

 

SEM/AdWords Management – Search Engine Optimization is very important, but it doesn’t cover all the bases. Pay Per Click advertising ensures you’re on the first page of Google when prospects in your area are searching for what you sell. 

 

Facebook Advertising – Whether you’re looking to increase traffic to your website or grow your ‘Likes’, our dedicated team of Facebook Specialists can give you the biggest bang for your buck. 

 

Firestorm Email System – Our email platform is an easy to use drag-and-drop solution that includes done-for-you content that’s cool & creative. It’s not built for Nancy’s Bakery & Carl’s Shoe Store... it’s built for you. It generates higher open rates and more clicks. In fact, when clients use Firestorm Email as prescribed it quickly becomes the top source of traffic to your website! 

 

Firestorm Onboarding – I’ve written about this subject a lot lately because the amount of leads/sales/revenue this solution can produce is ridiculous. First, let’s cover the challenge. 75% to 80% of your websites page views are of your inventory. Sweet, right?! The gut punch is that only 1% to 2% of visitors fill out a Quote Request form.  This means 98% (+) of your traffic remain anonymous, including what is likely thousands of customers browsing your in-stock inventory. Website providers have solely focused on improving Conversion Rate, which increases the smaller 1% to 2% number. There is obviously nothing at all wrong with that, but even if you doubled to 4% (which ain’t likely) there would still be 96% that remained anonymous.

 

Firestorm Onboarding begins linking the customer data you have in your DMS with anonymous website visitors. Every morning, we email you a list of the customers who were on your website yesterday looking at inventory. The system automatically sends those customers a pre-built email from your Sales Manager (Marketing Automation), and we provide a script for your sales people to call and make sure the customers received the email. GUARANTEE: Use this system as prescribed and you will earn multiple unit sales within the first 2-weeks. 

 

Firestorm Websites – Ever heard of Marketing Incest?  It’s where one company copies another company’s marketing, who copies another company’s marketing and things just keep getting dumber and dumber. I believe this has happened with many website providers. The Firestorm Website platform is different:

 

• Increased Conversion. Again, there’s nothing wrong with improving a site’s Conversion Ratio, and we do it without focusing on price. Having a ‘Quote Request’ button is the equivalent of asking customers if they’d like a discount when they walk through your front doors. 

 

• Fully Responsive Design.  boosts SEO / page rank because it improves usability by creating a consistent experience for desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile devices. 

 

• SSL Security Certificates. Google boosts page rank for sites that utilize HTTPS. 

 

• Inventory Integration with VIN Decoding. We pull inventory straight from your DMS saving you time and money on data entry. Then, the system loads the details and specs of each model by decoding the VIN. 

 

• Mobile App Back Office. Enables you to instantly add multiple images of your inventory from your mobile phone while standing on the showroom floor. Includes access to the Internet Lead Manager and more. 

 

• Lead Manager. Track progress of leads (sales process), log calls, set follow-up reminders, and more.

 

As of late, I’m noticing a trend of dealer’s inquiring into the solutions with the Firestorm nomenclature, and for good reason. Firestorm Websites, Firestorm Email & Firestorm Onboarding fit together like Peanut Butter & Jelly. In fact, they were made to complement each other.

 

For a low-pressure demo of any of our solutions, or to learn more about packages & pricing, call 1-877-242-4472.

 

- Tory

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Ask Tory: The Firestorm Website Tracking feature is great, but my sales people are scared to call this new type of lead. Any advice?

Tory Hornsby | 10/03/2017

For those who are unaware of our Firestorm Website Tracking system, it identifies when some of your past customers are browsing units/inventory on your website. We send you a daily report of these customers so your sales team can follow-up. 

 

This is an extremely valuable feature because only 1% to 2% of your website traffic fills out a form on your website each month. That means 98% remain anonymous; you have no idea who they are.

 

So, whether your website generates 20 leads per month or 200, we’ll identify and show you hundreds of additional customers/leads every month.

 

If this new technology doesn’t have you ready to do a back flip off of your desk, the light bulb hasn’t lit up yet.  I’ll elaborate… there are 3 phases of customers:

 

Phase 1: Ready to buy right now, just waiting for the right moment. With good marketing, they’ll buy now.

 

Phase 2: Planning to buy soon… between 2 – 12 months. Left to their own timeline they procrastinate. With good marketing, they’ll buy sooner.

 

Phase 3: Won’t be buying for at least 1 year out. 

The customers in Phase 1 & 2 are the ones browsing the inventory on your website; it’s typically not Phase 3 customers. Inventory page views make up 75-80% of your page views each month. Yet only 1-2% of your traffic fills out a form and identifies themselves. This is a problem that our new technology solves!

 

With Firestorm Website Tracking, we send you a list each day of those Phase 1 & 2 customers so you can engage them, which brings us to the original question. What do you do with this list of customers each day?

 

Our most successful clients do what we call a one-two-punch with the list, which is an automated email followed by a phone call. Here are a couple examples of the email we can setup to send automatically to customers who visit inventory pages on your website:

 

Email Option 1

 

Tory,

 

We’re inviting a few of our customers to stop by the dealership this week for a low-key, 1-on-1 experience with a dedicated staff member to check out the new models coming in, or our pre-owned inventory. 

 

This is a really low-pressure experience, but it is by invitation only. So, just reply to this email and let me know if you’d like to reserve a time slot for a 1-on-1 demo experience this week.

 

Dealer Signature

Email Option 2

 

Tory, 

 

We have a shortage of pre-owned inventory right now and we’re offering Top Dollar trade-in values.

 

If you or anyone you know is interested in a Free Evaluation of their bike, please reply to this email or call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx.

 

Dealer Signature

 

Again, these emails send out automatically the day after customers visit your website. You don’t have to lift a finger. Then the next step is to have your salespeople follow-up to make sure they received the email.

 

I’m sure many reading this article are questioning calling a customer who’s been on your website. It just feels weird to call people you know were on your website. But the reality is that your staff calls customers all the time who had been on your website recently. It wasn’t a weird call because your staff didn’t know. Customers don’t find it weird at all.

It’s not like you’re calling to say, “Hey Mr. Customer. I’ve been tracking you on our website. By the way, I really like the shirt you’re wearing today!”

 

The email and phone call have the feeling of, “We’re reaching out to all our customers and you were next on my list.”

 

In closing, if you want to quantifiably sell more units and make more money you should call 1-877-242-4472 or visit www.powersportsmarketing.com to schedule a demo.

 

If you’re not interested in increasing your sales and profit, don’t bother… this new feature isn’t for you.

 

Also, if you haven’t read my last 3 articles regarding similar subjects, go to 

www.powersportsmarketing.com/blog and click the Ask Tory section to catch up.

 

- Tory 

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Ask Tory: What is Firestorm Website Tracking?

Tory Hornsby | 07/06/2017

 

In my last article, I wrote about the main purpose of your website.  Remember what it is?

 

The primary purpose of your website is to identify its visitors and generate leads.  All other functions are secondary. 

I also wrote about the 3 primary ways you can identify more visitors and get more leads:

 

1. Increase Traffic to Your Website – More visitors equal more leads.

2. Increase Conversion Rates – Converting a higher percentage of traffic means more leads.

3. Utilize Firestorm Website Tracking – Identifying anonymous website visitors for effective follow-up.

 

In this article, I’ll go into more detail on using Firestorm Website Tracking to increase sales.

 

First, let’s cover the high-level math. The average powersports dealer gets around 4,000 website visitors each month. Of course, it varies from dealer to dealer, month to month, with an increase during the riding season, but 4,000 website visitors per month is pretty spot on as an average.

 

The conversion rate for a dealer’s website is typically at 2% (or less). This means 2% of a dealer’s website traffic will fill out a form and identify who they are. So, a website with 4,000 visitors will generate around 80 leads each month. While there are outliers who have a higher conversion rate, 2% is on the high-side. 

 

Website providers and SEO companies have historically focused on generating more traffic and/or increasing conversion rate. Nothing wrong with that, in fact, they should be trying to improve in these areas. The problem is it’s their exclusive focus. Here’s why…

 

It would be a real success to grow a dealer’s monthly website visits by 25%. It’s almost unheard of. That would mean an average website with 4,000 visits would grow to 5,000. 

 

It would also be a real success for a dealer to grow their conversion rate to 3%. A website with 5,000 website visitors at a 3% conversion rate would provide a dealer with 150 leads!  That’s 70 additional leads, which would be great, but still leaves us with an underlying challenge. So, even if you killed it with 150 leads, there would still be 4,850 unidentified website visitors each month who are totally anonymous. 

 

This raises a great question... how can we identify who more of those anonymous visitors are?  Especially the ones looking at your inventory! 

 

This is what Firestorm Website Tracking does. We identify anonymous website traffic and report each day on who was looking at new and used inventory on your website… and a little bit of success goes a long way. For instance, identifying 20% of your anonymous traffic would mean you’ve uncovered 970 customers (4,850 x 20%).  

 

We’ve done a soft rollout of this exciting new product to some of our Local Web Dominator clients and the results are impressive. Below is a sampling of 20 dealers from today’s reporting. The first column is the dealership’s name, which I’ve smudged to hide them. The second column is the number of people who used to be anonymous, but our clients now know who they are. The third column is the number of identified customers who looked at inventory on the dealers’ website yesterday!

 

Imagine getting an email each morning with a list of customers who were actively looking at new and used inventory on your website yesterday. I can’t think of a better daily list for your sales team to call… and we’ve got the perfect word tracks for them to use.

 

For more details on Firestorm Website Tracking, give me a call 1-877-242-4472. 

 

- Tory

 

 

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