Failure to reply to online customer queries affecting sales

Dealers must accelerate their adoption rate of new technology if they are to meet today’s customer expectations in the digital space. That’s the message from digital lead management specialist RAPID RTC, at a time when the automotive industry continues to undergo a major digital transformation.

According to the company, the digital dealer landscape is evolving faster than ever to keep pace with the increasing demands of today’s automotive shopper. As vehicle product substance becomes less differentiated, customers increasingly use a positive/negative online shopping experience as a purchase/rejection reason.

A recent report from CarGurus found that 50% of consumers’ online enquiries are receiving poor response rates from dealers – an issue that RAPID RTC is helping dealerships solve, guaranteeing a 100% personalised response to every digital enquiry without using bots or autoreplies. Dealers that are unable to react quickly to digital enquiries risk losing valuable sales based on poor quality or complete lack of response.

Glen Demetrioff, President and CEO of RAPID RTC commented: “We’re witnessing a digital revolution in the automotive retail market. Not only are customers using multiple channels to research and evaluate new car options, but digital experiences are increasingly changing the purchasing decision too. As a result, in an era of on-demand expectations, dealers need to be able to offer a timely response to all enquiries, while providing the relevant content across every digital touch-point. Even with large, highly trained employee teams, such a task can be increasingly difficult without the right technologies in place.”

RAPID RTC has processed more than 10 million leads worldwide through its innovative digital lead management platform, with not one left un-responded to. The technology enables retailers to streamline their digital lead response capabilities with their proprietary process, delivering personalised responses to all digital enquiries while offering quality control and business intelligence to improve ROI.