BoatChat
BoatChat
BoatChat
BoatChat
Leads are the wind in the sails of a marine dealership. Some dealers have the advantage of an ideal location or a big inventory, but most rely on their ability to generate leads to create opportunities to sell more boats. How a boat dealership’s website collects leads is crucial.
Live chat is one of the best ways to increase the number and quality of leads for your boat dealership. The live chat industry has been around for years, but there are still people who are not looking at live chat as a serious lead source. Those who want to make improvements to their leads and sales should take a closer look at what they’re doing – or not doing.
Is Your Live Chat Effective?
One of the most common questions we hear when discussing live chat is whether or not there’s really a difference between chat service providers. After all, it’s just a website widget and a conversation between potential customers and an operator representing a dealership, right? What could possibly go wrong?
The reality is that there are big differences in form and function when it comes to live chat systems for boat dealer websites. Some of the differences are strategic, such as goal alignment. Others are more technical, like a constant need to test the various chat factors and word tracks. There are also differences that are keys to success such as having a full-time presence, or using a proactive approach to generating more leads.
There are differences in opinion about how to generate leads and even what to call a lead. We do not believe in “soft leads” like simply taking visitors to an hours and directions page. Can this turn into a sale? Sure it could. Should it be called a lead if you did not get any contact information? We say ‘no’, and most dealers would agree. That’s not always the case with live chat providers.
If your current live chat system is effective, you should see a noticeable increase in the total number of leads your website produces. You can’t always just look at the number of chat leads. You have to look at the totals and compare those numbers to the past so that you can know that your chat solution is generating more leads rather than just becoming a different lead source that is taking from other areas of your website.
For Those Without Chat
There are plenty of reasons that dealers do not have chat on their website. Perhaps they tried it in the past and did not have success. Maybe they have their budgets allocated to other lead generating measures. Maybe they simply haven’t gotten around to it. Regardless of your reasons, you should definitely be taking a closer look.
Live chat for lead generation not like it was in the recent past. The total number of leads generated by live chat that is managed by trained professionals is increasing rapidly, faster than the growth of the industry. This is happening for several reasons, but the most important one to understand is that chat represents a method of communication that is seen as “safe” by the consumer. It looks and feels a lot like the favorite method of communication for millions of Americans: texting. We’ve become a society that relies on SMS text. Chat is very similar and offers a way for your website visitors to communicate with you on their own terms.
Even if you’ve tried live chat in the past, we hope you will let us show you what it’s like today. If you’ve never even considered chat, now is the time. Many of your competitors are selling boats as a result of chat leads. Shouldn’t you be doing the same, only better?