Contact At Once: Consumers Can Now Inititate Dealer Chats Through Ad QR Codes

With texting continuing to grow as one of consumers’ preferred forms of communication, it is becoming even more important for dealers to utilize this technology. And now, customers don’t even need to access a store’s website or jot down a number in order to start texting and communicating directly with dealership personnel.

Through a new offering from automotive chat software provider Contact At Once, consumers need only scan QR codes included in advertisements to launch the company's  new SMS text-to-chat feature and chat directly with dealership personnel.

“The QR option makes it possible for dealers to include a text-response capability in both online and offline advertising, increasing the ROI of ad spends by improving response rates,” the company stressed.

The new beta release is an extension to the Contact At Once chat solution, which the company noted is already in use at more than 9,000 dealerships.

And besides offering the convenience of QR codes on print advertisements, the expansion allows shoppers to connect with dealers via widgets placed on websites or banner ads. Shoppers may also send a specified text message to a number found in a dealership’s print ad or signage.

Commenting on the product expansion and the importance of texting in today's age, founder and executive vice president Marc Hayes noted, “A published study by Nielsen documented that users of mobile phones send and receive nearly twice as many text messages as they do phone calls.  It then follows that consumers who prefer texting are more likely to contact a car dealer that accepts text messaging.

“We’ve built the industry’s first solution for dealers that want to improve the ROI on their ad spend and sell more cars while managing the compliance issues associated with texting,” he added.

In an interview with Auto Remarketing, Aaron Hassen, director of marketing for Contact at Once, stressed the rising importance of incoorporating texting into a dealership's communication with its customers.

"People are texting more than they are calling ... dealers really need to pay attention to and be aware of the popularity of texting and how it is integrated in all of our lives," Hassen noted. "This new feature allows them to reach that mobile market."

Illustrating his point, Hassen also highlighted some of the statistics the company's clients have seen.

"The lowest sales conversion increse we have ever seen for dealers who start using our chat solutions is 25 percent, and a 40 percent increase and beyond is typical," Hassen told Auto Remarketing.

Hassen also stressed how the chat solution can help improve advertising response rates, as well as provide dealers with another way to directly communicate with potential customers.

He also went on to note that OEMs are taking advantage of the program as well.

"For online ads, we are even seeing OEMs jump at the solution.  For example, when you have a Kia ad on yahoo.com, instead of telling consumers to call and hoping somebody is there to pick up the phone, this takes it from several steps into one step for direct communication  — the customer clicks on the ad, and they are then able to chat with someone directly. The OEM then can connect shoppers with a local dealer," Hassen explained.