IRVINE, Calif. -

While highlighting the launch of the new Autobytel Dealer Insights Series, the site rattled off three tips to help dealers enhance their Internet sales operations.

Autobytel began its dealer recommendations with these three examples:

—Since today’s vehicle buyers are prone to considering many brands, Autobytel recommended that dealers communicate the significant benefits of their brand in addition to communicating the benefits of their store (such as industry awards and accolades, manufacturer maintenance/warranty/roadside assistance programs and more).

—Since today’s buyers are prone to switching from new to used, or from used to new, Autobytel suggested dealers communicate to customers other vehicle options — in addition to information about the vehicle of interest — such as comparable same-brand new models, comparable certified pre-owned models and/or a link to the dealership’s used-vehicle inventory page (featuring their brand and other brands).

—Since today’s new-vehicles buyers are more prone to switch to used modles as Internet leads age past 30 days, Autobytel also noted that dealers should modify their communication strategy to place more emphasis on used options as the lead ages.

Officials mentioned this first collection in the series also highlights information contained in “Lost Sales Reports” provided to dealers who are part of the Autobytel program. These reports highlight Autobytel Internet lead data specific to their dealerships and to their market areas, and which brands or types of vehicles people ultimately bought and from whom, to help dealers optimize their sales and marketing efforts.

“Essentially, some of the perceptions dealers have about Internet leads are much different than reality,” said Scott Pechstein, vice president of sales for Autobytel.

“Knowing the cars people ultimately buy and from whom, once an online purchase request has been submitted, enables us to provide insight to help dealers get customers into their stores and driving away in their cars,” Pechstein continued.

Pechstein highlighted the Autobytel Dealer Insights Series is a quarterly education program designed to help dealers increase sales to today’s online consumers.

The site explained the information offered in the first of the Autobytel Dealer Insights Series is backed by shopping trends and behavioral data from millions of online car buyers matched to actual vehicle registrations in all 50 states from R.L. Polk & Co. to shed light on what happens to automotive leads after they’ve been submitted online.

“We initially partnered with R.L. Polk as part of our ongoing commitment to lead quality, but when we dug into the data, we found some rather interesting and surprising consumer trends,” Pechstein said. “We felt it was critically important for dealers to be aware of these trends.”

The first collection of materials in this series (including five video education sessions that feature Pechstein) is entitled, “Perception vs. Reality of Internet Leads.” Officials noted the materials also incorporate a detailed analysis about these trends, including:

1. How and why today’s car buyers are much different than in generations past.

2. How and why the online car buying process has changed in recent years.

3. The propensity for consumers to buy a different brand than the brand for which they initially submitted an Internet lead.

4. The propensity for consumers to buy a used car after they’ve submitted a new-vehicle lead, or to buy a new model after they’ve submitted a used-vehicle lead.

5. Important advice, based on this data, about how dealers can best meet the needs of today’s online car buyers and modify their Internet processes to enhance their sales results.

The following points are just some of the important statistics stemming from Polk registration data covering the first, second and third quarters of last year that are contained in this series:

—Of the consumers who submitted a new-car purchase request and bought, 54.4 percent bought a different brand (new or used).

—Of the consumers who submitted a used-car purchase request and bought, 53.6 percent bought a different brand (new or used).

—Of the consumers who submitted a new-car purchase request and bought, 41.9 percent bought used (any make).

—Of the consumers who submitted a used-car purchase request and bought, 20.7 percent bought new (any make).

—As Internet leads age beyond 30 days, the propensity for consumers to defect to another brand — or to defect from a new vehicle to a used model — increases significantly.

The Autobytel Dealer Insights Series videos are available at http://dealer.autobytel.com/dealer-training.

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