Does Live Chat Help on Car Dealership Websites?

What makes for responsive car dealer websites? Much of the talk these days centers around responsive design in the sense that a website is capable of adapting its look and feel across a wide range of displays and devices. But what if responsiveness could be something more? That's not a rhetorical question; it turns out that car dealership websites from CarCasm are capable of responding in other ways as well, especially if you choose to include a live chat feature.

Why Include a Live Chat Feature?

It often seems like no car dealership website-including perhaps yours-is complete without a profusion of popups, sliders, and fly-outs. You might be hesitant to include a live chat feature on your site, or might wonder whether it can break through the rest of the visual noise.

Some statistics might put your mind at ease. Writing about the relationship between live chat and sales conversions, Neil Patel says, "Live chat is the ultimate sales hack." It's a bold statement, but Patel brings the numbers. To begin with, only two percent of visitors to your site convert, on average. Live chat has the ability to tip the scales in your favor, since it removes a point of friction-if a customer wants or needs an answer now, they can get it-and warms up your leads before they've even set foot in your showroom. Done right, that can give your conversion rate a significant shot in the arm.

Chat Features for Dealership Websites

If you choose to add a chat function alongside our other car dealership website services like SEO, retargeting, and design, what will you get?

• Web-based live chat that allows rapid responses to customer questions without tying up your phone lines
• Embedded or popup chat window to best fit your goals
• Automatic chat invitation to encourage interaction
• Party "is typing" indicator so your customers know they've been heard and a response is forthcoming, thereby reducing your bounce rate
• Operator to operator chat and chat transfer features for questions that call on other team members' knowledge
• Operator-initiated chat so you can capitalize on click-through behavior or a customer who's lingering on a particular model
• Visitor information, website traffic monitoring, and active chat metrics that help you understand your processes for later fine-tuning

Looking Beyond Conversions

Up to this point, we've talked about customer benefits that lead to conversions. But live chat has value in another respect as well. It's a lot cheaper to keep a customer than to acquire one. Your customer's visit may not necessarily be the last time they visit your site; they'll need parts, maintenance, repairs, recall notices, and a host of other things for the life of their vehicle or lease. Live chat is one more way you can provide not just sales, but support as well. Customers who know they're heard and supported don't just stick around-they're a lot more comfortable referring friends and family, too!

Want to learn more about how this feature can help your dealership? Get in touch with CarCasm for solutions to these and other dealership marketing challenges.