Proudly serving the industry for which it was named for more than 50 years, Outdoor Power Equipment provides dealers who sell and service outdoor power equipment with valuable information to succeed in a competitive market.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/517431
"How can I help you today?" This is a phrase you've likely uttered thousands of times as customers enter your dealership, day in and day out. Why do we continue to use this line? Reason: This somewhat clichéd opener works; it's an easy way to strike up a conversation with a potential customer. How many times have you heard the response, "Just looking"? If you're a sales- person worth your salt, you don't let this rebuke end your conversation. Why? Whether just dreaming about replacing a push mower with a riding mower, or pass- ing 15 minutes while waiting for junior to finish softball practice, this person who chose to visit your dealership has an inter- est in your products and services, even if the buying intent isn't immediate. By gen- tly pressing the conversation, good sales- people unearth these buyer desires, and great salespeople capture that customer's contact information to keep the conversa- tion going until that customer is ready to buy. (You've got a lead management pro- cess in place, right? No, well that's a topic for a different article.) This is good old-fashioned lead genera- tion at its best. But how can you re-create these genuine human interactions online? It all starts with your website. The role that your website plays is larger than just acting as an information portal — a great dealer website shares your unique "voice" as a dealer, builds the value of your prod- ucts and services, and invites site visitors to walk down one of several different paths to purchase. The key takeaway is that you want your website to result in ac- tion, whether that comes in the form of a newsletter signup, a quote request or a phone call. STRONG CALLS TO ACTION In marketing speak, we call these invita- tions to engage with your dealership on your website "calls to action" or CTAs for short. Lead generation CTAs should be used throughout your site to capture customer information on lead generation forms. The key here is that you want to give shoppers a reason to give you their contact information — even if they aren't quite ready to buy. Are you taking advan- tage of all of these opportunities to gener- ate web leads? Promotions and deals: Who doesn't love a sale? While many dealers simply dis- play their current factory promotions in a print-friendly format, this misses an op- portunity to capture leads. Instead of just allowing customers to download your pro- motions, interrupt the process with a sim- ple form that offers to email or text your customer the deal. Take it a step further and offer a "send to a friend" option and knock it out of the park by giving shoppers the option to subscribe to your email list to stay up-to-date with all of your promo- tions and offers. Your dealership blog: If you've been reading my articles in Outdoor Power Equipment (OPE) for the past few months, you'll note that I weave in a benefit that your dealership blog can provide pretty regularly. This month, we've got yet an- other value that your blog brings to your dealership — it offers yet another avenue to invite prospective customers to sign up to receive more content from your deal- ership. In your blog's sidebar, be sure to encourage site visitors to sign up for your newsletter to receive regular dealership updates. Want to take it to the next level? Use subscription pop-up boxes that inter- rupt readers once they started reading to invite them to subscribe. Hate pop-ups? I do too. Sometimes. But, I must confess that on many occasions they've convinced me to sign up when I might not have without the extra prodding. Giveaways: From offering shoppers something as simple as a free service to something as extravagant as a sweepstakes to win a big-ticket item like a zero-turn mower, a giveaway is an excellent oppor- tunity to capture leads on your website. Offering additional entries by sharing the promotion with a friend allows you to 22 JUNE 2015 OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com FEATURE STORY | Website Solutions The evolving art of attracting customers online and selling them in-store ■ BY COLLEEN MALLOY IMAGE ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ TUMPIKUJA