OFFICE
4800 T-Rex Ave. Suite 350
Boca Raton, FL 33431
BE IN TOUCH
Sales
833-GUBAGOO
hello@gubagoo.com
Support
855-359-2574
help@gubagoo.com
Virtual Retailing
Best Practices Guide
The Virtual Road to the Sale
We’re all familiar with various versions of the 10 step “road to the sale,” legendary in dealerships nationwide.
These steps are as relevant today as ever before – but, to successfully sell cars online, they must be adapted for a digital environment.
Our digital language may be part of the problem. We call people in our showroom “customers,” but we call people on our website “visitors,” or worse, “traffic.” Those numbers represent people. The moment we recognize, reach out, and personalize our interactions for these unique humans out there, the magic begins.
Thinking Through Your Strategy
Consider the questions for each step along the road to the sale. Write down some notes, and use this to inform your overall plan for Virtual Retailing success.
Engaging Live Customers
One of the areas that challenges dealers the most with launching Virtual Retailing at their dealership is learning how to engage future customers as they progress through their digital experience.
Your dealership has a physical showroom. So you properly staff it. You tell your staff how you want them to interact with your guests, how to keep them engaged, and how to sell them a vehicle.
Your dealership now has a virtual showroom. It’s important to properly staff it. You’ll want to tell your staff how to interact with your guests, how to keep them engaged, and how to sell them a vehicle.
Here are some key moments that will happen in your virtual showroom, and best practices from dealerships nationwide that will engage customers using our Virtual Retailing tools.
A Shopper Initiates a Chat
A shopper on your website has started a chat; the team at Gubagoo has started a conversation. Because your team has logged in to GLive, they are notified and quickly see that there is strong purchase intent.
— ResQ the chat. Interaction with your team increases the likelihood of conversion to a sale by a whopping 90%.
— Introduce yourself warmly, and let them know you’re happy to help.
— Depending upon the conversation, answer their questions about the vehicle of interest, guide your guest to current offers, and show them inventory.
— If your guest asks about payments, guide them into the Virtual Retailing tool. They’ll feel more confident and in control, and you’ll appear more transparent. Stay with them to answer any questions they have. 🎥VIDEO
A Shopper is Playing With Payments
You see in GLive that a shopper is working on payments. It’s a great time to be available and helpful.
— Offer assistance through a helpful question, such as “Hi, I’m Jim in sales - is there a specific payment and term that I can help you find? I’m available if you need me.”
— Recommend a comparable vehicle. Show a different year or trim, pencil the deal within GLive, and then send the offer to the guest with a friendly note. 🎥 VIDEO
A Shopper is Live and Has Progressed Beyond Payments
Virtual Retailing will show you the current step that your guest is on. Your offers of assistance can be more targeted to their selections.
— Ask if they would like to confirm their trade value through photos or video. Let them know you can give them a firm value.
— If you are offering test drives at home, ask them if they would like that option, or if they would like you to show them further video content of the vehicle.
— Let them know you are available to schedule time to finalize their deal online, or to arrange a time in-store.
An Active Shopper Completed the Virtual Retailing Process
The confetti has rained down upon them. Now what? There’s still an opportunity to engage, and increase the likelihood of delivery.
— Send a congratulatory note that presumes the deal is done. If an appointment or delivery was scheduled, confirm that the vehicle will be cleaned and ready for them, along with any final paperwork.
— Encourage your guest to complete the remaining steps if appropriate, such as credit application, driver’s license upload.
— If a trade-in is involved, schedule a time to view the car through video, or request photos.
An Active Shopper Has Left Without Completing the Purchase
Our tools are full of ways to re-engage with guests who have left without completing a purchase. Here are a few suggestions that our top-performing dealers are using:
— Follow up with the guest via email or text, asking if there were any unanswered questions that you could look after.
— Pencil a deal with a special offer built in, and send it to the guest. You’ll be notified when they review the offer – this is an ideal time for a follow-up call (or chat.) Just be sure not to let them know you’re watching them – let it be incidental. “Hi Diana, we just sent you a special offer I had approved by my manager for the vehicle you were looking at – I wanted to see if you had a chance to take a look and if I can answer any questions?”
— Send an offer on a comparable vehicle. This might be a higher trim with a discount to show extra value, or it could be a comparable used vehicle. 🎥 VIDEO
— Have your F&I team look through your aging inventory, and send compelling offers to customers who haven’t responded/sold. 🎥VIDEO
This guide is part of a series.
For a list of all resources and offers we have made available, click here.
Virtual Retailing is not a piece of technology that sells cars on its own: the magic is in the human interaction.
Your deep involvement with those who interact with your VR experience will be what sells cars. It is what sets the best performing dealers in the nation apart from the rest.
We've put together this guide to give you a head start, as you integrate Virtual Retailing into your dealership’s overall strategy and processes.
The Virtual Road to the Sale
Confident Awareness Building
How do you ensure everyone knows the great news, that you now offer the convenience of shopping from home? It takes marketing – and some love for your website and systems.
Here are thoughts on how to ensure you present a confident, trustworthy image as you step into digital retailing.
"Our goals can only be reached through the vehicle of a plan.
There is no other route to success."
Pablo Picasso
Make it Your Own
The best system is the one you stick to. Taking the time to think through all of the aspects of your Virtual Retailing rollout, and engaging your team in the process, is the ultimate indicator of success.
He may have been a great artist, but he said it perfectly. Retailing technology is not going to sell cars without your involvement. Because it’s humans – you and your team – who sell cars.
— Team Gubagoo
Update Your Home Page
Your home page is arguably the most important place to highlight the new conveniences you are offering customers. Make sure it is strong, clear, and understandable – most successful dealers are using their hero image (main header image), and are not using a carousel. Alternately, place it right underneath the area where your specials are located. If it looks important on your home page, it will appear more trustworthy and compel customers to give it a try.
Scrub your home page (and the rest of your site) for any messaging that isn’t aligned with your digital-first strategy. In particular, watch out for CTAs that run counter to your digital retailing initiatives.
Adjust VLPs and VDPs
Vehicle Listing Pages and Vehicle Display Pages have lots of messages built in. Review each carefully, and make adjustments as needed. On your VDPs, consider adjusting your vehicle description text, especially if you have templates. Ensure they highlight the ability to buy online. Since this text is syndicated to all of your marketplace platforms, it’s also an opportunity to let people know that you are a modern operation and able to serve them digitally.
Adjust Your Email Templates
Your lead response templates are another place where you will want to make adjustments. Take a fresh look at your templates to ensure they include the ability to explore payments and buy online. You’ll be amazed at how people will respond to self-service tools!
Consider Ad-Campaigns
We provide custom videos (4 different lengths), as well as a portfolio of ads you can select from, for web advertising and all social platforms. Consider doing a big splash when you launch, and then integrating these ads into existing campaigns on rotation, as well as for retargeting campaigns, to help educate new shoppers about the great experience they have awaiting them on your site.
Audit Your Email Automation
Do you have leads in a 90 day sales funnel? Do those emails reflect your new way of doing business? What about auto-responders – do they direct people to your on-site retailing tools? Audit any system that send automatic emails, and make adjustments as needed.
We've assembled this best practice guide to help you use Gubagoo's digital tools effectively during this unprecedented time.
VIEW THE GUIDE
Quick Links in this Guide:
A Shopper is Contacting You Through Another Channel
It is powerful to engage shoppers who are in your showroom, on the phone, or who came through an email lead with the Virtual Retailing experience – it gives them a sense of control, and your dealership will appear to be more modern in approach.
Here are some ways you can use VR in other channels to increase your likelihood of a sale:
— Let the customer know you can send them an offer by text or email, and they can adjust the payments. You’ll know when they look at the offer, and can follow up accordingly. 🎥 VIDEO
— If the customer is uncertain about what vehicle they want, send them multiple vehicles and give them the space to explore payments and comparisons on their own. They’ll love the experience. 🎥 VIDEO
STEP 1:
Meet and Greet
— How can you greet each customer personally on your website?
— What makes for the warmest possible welcome?
— How can your greeting ensure you sound human, not robotic or templated?
STEP 2:
Determine Customer Needs and Wants
— What questions will feel most comfortable in an online environment to narrow down the customer’s wants?
— How can your active listening and rapport building strategies in-dealership translate via text or video chat?
STEP 3:
Walk Around
— How will your team be prepped to walk around the vehicle of interest?
— How will you educate and excite the customer about the vehicle in the digital realm?
STEP 4:
Test Drive
— What process will you use to replace the test drive at the dealership? At-home? Virtual test-drive? Or a trial-purchase instead?
— How will you help your customer imagine themselves as the owner of the vehicle?
STEP 5:
Trial Close
— Under what circumstances will you move to a trial close?
— What trial close questions work best for your audience when used remotely?
STEP 6:
Negotiation
— Who will pencil deals, and present updated offers to the customer?
— How will you ensure the online negotiation process is comfortable for the customer, and positively builds further rapport?
STEP 7:
Closing
— What approach do you want to take to closing a deal through messaging or video?
STEP 8:
F&I Turn Over
— How can you introduce your F&I specialist in an online environment?
— How can your F&I specialist adapt their process? How do they work with the extensive tech aids built into digital retailing?
STEP 9:
Delivery of the Vehicle
— What steps do you plan to adapt for vehicles sold online?
— If delivering to home or work, who is making the delivery and what is their checklist?
STEP 10:
Follow Up
— How do you want to adapt your follow-up process, to ensure rave reviews and positive surveys?
— What feedback do you want to collect when you are new to digital retailing, so you can continuously improve the customer experience?
Take a moment to think through the way you have implemented each of these steps at your dealership. How can you translate them, so you are amazing at executing each one for your customers online?
Dealers know – it’s people who sell cars to people. It’s people who buy cars from people. Deeply integrating personalized touch-points is the key to success. Your customers will respond. We promise.
If you wow them with rich, human interactions online –you’ll be well on your way to a sale. That’s conversational commerce, in full bloom.
"Our goals can only be reached through the vehicle of a plan.
There is no other route to success."
Pablo Picasso
Quick Links in This Guide:
We are using ResQ as much as possible. We find that when we chat with our guests online, the rapport we build helps us increase our chances of selling them a vehicle.
Rick Campbell
E-Commerce Director, Vann York Auto Group
ResQ is such a great tool for dealerships. In Virtual Retailing, it is great to see exactly what the customer is doing - it gives us a huge insight as to how to engage the customer because we can see where they are at.
Richard Tolsma
Internet Manager, Corwin Ford Nampa
Our show rate is much higher when we confirm appointments through chat.
David Kelly
Chief Marketing Officer, Gettel Automotive Group
We have found that directing our customers into Virtual Retailing has led to higher engagement and happier customers.
Brian Cloud
Director of Business Development, Toyota of Scranton
Dealers need to commit, go all in, with digital retailing. The data shows that when you engage and serve customers when they're in your virtual showroom you will sell more cars at a lower cost.
Brian Pasch
Author, Speaker, and Digital Marketing Educator
STEP 1:
Meet and Greet
— How can you greet each customer personally on your website?
— What makes for the warmest possible welcome?
— How can your greeting ensure you sound human, not robotic or templated?
STEP 2:
Determine Customer Needs and Wants
— What questions will feel most comfortable in an online environment to narrow down the customer’s wants?
— How can your active listening and rapport building strategies in-dealership translate via text or video chat?
STEP 3:
Walk Around
— How will your team be prepped to walk around the vehicle of interest?
— How will you educate and excite the customer about the vehicle in the digital realm?
STEP 4:
Test Drive
— What process will you use to replace the test drive at the dealership? At-home? Virtual test-drive? Or a trial-purchase instead?
— How will you help your customer imagine themselves as the owner of the vehicle?
STEP 5:
Trial Close
— Under what circumstances will you move to a trial close?
— What trial close questions work best for your audience when used remotely?
STEP 6:
Negotiation
— Who will pencil deals, and present updated offers to the customer?
— How will you ensure the online negotiation process is comfortable for the customer, and positively builds further rapport?
STEP 7:
Closing
— What approach do you want to take to closing a deal through messaging or video?
STEP 8:
F&I Turn Over
— How can you introduce your F&I specialist in an online environment?
— How can your F&I specialist adapt their process? How do they work with the extensive tech aids built into digital retailing?
STEP 9:
Delivery of the Vehicle
— What steps do you plan to adapt for vehicles sold online?
— If delivering to home or work, who is making the delivery and what is their checklist?
STEP 10:
Follow Up
— How do you want to adapt your follow-up process, to ensure rave reviews and positive surveys?
— What feedback do you want to collect when you are new to digital retailing, so you can continuously improve the customer experience?
It’s not traffic on your website.
These are people who have unique needs you can engage with and help on their journey.
You've installed this great new virtual retailing experience on your website. Now what?
Re-engaging customers who have left the VR experience has been a powerful way to increase our digital sales. You’d be amazed at how responsive many of them can be!
Alex Bowsher
Carl Black Auto Group
