Your Internet “Pricing Philosophy”
One of the most common mistakes made in dealerships is to philosophically categorize their Internet shoppers as “phone-ups.” Although we think it’s a mistake to apply any traditional category to Internet shoppers the traditional “showroom up” is a better label to use when you’re considering the process required to sell them. If a showroom customer wanted a price, you would give it to them. You wouldn’t want a showroom customer to leave your dealership with anything other than your “best” price, or at least a guarantee that you will beat any price they obtain. You’re making a mistake if you don’t treat your Internet shoppers the same way. It’s impossible to “negotiate off sticker” via email.
If you have been given all the information you need to give an Internet prospect an accurate price (vehicle information, employee discount status, special rebate eligibility) then you had better give them one. If you don’t, they’ll probably wait for the dealership that does to proceed any further. You need to approach every Internet prospect as though you know they are working with several other dealerships, they probably are!
The perfect Internet dealership will respond to every customer request for price information as thoroughly and accurately as the information they have enables them to. If they don’t have all the information needed to be accurate then they will give the customer an accurate “range” price, and tell the customer why they are giving them a range. They will have a clear pricing policy for their Internet Salesperson to use, that allows the Internet Salesperson to confidently give a prospect a price that is fair for both the prospect and the dealership. Their pricing policy will be structured so that they can compete for customers who may be geographically distant from the dealership. They will have an “Internet Price Guarantee” that their Internet Salespeople can provide to every customer. They will make sure that their sales Management team understands, and is fully supportive of the Internet pricing policy.
