Ian Godbold shares his secrets to finding ‘Quality Leads’.

Automotive industry expert Ian Godbold shares his secrets to finding ‘Quality Leads’ and being ahead of the pack when it comes to selling cars

Most average dealers might focus on clicks for their lead tracking but average has never been good enough for Ian Godbold. Ian has always been at the forefront of new technology, working on attribution models well before Google came up with their ideas. Ian recently started his own consultancy so we sat him down to find out why he’s beating the drum for ‘Quality Clicks’, tracking the right KPIs, and building clear alignment between sales and marketing.

Ian wants data to pinpoint the ready-to-buy customers, and then be absolutely sure that the sales team follow up every Quality Lead quickly and effectively. Analytics data will identify the online journey of the leads but you need call tracking data to link calls, and page views, to build the complete story. Only with the full data you can pinpoint where the customers are in their buying journey.

Targeting the ‘Quality Clicks’ means that you focus your effort on speaking to the very best Quality Leads that are ready-to-buy. The alternative is wasting time, effort, and resources chasing leads and hoping you might happen to speak to the best ones. There is just not enough time and resource to deal with all the leads properly.

No wasted budget – No wasted effort
To identify ‘Quality Clicks’ you will need to understand all the interactions that build your lead engagement score. This is something that will need to be continually refined. Vehicle Detail Page (VDP) views are an indication of intent but not enough. A customer that calls you while viewing the VDP is showing a high level of intent. So you need the data to allow you to track each interaction, join them together, and build up a clear picture of your leads buying intent.

A detailed understanding of the customer journey enables you to fully appreciate the value of all the steps and ultimately decide which ones convert your ready-to-buy leads. This information will enable you to review your campaigns and activities, and refine your market spend. You can spend more on the things that work and less on the things that don’t.

One process throughout the business
Being clear on your plan and KPIs is essential but they need to be consistently communicated throughout the business and delivered by the frontline team. All teams need to share the KPIs and convert them into best practice with clear and simple daily tasks. Increased market share comes from clarity, hard work, and consistency.

Ian is absolutely committed to the training and education of the teams. It should all be common sense but it can be easy for bad habits to creep in. The process needs to be ingrained and be automatic for everyone from director through to the sales execs. Everyone need to be on their top game. With great data, top quality systems, and great processes, your business will see a better ROI and an increased market share.

Clicks V ‘Quality Clicks’
“Very few dealerships are collecting all the data they need to pinpoint their in-market buyers.” This is why Ian recommends Calltracks, to help the dealers that aren’t collecting that essential data see the full picture and find the Quality Leads.

Calltracks software tracks your calls and enables you to build a complete view of the full customer journey. Whilst Google Analytics will provide data for website traffic, it stops when the customer picks up the phone. If your business takes calls and all automotive dealers do, you need call tracking to help fill the gaps in your data.

Calltracks’ system can also provide missed opportunity alerts and quick links to call recordings. Save time by just clicking and listening to the important calls rather than trying to find them in a long list. If you have a contact centre then the operator can be given real time details about their caller to improve CS, speed up calls, and improve conversion rates.

Calltracks Data – Helps You Find the ‘Quality Clicks’
Calltracks data can help your business do more than find the Quality Clicks:

1. To pinpoint the Quality Clicks as Ian explained by seeing the full customer journey
2. Understand the impact of your marketing and identify the bits that work and things that don’t
3. To help contact centres and sales teams manage their customer interactions
4. Help identify the missed sales opportunities and recycle them

A final word from Ian
“While the tech is critical to generate the data and help identify the Quality Clicks, elite sales success comes through training, coaching and accountability.” Both quality data and a well-rehearsed process are essential. Ian has a passion for data, clicks, process, and speed of response to be ahead of the pack when selling cars. There are some challenges ahead for dealerships but Ian has a proven formula and is happy to share it.

Calltracks are part of Ian’s “essential tool kit”!
At Calltracks we work closely with customers to deliver what they need. Our software is easy to set up and you can build the reports you want or take data straight into your data warehouse. Why not give us a call?

A final thank you to Ian for speaking with us and sharing his insights. You can find Ian Godbold and his new consultancy on LinkedIn.