Driving Success: How to Use Data to Help Your Dealership Thrive

Running a successful car dealership business requires keeping track of many moving parts. Some of the most valuable assets you have at your disposal are customer data, tracking and analytics. In fact, these data points are essential for understanding how customers are interacting with your dealership and making data-driven decisions to improve sales. Keep reading to learn how you can use these tools to turn traffic into value for your dealership.

The importance of tracking statistics

Tracking customer stats and data is a critical aspect of managing a car dealership. Here are some of the key benefits of tracking customer stats and data:

1. Understanding customer behavior: By keeping track of how customers interact with your business, you gain insights into how they like to spend their money, which techniques are best for closing deals and what marketing channels are driving the most traffic to your dealership.
2. Improving customer experience: By analyzing customer data, you can identify areas where your dealership may be falling short and make improvements to enhance the overall customer experience. For example, if you notice that customers are spending a lot of time waiting for service, you can implement changes to streamline the process and reduce wait times.
3. Personalizing marketing efforts: By understanding customer preferences and behavior, you can tailor your marketing messages and offers to better resonate with your target audience.
4. Increasing customer retention: Customer stats and data can reveal opportunities to build stronger relationships with buyers and keep them coming back. For example, if you notice a customer is due for service, you can reach out to remind them and offer a special promotion to encourage them to return to your dealership.

Marketing data points to watch for your dealership

Here are some specific data points you can focus on to improve your marketing efforts:

1. Website traffic: Tracking website traffic can give you critical insights into your customer base. By analyzing visitor data, your dealership will be able to identify which pages are most popular and what services or products customers find the most appealing, giving you a better understanding of how best to reach potential leads and convert sales.
2. Conversion rates: Statistics about your dealership’s conversion rates can reveal how effective your marketing efforts are when it comes to getting the right customers to visit your website. It also tells you if your website provides a positive experience for customers and may identify areas of potential improvement.
3. Bounce rates: Another important number to watch, bounce rates indicate how often customers leave your website without taking any action on the page. It’s not realistic to expect every visitor to engage with your website, but by monitoring bounce rates you can identify friction points and areas of improvement that might turn potential customers away. Knowing your bounce rates and taking specific actions to lower them is a smart and effective way to improve sales and retain customers. 

Here are some platforms designed to help you find this kind of information: 

• Google Analytics: a free web analytics service that provides statistics and basic analytical tools for search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing purposes.
• SEMrush: a marketing analytics platform that offers insights into website traffic, keyword rankings, and competitor analysis.
• Alexa:  a web analytics company that provides insights into website traffic, audience demographics, and competitor analysis.

Many businesses also utilize a customer relationship management platform, or CRM. CRMs are software platforms that help businesses manage interactions with their customers, analyze customer data and streamline sales and marketing processes. Some popular CRMs include Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive and Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Key performance indicators

In addition to tracking important marketing data points, there are several key performance indicators (KPIs) that you should pay attention to: 

1. Lead generation: Monitoring lead gen can help managers refine and optimize their sales funnel and improve lead quality. This data can help determine which sources are generating the best leads, where potential customers are dropping off and where to focus marketing efforts to improve sales. 
2. Customer acquisition costs: The cost to gain a new customer has a direct impact on a dealership’s ROI, so it’s important to keep a close eye on this number. Set a goal for your customer acquisition costs and keep track of how much you’re spending versus what you get in return. Tracking this data can help you make informed decisions about how to optimize your marketing spend and ultimately improve your return on investment.
3. Customer lifetime value: For any car dealership, it’s advantageous to find which customers provide the highest value over time. This helps sales managers know which customers have the potential to generate the most revenue for the dealership and use targeted marketing techniques to keep them coming back.

These are just a few examples of helpful performance indicators you can track. By monitoring such KPIs and others that you identify for your dealership, you can continue generating high-quality leads, accelerate sales and build a loyal customer base.

Some platforms like Google Analytics and SEMRush can also be used to monitor KPIs. However, there are several unique platforms designed specifically for tracking KPIs from various data sources:

• Tableau
• Klipfolio 
• Power BI
• Klipfolio
• Kissmetrics

Using data to streamline vehicle moves

Simplify your car dealership and remarketing business with Montway Auto Transport’s automation portal. Also known as M.A.P, this portal monitors relevant data to provide real-time tracking and analytics on all of your vehicle shipments. With M.A.P. you can book single or multiple orders with ease, get on-demand pricing for shipments, view all shipment statuses and keep customers informed with their own personalized tracking link. 

Request a free demo of the Montway Automation Platform or speak with a M.A.P. expert at 888-998-4161.