In our recent conversations with dealers, we’ve been hearing one repetitive trend: leads are down. If you follow our LinkedIn, you may have seen our latest poll asking whether this was the case for you, and this is a widespread shortage, or if we just happened to catch a few dealers having a slow month. The results? Stay tuned until the end of the article to find out. Yet widespread or not, every dealership can benefit from driving more leads and making the most of the ones they already have. So the question is: how?
When quantity is lacking, quality must be prioritized. If you already have fewer leads, the ones you’re focusing on need to convert into sales. Rather than guessing if that’s the case, utilize tools that give you deeper visibility into buyer intent and chance of approval. With Transax, leads have the ability to get pre-qualified, see their credit score, and value their trade-in— which means your sales team has greater insights into whether this is a high-quality lead, what level of attention and priority it deserves, and what the best next steps are.
You have 53 seconds.
If your door swings are already down, the last thing you need is to get in your own way. Give your customers fuel on their road to sale, not roadblocks. On average, people spend somewhere between 52 and 54 seconds on a web page. 1 That’s all the time you get to earn their interest. So how do you use it wisely? Make it ridiculously easy to buy.
Let your customers:
Your website is an elevator pitch. To make it count, you need to provide an engaging experience because the customer’s time is short and sweet. It must be an interaction that grabs their attention, leaves them wanting more, and offers clear next steps.
Investing in your experience will always be worth it. People won’t drive all the way across town to come into your dealership if they have a clunky or confusing experience on your website; but someone who’s had a great experience just became a loyal customer for life and recommended you to several of their friends. In fact, research shows that 70% of people will drive further for a dealership that provides a better experience. 2 So if you want to increase door swings, start by making their online experience as easy, transparent, and engaging as possible, removing friction, redundancies, and providing a seamless transition in-store.
Many dealers recognize the importance of Calls To Action on their website. Yet, ironically, oftentimes these CTAs fail to produce action. Meaning, although customers might “get a quote” or “find out more,” the interaction stops there. These CTAs are dead ends. A customer clicks... and that’s it. The momentum ends and the customer moves on with their busy life.
Smart CTAs, on the other hand, allow customers to take next steps without having to wait for a sales rep to ask what they’re interested in or redirect pages to fill out a form. Utilizing Transax, a customer can reserve a unit, get pre-qualified, apply for financing, text your team, request info, value their trade, and rent that unit— all while they’re still on that first page. No bouncing around, no opportunity to say “I’ll come back later,” one seamless tool that allows customers to take action with no additional effort.
Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for—the LinkedIn poll results. The responses were mixed: while the majority did report a dip in leads, many of you are still seeing a steady or even high volume of activity. Yet, whether or not you find yourself in a slow season, the takeaway remains the same. No matter the season, experience matters.
Research shows that 9 out of 10 Americans are willing to pay a premium for a better customer experience.3 That means the experience you deliver plays a vital role in keeping you afloat during slow seasons and consistently a step ahead of the competition year-round. Simplifying your website experience with effective CTAs, clear pricing, and reduced bounce rates will create a better experience for your customers and ultimately drive more sales and greater profit.
Regardless of lead volume, dealerships that want to stay ahead must prioritize standout customer experiences and operational efficiency. Using experience-driven tools like Transax is no longer just a cool option that makes your job easier, it’s essential for delivering top-tier service and reaching more people in a consistent, effective manner. Transax creates a seamless front-end experience for your customers while streamlining back-end operations, so no matter how many leads you’re working, you can eliminate friction, speed up response times, and deliver a better experience for every customer— while saving your team time and effort.
Looking to deliver a more engaging experience and gain better visibility into lead quality and buyer intent?
Discover the effective ways you can do this through the Connected Commerce Platform Transax. With easy setup and iPhone and Android apps, Transax works with your existing website and makes connected commerce affordable and practical for you. If you want to learn more, schedule a 20-minute demo and talk with one of our digital retail specialists HERE.
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1Source: Source: Average Time on Page, Agency Analytics
2 Source: “Americans appear ready for the European car-ordering model, according to S&P Global Mobility” S&P Global, 2023.
3 Source: 7 Reasons Why Customer Experience is the Next Competitive Battleground, Retently, 2025
