Equipment and work truck dealers should leverage online sales channels to secure leads and widen the sales net as more consumers browse inventory and shop through digital avenues.
Many equipment and work truck dealers post inventory on their websites but need to take their digital capabilities a step further to capitalize on leads and increase sales, Brian St. Hilaire, field manager of OEM partnerships at Work Truck Solutions, said at Equipment Finance Connect on Tuesday.
“What often gets overlooked are the opportunities we’re currently missing today,” St. Hilaire said. In fact, “95% of online shoppers will not convert to sales leads.”
Equipment dealers can increase customer engagement by making websites compatible with mobile devices, St. Hilaire said. “In the commercial space, 55% of website traffic originates from a mobile device. They’re on job sites, they’re away from their computers, so making sure your website is compatible across different devices is imperative.”
Dealers should leverage websites to educate their end customers about the company, products and services offered, he said. “Customers are coming to our site to find an answer to something; it’s not always to buy something.”
In the commercial work truck space, dealers who do not focus on content but instead use their site as a “digital billboard” for inventory, average about 350 visitors per month, St. Hilaire said.
Meanwhile, he said, “Our dealers that are focusing on the content and becoming more than just a vehicle inventory listing solutions see about two and a half times that, which also translates to about two and a half times the [sales] leads.”
