New Marchex Institute Study Reveals Phone Calls Can Make or Break the Automotive Customer Journey
November 13 2018 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Auto Manufacturers Investing in Call Analytics
Are Capturing Share from Competitors
Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX), a leading provider of call
analytics that drive, measure, and convert callers into customers,
today released a new report measuring the call-handling performance
of major auto manufacturers during the first half of 2018.
Results from the study illustrate the importance of phone calls in
the auto customer journey and OEM sales and service strategy.
“In today’s hyper-competitive auto market, manufacturers are
looking for new ways to get an edge,” said Matt Muilenburg, head of
automotive at Marchex. “Our call intelligence data shows that
consumers are calling auto dealers during the purchase process –
they want to know if a specific make and model is in the showroom
and what financing and incentives are available. With sales calls
converting to a purchase at four times the rate of email, how these
calls are handled can be critical – perhaps the most critical – to
generating sales revenue and keeping potential buyers from turning
to competitor brands.”
Additional key findings from the study include:
- Phone calls are driving more
appointments, moving them to the top of the priority list for
OEMs. Between 2017 and 2018, the number of new sales
opportunities from calls increased more than 50 percent. The number
of appointments rose more than 30 percent, and the number of soft
commitments to visit a dealer nearly doubled.
- When OEMs optimize call
handling, customers commit to services more frequently.
In 2018, auto manufacturers booked appointments, sold parts or
received soft commitments for service 51.6 percent of the time, a
20.6 percent improvement over 2017.
- OEMS are starting to prioritize
phone calls in the sales process. Just over half of OEMs in the
study have improved their overall failed call rate. Six of the 11
auto manufacturers saw a decrease in failed call rates,
representing a 5.4 percent improvement over last year.
- Dealerships are quicker to pick up
the phone. The average hold-time abandon rate decreased for
eight of the 11 auto manufacturers analyzed, resulting in a 33.3
percent improvement between 2017 and 2018.
- Automated attendants, like
Interactive Voice Response systems or voicemail services, drive
customers away. In 2018, dealerships reduced the use of, or
streamlined, these systems, resulting in more conversations at the
dealership. Even so, caller abandons while navigating automated
systems comprise more than half of all failed calls, and nearly 10
percent of calls overall to a dealership.
Calls are critical in the path to purchase. With phone shoppers
purchasing cars 28 percent of the time over shoppers who connect
over email who convert only 7 percent of the time, it’s clear that
the phone call is a prime opportunity to turn a prospect into a
customer. In fact, auto dealers who invest in the phone call as a
key marketing and sales channel are seeing an increase in new
customer wins, retention of current customers and, ultimately,
revenue. According to a recent Forrester report, customers who
initiate a phone call convert 30 percent faster, spend 28 percent
more and have a 28 percent higher retention rate.
Marchex solutions are leveraged by some of the largest and
most successful brands in the automotive industry, including the
top three largest U.S.-based manufacturers. For this study,
the Marchex Institute analyzed more than 11 million calls to over
2,800 dealerships from 11 auto manufacturers during the first half
of 2018. A set of key performance indicators were evaluated for
each brand, including unanswered calls, calls abandoned by
customers due to interactive voice response (IVR) or reaching a
voicemail, calls abandoned after being placed on hold, and calls
abandoned while being transferred to an agent.
This is the latest in a series of reports that identify call
handling challenges in the auto industry and highlight how brands
can turn callers into customers. Marchex is helping OEMs
accelerate sales via phone calls through a course of industry best
practices. Visit the Marchex blog to learn more and
view the full series of call-handling performance reports.
About Marchex
Marchex understands that the best customers are those who
call your company – they convert faster, buy more, and churn
less. Marchex provides solutions that help companies
drive more calls, understand what happens on those calls, and
convert more of those callers into customers. Our actionable
intelligence strengthens the connection between companies and their
customers, bridging the physical and digital world, to help brands
maximize their marketing investments and operating efficiencies to
acquire the best customers.
Please visit the Marchex blog or @marchex on Twitter
(Twitter.com/Marchex) to learn more.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181113005296/en/
Marchex, Inc.Investor RelationsTrevor Caldwell,
206-331-3600ir@marchex.comorMedia Inquiries:EdelmanJessie
DiMariano, 206-268-2289jessie.dimariano@edelman.com
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