Automated Workflows Save Time & Close More Sales

Have you ever wondered what marketers mean when they talk about the “customer journey?” Taking a customer from initial interest to purchase can seem like a daunting task, but digital capabilities can make it much easier. A customer’s journey to purchase could certainly include non-digital touchpoints such as an in-store visit or exposure to traditional advertising methods like TV commercials or radio ads. However, with digital marketing playing such a large part in the consumer’s world today, another way to look at the customer journey is through an automated workflow.

A workflow is created through Marketing Automation software integrated with your dealership website. It is made up of a series of triggers and actions that automate your dealership’s marketing communications. Typically, the first step of a workflow is when an online user visits a dealership website. The triggers and actions that follow are up to each dealership to decide, based on business priorities and goals.

For example - your dealership may implement a setting that once a visitor gets to a lead score of 40 or higher, your sales team will be notified to reach out to them. Or as another example, when an online visitor fills out a lead form indicating that they are interested in a financing option for a unit, they may automatically receive an email with more details titled “Finance Your Dream.”

Each dealership can set up specific rules and automations so the online visitor will go through the workflow in a unique way that matches their individual interests and needs. The way that an online visitor moves through the workflow is dependent on the actions that THEY take, but the workflow itself is designed to match the settings that YOU choose as the dealership.

The reason that workflows are so beneficial is that with the automated process they take the customer through, it is basically as if the workflow is doing all the work for you. Instead of a salesperson needing to reach out for information to know what the customer is interested in, that information is being collected in an automated and fairly fool-proof way based on what the customer is actually doing. Marketing Automation makes it easy for your salespeople to get to know the customer before they attempt a sales pitch, and it saves a lot of time for your sales team as well.

Though a Marketing Automation workflow can seem complicated and overwhelming, the entire purpose is to simplify things for you and make your job easier, while actually increasing the chance that a prospect will follow through to sale. They do require some work in the initial setup, and it is in the best interest of your business to give that process some thought: How best could you help move a prospect along the customer journey? What are the different possibilities and outcomes in terms of fulfilling customer needs, supplementing the right materials to help them in their search for a new unit, and encouraging them to follow through with a purchase? Once your workflows are set up and running smoothly, your dealership can sit back and reap the benefits.