How fast should a dealership answer an online lead?

Why the first minutes matter

A shopper who fills in forms on AutoTrader, CarGurus, Kijiji and two dealer websites may be doing it in one sitting, phone in hand. An answer while they are still looking is a conversation. An answer the next morning is an interruption.

This guide does not rest on a statistic. It rests on a plain observation: you cannot win a conversation with someone who has already talked to another store.

Set a target you can hit on a busy Saturday

Pick one number for time to first reply and write it where everyone can see it. Fifteen minutes is a sensible starting point for most stores. A target that is missed every Saturday teaches the team to ignore it, so choose one you can meet when the floor is full, then tighten it.

Get every source into one queue

Leads arrive in different shapes. AutoTrader and similar sites usually send an email in a standard format called ADF/XML, a Facebook lead arrives through its own form, and your website form is yours. If each lands in a different inbox, the one nobody checks is the one that costs you a sale.

Bring them all into one list. Then test every source once a month by sending yourself a lead and timing how long it takes to show up.

Decide who answers before the lead arrives

The slowest part of most stores is the pause while people wonder whose lead it is. Settle it with a rule:

• Round robin gives each salesperson a turn, which is simple and fair.
• Balanced by workload sends the next lead to whoever has the fewest open ones.
• By vehicle or brand sends a used truck enquiry to the person who sells trucks.
• A fallback matters most: when the assigned salesperson is with a customer or off, the lead goes to someone else after a set time.

Make a late lead visible

Put a clock on every lead, turn it red when the target has passed, and let the sales manager see which leads are late and whose they are. A late lead that shows up on a screen at 10:57 can still be rescued. One that shows up in a monthly report cannot.

Cover evenings and weekends

Shoppers can send an enquiry at any hour, including nights and Sundays. You do not need a night shift. A short rota for the first reply, or an acknowledgement that says when a person will answer, is better than silence until Monday. Check the consent rules in our guide to CASL before you automate anything that texts.

What the first message should say

• Answer the question they actually asked, first.
• Say whether the vehicle is here.
• Offer two specific times to come in, rather than asking when suits them.
• Sign it with your name and the store.
• Keep it short enough to read on a lock screen.

For example: Hi Priya, it is Sam at Dev Motors. Yes, the Tucson is here. Would 5:30 work to come by?

Follow up on a schedule

One reply rarely closes a sale, so put the next step on the customer's page every time: a call tomorrow, a text in three days, a check-in next week. Those intervals are a starting point, not a rule, so adjust them to your store. Stop the moment a customer says stop.

Measure it, for ten minutes a week

• Time to first reply, by lead source.
• Time to first reply by salesperson.
• The share of leads answered within your target.
• Appointments set per lead, by source.

Review the four numbers every week. If one source is slow, check the connection before blaming the people.

Where DealerStation fits

DealerStation takes leads from AutoTrader, CarGurus, Kijiji, Facebook and your website into one queue, assigns each by your rules and starts a fifteen-minute clock the whole floor can see. First response time is on the dashboard, and the Reports screen shows first reply times for each lead source.