3 Lead Tracking Questions to Ask Your Agency

By John Nelson on 01/09/21
Updated on 03/20/24

Most auto dealership owners think sales follow-up is like playing fetch with an excited dog . . . but most sales managers know it’s more like walking a cat. Ask any experienced salesperson, and they’ll tell you that even the most qualified leads can be erratic, confused, and sometimes downright hostile.

Fortunately, your digital marketing agency can help connect your salespeople with the right leads at the right time.

Good digital marketing should create sales-supporting data. Not only should your sales team be equipped with everything they need to know about a lead, your marketing team should also be able to answer for their efforts.

Actionable lead data is the lightning before thunderously successful sales.

Psst: When you’re done with this article, be sure to check out our other posts in this series:

The Importance of Creating Actionable Lead Data

While there’s a mountain of digital information available to every dealership, only tiny bits and pieces of it are actually being synthesized. Auto dealers have a unique trove of data with which to help people — but only if their sales teams know the unique needs of each person in their database.

Why is actionable lead data so important? Leads need follow-up that is timely and relevant. Recent research shows that the average consumer spends around 15 hours shopping before purchasing a vehicle. Compared to other industries, that’s a very short time frame in which a dealer needs to detect, organize, and follow up with the lead.

The best sales teams already know that quantitative success starts with a great first touch with leads. Successful sales managers organize qualitative lead information in a helpful way, which is why 9 Clouds offers lead tracking as a digital marketing service.

Intentional lead tracking is also important for marketing managers. The revolving door of vendors, campaigns, messages, and web pages can cause even the best dealership managers to lose the “spoon” in the strategy “stew.”

When it comes to lead tracking, it’s important for dealership owners and managers to ask their agencies the right questions — like the three below.

The 3 Lead Tracking Questions You Must Ask

Kittens in basket, showing how following up with leads can often feel like herding cats.

1. Where Do the Leads Originate?

This first one may seem obvious, but we see way too many customer relationship management (CRM) systems with unclear sourcing. Beyond labeling “lead source” in your database, there are some important factors along the buyer’s journey that can create valuable context for your sales team.

Ideally, by the time a lead reaches your dealership’s CRM, they have been:

Tactfully included in an audience
Exposed to specific messaging
Tracked by various pieces of technology
Transferred to your dealership’s CRM with relevant information

Each of these steps can equip your salespeople for a successful follow-up. It’s up to your agency to bring this data to your fingertips.

2. What Do the Leads Want?

It’s one thing to know a lead’s path, but it’s another thing to know their intent. For example, if a lead submits a form to subscribe to your blog, they likely have a much different set of qualities than a lead who submits a form to schedule a test drive.

At this point, qualitative or situational data is key. It’s important to indicate if the lead is:

Buying, selling, or trading
Interested in new vehicles, used vehicles, or service
Interested in cars, trucks, or SUVs

Dealerships are busy. Even with the best management, it’s difficult for your sales staff to all be aware of how leads are qualified and converted into a CRM along with this qualitative data.

Today’s automotive leads are picky, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) aren’t helping. The best auto dealers can leverage their digital marketing to help leads more efficiently.

Context is key. Just as your agency carefully crafts its email messages and ads, it should also carefully curate lead data for your sales team.

Make sure your digital agency is including relevant data and contact information with every lead — not just flooding your CRM with empty promises.

Cat nose, showing pixel targeting for dealership agencies

3. What If the Lead Strategy Doesn’t Work?

Lead conversion strategies only work if they’re focused on a goal. Before you even launch your first landing page or begin tracking leads with emails and pixels, make sure you spend enough time thinking about the follow-through.

Your agency should sweat (and report) these details for any marketing effort:

Who is being targeting
Why they’re being targeted
How the data flows through your ads, emails, website, and CRM
What pieces of data to provide to your sales team

Not only does your dealership need to know how to measure success, but it also needs to have a contingency plan. Let’s say, for example, that your agency shoots for 100 leads from a Facebook ad campaign, and you end up with only 50.

How quickly can you switch gears to the next best idea? Or, if your landing page isn’t getting form submissions, how will your agency find (and fix) the issue?

Make sure your agency isn’t a one-hit wonder when it comes to marketing strategy.

In addition to having solid lead tracking goals, your dealership also needs to know how to optimize its various pieces of content for a great user experience. Good digital marketing agencies know how to track leads, but great digital marketing agencies know how to set and achieve lead tracking goals.

Your agency should be ready to handle any necessary changes to your website, online ads, or email messaging to create a lead tracking strategy that works for both your store and your database.

Learn All the Questions to Ask Your Marketing Agency!

These aren’t the only questions you should be asking your agency. To learn them all, download our complete Questions to Ask Your Agency eBook!

9 Clouds provides digital marketing tips and tricks for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Through our experience in lead tracking, we’ve helped multitudes of dealership owners and managers find better ways to track (and help) their leads online.

If you’re ready to achieve real results with a trusted digital marketing partner, contact us for a custom digital marketing proposal for your dealership.

Get Your Proposal »

John Nelson

As the creative director at 9 Clouds, John leads a team of talented marketers. When he was little, he wanted to be a mechanic. Instead of fixing cars, John and his team are making cars easier to sell. Learn more about John.