According to Jupiter Research (www.jupiterresearch.com), more than 80% of all new car purchases now begin on the Internet.  That’s why it makes sense to feature on your website a link to an Internet auto buying partner.

If the reason for not adding an auto buying research function on your site is that you just don’t want to make auto loans (margins too low; too much competition; no demand), you may be kidding yourself.  Recent research from Callahan & Associates, the respected credit union consultancy, found that 50% of credit union members will visit their credit unions website for auto buying assistance before visiting a dealer. 

Can you think of a better opportunity to “pre-approve?”  Recall that the key stage in sales success is “asking for the business.”

Third-party buying services capture the email, name and telephone number of the serious shoppers before referring the prospect on to a dealer.  The best of these shopping services give the referring bank that same information.  So, if the shopper comes through your website, the third party will give you the name of your customer who is likely to buy and probably needs a loan.  Remember that the key stage in sales success is “asking for the business,” or in this case having a loan officer pick up a phone.

A third-party auto shopping service operating in the Midwest is www. carquotes.com.  Carquotes provides webpages branded for your bank so that the shopping service appears to be provided by the bank in partnership with Carquotes.

When considering which third-party providers to use, rank longevity as highly important.  Auto buying services survive by providing dealers quality leads, that is, leads highly likely to buy.  If the third-party doesn’t qualify the shopper, the dealer won’t pay for wasted time.  This fact also means that if the bank receives a lead through the buying service, the customer is highly likely to buy and therefore highly likely to finance.

Don’t think you are meeting your customers’ needs by just providing “information” links to sites such as Kelly Blue Book (www.kbb.com).  These sites profit by earning advertising revenue from a variety of businesses, including lenders such as Capital One. 

Find a good third-party auto buying service and you can gain some control over your customers’ shopping experience — and make more loans.