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My previous blog post, Google's New Car Lead Program: The Basics, I discussed Google Cars, which is Google's New Car Lead program that they will be rolling out in the coming months. It's currently in Beta testing. Once again, Google has made a huge splash with the inclusion of LiveChat, powered by ActiveEngage, into Adwords. 

Here's how it works:

As we all know, each time we enter something into Google (Chevrolet, Toyota, VW, etc..), at the top of the search results, there is the adwords sponsored result. With this new addition of LiveChat engagement, you'll see the words LIVE CHAT next to the URL. Once you click on that, a dialog box will pop up (See below)

As you can see above, it's all very neat and clean, easy to navigate. Once you enter your name & Start Chat, you'll be in a chat with a representative from that brand and prompted to enter your Zip Code, so the consumer will be able to find the dealership in their city/town. 

Have you been following Google's steady migration into the automotive world? As I mentioned before, they announced a New Car Lead program last month, and now this inclusion of LiveChat into Adwords. What do you think of Google's dive into the Automotive sales world? What are the benefits that you see? 

*Original Photo from Brian Pasch

I recently came across a case study from the folks at BoldChat, and in it, they discussed the impact and implementation that their Live Chat program has had on NorthFace's business.

Before we dive into the key points in the case study, here's a question you need to ask yourself:

• Does your dealership website incorporate some variation of a LiveChat program?

If your top priority is customer service, it should. Here are a few benefits that were pointed out in the Case Study:

• You will see an increase in customer engagement
  • If a customer is not sure what type of car they're looking for, chances are that they'll much prefer a live chat to a phone call. They might not want to get on the phone until they're absolutely sure what they want.
  • This also falls under the category of ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth). Customers are going online first before hitting the store/dealership. You must be there during the Zero Moment of Truth and Livechat can give you that advantage.
• After implementing Live Chat for their website, NorthFace saw a rise in chats/month from 4,000 to 17,000
• It will benefit your customer service team!
  • Participating in live chat with customers will require your CSR's to become experts and more well versed in the product (i.e. vehicles) you're selling
  • Before implementing chat, you'll want to vett your CSRs to ensure they're product evangelists.

So, does your website have some sort of Live Chat program? Why or Why not?