When Duplicate Leads Go Bad

Out of sight, out of mind. That is how most lead handlers are, and it isn’t their fault. Nowadays, this isn’t the first time car-buyers have shopped for a vehicle. It isn’t the first time they have submitted a lead to check a price. For that reason, there is a high probability many online customers are already in your CRM. And that’s why duplicate leads are more prevalent than ever. And they vanish as quickly as they arrive.

The problem exists when the CRMs we employ make the decision on our behalf to automatically consider all duplicate leads “bad”. This bad status relegates the duplicate leads to that of a secondary citizen in the CRM, and rarely alerts the salesperson that another opportunity exists to sell a shopper. Rarely are duplicate leads truly “bad”, so, in turn, having them flipped automatically to this status definitely a bad decision.

While we recognize that you wouldn’t want duplicate, redundant processes/templates/calls overlapping and firing out to active shoppers, there is still valuable insight into each duplicate lead. When a duplicate lead arrives, your CRM should alert the lead handler to its existence and prompt them to:

• Compare the time of lead submission dates
  (If only hours have passed since first lead arrived, an additional call may not be necessary. However, if a week or more has passed, the prospect can stay on their currently workflow track, but another contact attempt is warranted.)
• Review the vehicle make and model
  (Quite often, shoppers change their mind on their preferred vehicle. Why dismiss a lead’s importance if the duplicate lead indicates a new vehicle of interest? If anything, this is a new talking point for the lead handler and requires an updated price quote.)
• Confirm contact methods
  (It isn’t uncommon for duplicate leads to arrive with a new phone number or email address to use – or at the very least – add to the customer profile as an alternative attempt method. Use these new contact types to reach the customer moving forward.)
• Check the source
  (Many sources give clues as to what the most important aspect of the shopper’s purchase is. They may have started at a 3^rd party site and later submitted under a specific call-to-action on your website. Or they may have already contacted your store, and letter submit a lead to validate a price on another website. Each new form field submission can be used as a means to understand where they are in their car buying process.)

At DealerKnows, we do see a consistent 25% duplication of all leads in CRMs (as high as 40% by certain price-validating lead providers) so generating duplicate leads is inevitable. These leads can provide a glimpse into a shopper’s buying behavior, their intent, and their preferred method of contact. Overlooking duplicate leads (or allowing your CRM to categorically dismiss them all as “bad”) is giving up on an opportunity to sell an in-market shopper.

Like misguided youth, duplicate leads are not bad. They just need to be nurtured. There is still a positive outcome possible if you give them the attention they deserve.