Most dealers have no idea how well their lead follow-up efforts are connecting with customers, potentially leaving significant sales opportunities on the table.
The details: That was a key takeaway from Spyne's recent webinar, The Future of Dealership BDC: The 2026 Playbook, featuring Dave Purgason, head of U.S. business at Spyne, and automotive retail veteran David Long, president of David J. Long Consulting.
Long estimated that nearly 90% of dealers don't know their customer connectivity rate, making it difficult to measure how many inquiries result in actual conversations.
He said connectivity should be tracked alongside appointment volume, show rate and closing rate, while questioning whether "speed to lead" is the right performance metric.
What they’re saying: “Speed to the reply, I would argue, is more important. If we have a good response time but a poor response to the response, I see that as being one of the absolute killers,” said Long.
Why it matters: Dealers that don't measure the effectiveness of their follow-up processes may be missing significant revenue that could improve profitability and customer retention.
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Digging deeper: The webinar also outlined several ways dealers can improve connectivity and convert more leads, including monitoring the number of days since last contact and total outreach attempts.
Rather than assuming an unanswered inquiry is no longer active, dealerships should maintain structured follow-up for a longer period.
Long said an internet lead may require as many as 21 contact attempts before it should be considered "exhausted."
The webinar also stressed the importance of after-hours engagement, as consumers continue researching vehicles outside traditional dealership hours.
Additionally, the webinar noted customer experience should be assessed directly rather than through internal reporting alone, with Purgason saying AI can help improve many of these processes.
What they’re saying: “There are two dealerships operating under the same roof: the one you think is operating and the one that is actually operating,” said Long, adding that regular mystery shopping can help identify gaps between dealership processes and the customer experience.
Bottom line: Strong lead management is no longer just about responding quickly—it's about consistently connecting with customers throughout the buying journey. Dealers that measure, refine, and extend their follow-up processes will be better positioned to convert more inquiries into sales.
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