Index
What is omnichannel and how does it differ from having multiple channels
Why the used car buyer is particularly omnichannel
The web channel: the hub that connects everything else
WhatsApp integrated with the CRM: the most used and worst managed channel
Portals as the entrance to the funnel, not as the final destination
The physical visit: where what was built online is won or lost
How to measure if channels are truly integrated
Dealcar and omnichannel management from a single panel
Frequently asked questions
What is omnichannel and how does it differ from having multiple channels
Having multiple channels is not the same as being omnichannel. A dealership that publishes on three portals, has WhatsApp Business and a website has multiple channels. But if each channel reaches the salesperson separately, with no shared history or visibility into what the buyer has seen or asked before, it is simply multi-channeling with more work.
Omnichannel happens when all channels share the same information. The lead that came through Coches.net, asked on WhatsApp about the price and filled in the web form three days later reaches the salesperson as a single conversation with the entire history visible, not as three different leads with no connection.
This difference seems technical but has a direct impact on conversion. A salesperson who knows that the buyer has already viewed the car twice, asked about the warranty and has a budget of up to £18,000 has a completely different sales conversation compared to one who assists someone arriving "fresh".
Why the used car buyer is particularly omnichannel
The process of buying a used car lasts on average between 2 and 6 weeks and goes through multiple touchpoints. The typical buyer starts by looking at portals, compares prices, saves favourites, asks at two or three dealerships via WhatsApp, visits one or two physically and closes with the one that has given them the most confidence throughout the process.
This process is not linear. The same buyer can view the car on Coches.net on Monday, ask on WhatsApp on Wednesday, visit the dealership on Saturday and ask again by email the following Monday. If at any of those points the dealership responds as if it were the first time they heard from them, the experience breaks down and trust drops.
See also what the decision-making process of the used car buyer is like.
The dealerships that close the most sales are not necessarily the ones with the cheapest car. They are the ones that provide consistent follow-up throughout that entire process without making the buyer repeat what they already said before.
The web channel: the hub that connects everything else
The dealership's website is the only channel that the business itself fully controls. Portals have their rules, WhatsApp has its policies and social media networks change their algorithms. The website is the dealership's own territory where they decide how to display the stock, what information to capture and how to connect with the buyer.
To function as an omnichannel hub, the website must meet three conditions. First, stock must be synchronised in real time with the management system: a sold car must disappear from the website on the same day, and a new car must appear as soon as it is published in the system. Outdated stock on the web generates leads calling about cars that no longer exist, which damages trust and wastes the team's time.
Second, the contact forms and WhatsApp buttons on the website must reach the same CRM as the leads from the portals. If website leads go to a separate email and portal leads to another system, no omnichannel approach is possible.
Third, the website must allow the buyer to progress in the purchase process without needing to call: reserve the car online, apply for finance, view the full technical sheet with quality photos and updated price.
WhatsApp integrated with the CRM: the most used and worst managed channel
WhatsApp is the channel through which most buyers contact dealerships in Spain, and also the one that is managed worst in most cases. The problem is not the channel: it is that WhatsApp conversations usually stay on the salesperson's personal mobile or in the company's WhatsApp Business without any connection to the management system.
When the salesperson handling that conversation is unavailable, the buyer has to repeat all the information to another salesperson. When there are two salespeople and the buyer writes from a number they already contacted before, there is no way of knowing who they spoke to or what was agreed. When the salesperson leaves the job, the entire history of conversations with active clients disappears with them.
The integration of WhatsApp with the CRM solves all those problems: each conversation is registered in the lead's profile, any member of the team can pick up the conversation with full context and the owner can see the activity of all salespeople across all channels from a single panel.
Read also how to use WhatsApp to sell cars in a dealership.
With Dealcar you can integrate your WhatsApp with your dealership's CRM. More information at dealcar.io/whatsapp-crm-concesionario.
Portals as the entrance to the funnel, not as the final destination
The most common mistake in portal management is treating them as the final destination of the relationship with the buyer. The lead that comes from Coches.net or AutoScout24 is the start of a conversation, not a transaction. If the buyer does not close on the first contact (and most do not), the relationship has to continue in the dealership's own channels: website, WhatsApp, email.
Portals are excellent for generating the first contact but they have a structural limitation: the dealership does not control the experience nor can they follow up outside the portal. A lead who did not reply to the portal message might be available via WhatsApp or might have filled in the dealership's web form three days later.
That is why the first goal of each portal lead is to transfer them to an owned channel as soon as possible: get the phone number or WhatsApp in the first contact and continue the conversation outside the portal. This allows for real follow-up without depending on the portal's notifications and messaging system.
See also how to measure the real performance of portals in your dealership.
The physical visit: where what was built online is won or lost
The visit to the dealership is the point in the conversation where the sale is closed or lost. And it is also the point where the omnichannel experience breaks down the most in most dealerships.
When the buyer arrives at the dealership and the salesperson assisting them does not know which car they viewed online, what they asked via WhatsApp, or what objections they raised before, all the previous work is wasted. The salesperson starts a new conversation about a process that the buyer is already well into in their head, and that generates friction.
The physical visit has to be the continuation of what was already discussed online, not a new start. With the lead history available in the CRM, the salesperson knows exactly what the buyer is interested in, what budget they have and what doubts they hold, before the buyer even opens their mouth. That completely changes the tone and efficiency of the conversation.
Read also how to structure a dealership's sales funnel.
How to measure if channels are truly integrated
There are four questions that reveal whether omnichannel is real or just an illusion in a dealership.
Can any salesperson on the team pick up the conversation with any lead without asking the buyer who assisted them before? If the answer is no, the channels are not integrated.
Is it possible to know which channel each lead came from and what the conversion rate of each channel is? If leads from WhatsApp, web and portals all arrive mixed up with no distinction of origin, there is no real visibility of performance.
When a car is sold, does it automatically disappear from all portals and the website without manual intervention? If it has to be removed from each portal separately, the stock is not synchronised and there will be leads calling for cars already sold.
Can the owner see the activity of the entire team across all channels on a single panel? If they need to review several systems separately, team management depends on verbal questions, not on data.
Check how to measure and reduce the cost per lead in a dealership.
Dealcar and omnichannel management from a single panel
Dealcar centralises all acquisition channels into a single CRM: portal leads, WhatsApp conversations, web forms and direct contacts arrive at the same panel with the complete history of each lead. Stock is synchronised with the website and portals in real time. The owner sees the activity of the entire team from the same view.
Discover how Dealcar's omnichannel management works at dealcar.io/crm-leads-automocion or at dealcar.io/whatsapp-crm-concesionario.
Frequently asked questions
How many channels does a small dealership need to manage to be omnichannel?
Omnichannel does not require being on every possible channel: it requires that the channels used are connected to each other. A small dealership that manages three portals, WhatsApp and a website with everything integrated into a single CRM is more omnichannel than a large one that has ten separate channels with no connection.
How long does it take to respond to a lead so as not to lose it?
Industry studies place the critical threshold in the first 30 to 60 minutes. A lead that does not receive a response in the first hour has a conversion probability between 7 and 10 times lower than one assisted in the first 5 minutes. Initial automated response systems (even if just an acknowledgement message) help maintain interest while human attention arrives.
Is WhatsApp Business enough to manage WhatsApp leads in a dealership?
For low volumes (less than 10 leads weekly via WhatsApp) it may be enough. Beyond that volume, the lack of integration with the CRM, the impossibility of assigning conversations to different salespeople and the loss of history when the team changes make WhatsApp Business just a temporary patch, not a solution.
