A lot of dealerships find duplicate leads annoying at best. They clog up your CRM, they make your multiple lead-capture services seem redundant, and they can lead to confusion about follow-up. There is even software specifically designed to prevent and remove duplicate leads.

But here’s the truth: duplicate leads are actually some of your best leads.

That’s not to say they don’t require a bit of organizational effort. Duplicate leads need to be clearly marked as such, with all their information correctly merged, and clear notes about any follow-up. That will keep your team synchronized and on track.  But don’t let your dealership make the mistake of getting rid of your duplicates, or ignoring them, or letting them fall to the bottom of your to-do list.

Why duplicate leads are your most qualified leads
We’ve all seen some truly bad leads: a website visitor who has already bought a car from your competitor, or whose credit is not good enough for a loan, or who isn’t in market at all. These leads should not get your precious time and resources.

But a duplicate lead is none of those things. A duplicate is someone who has told you, twice, that they are interested in your dealership. Considering how hard it is to get anyone to convert at all, this is a huge success.

Who are your duplicate leads? Some examples come to mind:

• Joe is about to start a new job, and needs to shop for his first car. While browsing your site, he converts on a holiday sale offer, but he isn’t really ready to buy. A few weeks later, he knows what he wants and converts on an offer for a specific model.
• Lisa is browsing your site and converts immediately on a test-drive offer. Then, after checking out some VDPs, she sees an offer for a model she likes and converts again.
• Ken has a lot of questions, so he engages with chat boxes on your site, providing his contact information. Later, he comes back to your site with more questions and converts on an incentive offer to come into your dealership.

All of these are ultra-qualified leads. And while engaging all types of leads (including early stage ones) is important, these leads are late stage shoppers. They have demonstrated their readiness to move forward in the car-buying process.

What these examples also show us is that usually, when a person converts a second time, their second conversion is even more valuable than their first. They are further down the buying funnel, more sure of what they want, and more invested in your dealership.

That’s why it’s important to know that duplicate leads are, in fact, duplicates. When you see a lead come in that has previously converted on a different form, that lead is not redundant. It’s enriched with more information about the visitor and their car interests. In fact, we like to call these second-round captures assists. They assist you in finding more value-driven ways to have a buying conversation and close a deal.

Don’t dismiss your duplicate leads. Capitalize on them.
Here are some ways to ensure you are making the most of your duplicate leads– and making them happy.

1. Educate your staff. Your dealership should reframe the conversation about duplicate leads and consider them ultra-qualified, hot leads.
   • Go through your CRM and pull examples of good duplicates to illustrate the phenomenon.
   • Train your staff in using your CRM to find and utilize all information about duplicate leads to make the most of follow-up conversations.
   • Create dealership-wide best practices for follow up with duplicate leads.
2. Find out why this lead is a duplicate. Whenever someone on your team discovers a duplicate, his or her immediate goal should be to find out why. Has this person been contacted already? Have their interests changed since their first conversion? How can you help them in their car-buying process?
3. Read the lead. Carefully. Pay close attention to all the data in your CRM about this lead. What pages have they looked at? How long have they spent on your site? Which VDPs did they interact with? Are they interested in a particular model? Is their second conversation different from their first? Make sure you know all this information.
4. Provide valuable follow-up. A lot of dealerships send an automated message when a lead converts. You will have much more success if you call them, within a few minutes after they convert, armed with all the information you gathered from your CRM. Make sure to answer any questions they’ve asked, and provide them with the specific information they are looking for. Do not ask them for information they have already provided, or use a script. Instead, listen to your lead’s interests and let them guide the conversation. You can also use the data your CRM provides you to direct the conversation.
5. Prioritize these leads. Since these leads are so valuable, make sure they are a top priority:
   • Check for duplicates daily
   • Make sure they get top priority for follow-up calls
   • Have a clear system for staff to take notes on calls

Remember, these are leads who have shown a clear interest in your dealership. Capitalize on their interest before they turn to your competitor. A duplicate lead will not be annoyed to hear from you– in fact, they will be annoyed if you don’t reach out immediately. They gave you their information twice. Don’t ignore them.

Whether they’ve been languishing in your CRM for months, days, or minutes, duplicate leads are banging down your door for attention. So give it to them. Show them that they were right to come back to your dealership.