A closer look at a few thank-you pages!

As I wrote in an earlier article: a lead is merely the starting point of a dialogue with a potential customer. That customer has submitted a request, and that’s your first chance to actively start the dialogue—through the thank-you page and the autoresponder. However small the effort via such a page may seem, the effect can be significant. The beauty is that you only have to get such a page right once, for all future leads. The thank-you page on your own website is under your control, unlike, for example, the one from Marktplaats.

Most forms on your website that generate leads ask for a few details: gender, first and last name, email, and phone number are the most common and most important. If we take this information as a starting point, what should the lead expect from the thank-you page? With the variables male/female and surname, it seems logical that the dialogue starts with:

“Dear Mr. De Vries, thank you for submitting a request about our Ligier JS60!”

The question answers itself. At Ligier Store Doesburg, I don’t do it like that either—but I do it a little differently. The customer sees a fun thank-you page with a video (see below). They also receive a personal email, an SMS, a WhatsApp message, and—during office hours—a phone call within a minute of submitting their request. It may seem like a lot, and maybe it is, but it works.

I reviewed the thank-you pages of the largest dealer holdings. Can we learn something from them?

Of the ten dealer holdings, nine do nothing with the available variables. Not with the name, gender, or the vehicle the customer is interested in. How nice would it be if the car you’re interested in appeared on screen with your name on it—maybe even with a bow on top? You can, and should, be a little creative!

The only dealer who does use the variables has the following page:

Granted, it still doesn’t fill the room, but it’s 100% better than the other nine pages. And at least the company shows it’s working on it. Anyone who has ever ordered something from Coolblue knows that the thank-you page is the start of the customer experience at Coolblue. Why couldn’t that be the case in our industry? Many potential customers may not miss such a page—but if you put care into it and make it enjoyable, it becomes something that sets you apart.
And as you’ve seen: the bar isn’t very high…