Never walk away from an opportunity to talk to a potential customer!

I heard that quote on my way to Spain in one of the many podcasts I listened to during the 2,500-kilometer journey. A simple sentence, but so powerful when it comes to online leads: Never walk away from an opportunity to talk to a potential customer.

And yet… even in 2025, the online lead is still a side issue, while it is the most important lead if you want to grow! Every day I hope for new online leads at the Experience Store Doesburg. Because that is my sales engine. I don’t have a huge customer database to draw from, everything must come from online marketing. A completed form, a phone call via the website, a WhatsApp message… I don’t care how they come in, as long as I never miss the chance to talk to a potential customer. Exactly what that American dealer meant in that podcast.

But… does that apply everywhere? No, unfortunately not.

I speak too often with importers and management of large dealer holdings who are proud of a 9.7% conversion on leads. Better than last year’s 8.2%, they say. But it’s still 3.3% below the 13% benchmark. And that’s a difference of more than 30% in missed opportunities. Do you have 15,000 leads? Then you’re leaving 450 orders on the table. The marketing department finds them, but the sales department doesn’t speak to them…

We’ll see this at the CX Awards too, and I also saw it in my small study of thank-you pages at dealers. If the customer doesn’t pick up immediately, doesn’t respond right away via email or WhatsApp, then many salespeople unfortunately just give up. The customer is never spoken to, while it’s precisely such a conversation that makes the difference.

That’s why the quote “Never walk away from an opportunity to talk to a potential customer” is so strong. But then you have to want to seize the opportunities.

Sure, AI can help. In Walcu CRM we build automations that ensure we don’t forget a single lead. But most dealers still work with outdated systems without flexibility. And many managers? They don’t see it as their job to check their salespeople’s follow-up. Because: “They’re adults, aren’t they?”. So only the budget is looked at. If that’s met – or exceeded – everything is ‘good enough’.

But ‘good enough‘ is exactly what holds us back. Act normal, do like everyone else… that’s deadly.

For so many dealers and owners, there’s still so much to gain in lead follow-up. But you have to really want it. You have to create the opportunity every day to get into conversation with as many potential customers as possible. Because that’s where it all starts.