Who is LivePerson?

Automotive shoppers today want to communicate with dealers and automotive brands the same way they communicate with friends and family--by text, chat and messaging. Yet many automotive retailers and manufacturers still force consumers who want-and even start-connections via digital messaging to voicemail or email tag. Picture this scenario that happens every day: A consumer starts a chat or text from a dealer website. A chat center answers the conversation, gets the consumer’s name, email and phone number and sends it to a CRM for a dealer to start leaving voicemails or sending emails that end up in a junk file. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t make for the best consumer experience. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Innovative companies like Dealer.com and Cox Automotive are seeking ways to integrate messaging into the shopping path. Never before has there been an opportunity to create an automotive experience bringing together consumers, manufacturers, messaging partners and retailers to ensure consumers receive a highly personal experience than exists today with LivePerson's Conversational Cloud platform.

A Little Background

LivePerson, (NASDAQ: LPSN) makes it easy for consumers to immediately connect with businesses and ask questions via messaging from desktop or mobile devices, boosting engagement and building relationships, LP’s cloud-based platform creates a network of messaging connections across websites, mobile devices, advertising, review sites and social media, establishing a live presence for businesses where consumers are researching and shopping. LivePerson has headquarters in New York, with offices in Atlanta, Europe, Australia, Japan and Israel. The company employs over 1,000 people, has revenues of over $220 million and provides messaging for many of the world’s largest enterprises.

Notable automotive customers include Autotrader.com, Cars.com, Kia Motors America, Toyota Motor Sales, Acura and Honda, Subaru of America, Hyundai Motor America and AutoTrader.co.uk, to name just a few. Over 17,000 dealerships also use LP to engage with consumers and provide a consistent, satisfying retail experience. In fact, LP has been recognized by dealers as the Highest Rated in the Chat Tools & Services Category in DrivingSales.com’s Dealer Satisfaction Awards for eight years in a row. (This is the No. 1 ranking in the category.)

LP has a long history of other “firsts” in the automotive digital messaging industry. In 2005, LP pioneered chat in online automotive advertising, the driving force for widespread adoption of digital messaging in the industry. In 2010, LP led the market once again with the launch of Mobile Text Connect, the industry’s first one-to-one texting solution for auto dealers. LP was granted a patent in 2013 for its system and method of embedding two-way communications, including instant messaging and SMS, in online ads and search results.

Learn more at LivePersonAutomotive.com

Messaging Trends

Auto consumers and owners just don’t shop the way they used to. Mobile devices have enabled “micro-moments.” We spend a little time researching while we’re watching TV. A little more while we’re at soccer practice. Still some more after the kids go to bed.

No one -well, almost no one- likes the car shopping process as it is today. In Autotrader's Car Buyer of the Future Study, only 17 out of 4002 people prefer the way things are. Most of us want significant changes in the way we shop for cars. At the same time, consumers and owners have grown more and more likely to use messaging to connect with businesses, not just friends and family.

In 2016, LivePerson surveyed 1,000 consumers who either bought a car in the last 6 months or planned to in the next 6 months. The survey focused on messaging with businesses (chat, text, Facebook Messenger, etc.), specifically dealerships. The results speak for themselves:

• 76% of car buyers preferred mobile messaging when communicating with a business vs. making a call.

• 77% picked mobile messaging over email.

• Of the buyers who messaged, almost 70% did so during the research and shopping phases; 1 in 3 did so to finalize details or schedule appointments during the purchase phase.

• 98% of those who used mobile messaging in the car-buying process said it enhanced their experience.

• Almost 9 in 10 shoppers even said they’re more likely to buy from a business that offers mobile messaging options.

Calls create calls. Messaging solves problems. Auto dealers see the benefit of messaging too.

According to our 2016 Dealer Survey of 1,000 automotive professionals:

• 93% said salespeople who use messaging (like text) are able to follow up more effectively with shoppers (vs. phone calls or emails).

• 96% said dealerships who use messaging technologies have more sales conversations; 96% also said that without messaging, dealerships miss out on sales opportunities.

• More than 9 in 10 survey respondents said the LivePerson! messaging platform helps them sell more cars...whether they used it on their website or on advertising sites.

• 51% sold 5+ cars/month to shoppers who chat or text.

• 42% sold 10+ cars/month to shoppers who chat or text.

Data from an October 2017 comprehensive analysis completed by Kevin Root & Associates gives us even more validation to support the conclusions that consumers value programs that allow them to message with live product specialists. From focus groups to a quantitative study measuring consumer reactions (1,000 participants, including recent purchasers and near-term intenders), these auto shoppers:

• Voiced frustration with the process of researching and shopping for cars online

• Believe live assistance from a product specialist can help them answer key questions and make decisions during the shopping process without subjecting them to aggressive sales tactics

• Said completing some of the sales process online is appealing. More than 8 in 10 intenders say they would complete at least some of the purchase process online given the opportunity.

• Would be likely to use live assistance of product specialists (as described by LivePerson) (more than 7 in 10)

• Like or even “love” the idea of having help from product specialists-86% find it useful, 77% find it relevant and 77% would use it if available today.

Programs like the ones we’ve already developed at LivePerson with our product specialists can make the difference in consumer brand and retailer choice as well. For example, all things being equal, the majority of the consumers in the Root & Associates study said they would give preference to a brand that offers product specialists (as described in the study) over one who doesn’t. Almost 60% said they would choose a dealer who offers live assistance via messaging over one who doesn’t.

The comprehensive, consumer-centric approach we recommend to automotive sales and service leverages the enormous popularity of messaging, while making it simple and convenient for shoppers to effectively engage with dealers through the lifecycle of purchasing and ownership.

LivePerson serves 17,000 dealers worldwide through all of our direct and 3rd party programs. In the latest LP Dealer Survey (with over 1,200 participants), digital messaging received high marks for its ability to help dealerships sell more cars. In fact, 98% of dealers who participated said messaging technologies like chat and text are “important” or “very important” to auto dealerships. A majority (95%) also said they believe that dealerships who use chat and text have more sales conversations with digital shoppers, and 96% felt that dealerships who don’t use chat and text are missing out on sales opportunities.

Over 90% of dealer personnel (from those with LP software on dealership websites who responded to the survey) said they are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with LP.