How many of your enquiries go unanswered? The 34% problem
About a third of car-buyer enquiries get no response within 24 hours. Here's what that costs a dealership that's already paid for every one of those leads.
In a carsales study of more than 32,000 enquiry responses, roughly 34% of enquirers received no response within 24 hours. Not a slow response, just no response. For a dealership that pays for every lead, that's the most expensive number in the business.
Why a third slip through
The same research found about 34% of enquiries arrive outside business hours. The two numbers are linked: the enquiry that lands at 9pm on a Saturday is the one most likely to be sitting unread on Monday, because no one was there to answer it. A roster can't fix a problem that is structurally about when demand arrives.
34%
of enquiries go unanswered within 24 hours, and a similar share arrive after hours, exactly when they're most likely to go cold.
What it costs
One incremental car is worth roughly $4,500 in total gross to a benchmark Australian dealer, and with dealer net profit at around 1.5% to 1.8% of sales, every recovered unit drops almost straight to the bottom line. Recovering even one or two sales a month is a swing of $54,000 to $114,000 a year, all from leads you already paid for.
You've already bought the buyer. An unanswered enquiry isn't a missed lead. It's a paid-for lead, set on fire.
Closing the 34%
The fix isn't more staff on the desk. It's making sure every enquiry gets a real, inventory-grounded answer in seconds, day or night, then a booked drive. That's what an always-on AI responder does. Read the full speed-to-lead guide →
Figures are cited from research summarised in our white paper, Closing the Loop, including a carsales study of 32,000+ enquiry responses and the MIT/InsideSales lead-response study. Stats are industry findings, not Dealerloop customer results.
See what closing the loop is worth on your own numbers.