MARKHAM, Ontario -

Canadian Black Book has rolled out a new online product for dealers that is designed to help when it comes to online lead generation and used-vehicle sourcing.

Lead Link can help dealers to:

—Offer information to help attract more customers.
—Connect with website customers.
—Offer a third-party appraisal via Canadian Black Book..
—Trim time off the appraisal process by spending less time in negotiation.

Furthermore, it also can give dealers a robust source for used-vehicle buying and aids in customer contact.

According to officials, here is how Lead Link is designed to work.

When a customer visits a dealership website, the individual should spot the Lead Link icon and click on it. The link pulls up the tool in a new window or frame.

The visitor then can punch in his current vehicle’s year, make, model, trim, odometer reading and equipment. Then, the tool shows the consumer what factors determine a vehicle’s value.

At that point, the customer indicates if he is looking for a used or new vehicle and reveals the models he’s interested in and provides his contact information. After the customer acknowledges the privacy statement, Canadian Black Book sends a verification email.

Once the customer clicks on the link in the e-mail, the Canadian Black Book page is pulled back up, offering the values. The lead is sent to the dealer, and the customer receives a trade-in estimate.

The customer also receives a dealer response e-mail, while the dealer gets a lead report the first of each month.

Several dealers offered testimonials for the new product.

“Lead Link has driven a significant volume of our Web traffic into our showroom and given our staff more closing opportunities with the quality of lead information,” commented Maureen Donnelly of Donnelly Auto Group. “We are sold on the product.”

Offering his take, Paul Ricci, public relations manager for Kia West Edmonton, noted: “We have been using Lead Link since May 2009, and we have noticed an increase of hits on our site resulting in increased sales from this product.”

Murray Clark, of Don Valley North Automotive, Inc., added: “Lead Link is one of the strongest lead generators we use for our business group. We are able to book appointments and close the customer in a much shorter sales process. Lead Link helps us sell more cars, faster.”