How Can a Payment Calculator Generate Leads on Dealer Websites?

• Know Your Buying Power lets a shopper see what they can afford on a specific vehicle in your inventory, right from a slide out on your website.

• The shopper picks a comfortable monthly payment, a down payment, their credit, their term, and whether they have a trade-in.

• The tool asks for the shopper's information before it shows results, which is what turns a payment calculator into a lead.

• Results include the vehicle's estimated value, monthly payment, loan length, APR, and down payment.

• Mike says the tool is completely free as long as a dealer signs up for one of MOTO(acquire)'s other tools.

Most dealer websites are built around price. But plenty of shoppers are not asking what the car costs. They are asking whether they can afford it, and if your site cannot answer that, they go find one that can. So how can a payment calculator generate leads on dealer websites? By answering the affordability question on a specific vehicle, and asking for the shopper's information right before it shows the answer.

Mike Crothers, CEO of MOTO(acquire), put it plainly in this video: "I can't believe this tool right here is free when you sign up for MOTO(acquire)." The tool is called Know Your Buying Power. Here is how it works and why it matters to your desk.

How can a payment calculator generate leads on dealer websites?

A basic payment calculator gives the shopper a number and lets them walk. Nothing is captured, and your team never knows who was looking. Know Your Buying Power works differently. The shopper clicks it, a slide out opens on the vehicle they are viewing, and they work through a short set of questions.

The key moment comes near the end. Before the shopper sees their results, the tool asks them to fill out their information. By then they have already told you their target payment, their down payment, their credit, their preferred term, and whether they have a trade. That is a shopper doing real math on a real unit in your inventory.

What the Know Your Buying Power tool asks the shopper

1. Monthly payment. The shopper picks what they would be comfortable with. In Mike's demo, that was $700.

2. Down payment. In the demo, $3,000. Then they hit continue.

3. Credit score. The shopper selects what their credit is like.

4. Term. They choose the loan length they want.

5. Trade-in. The tool asks whether they have a trade-in.

6. Contact information. They fill out their information to see the results.

Once that is done, the tool shows the vehicle's estimated value, the monthly payment, the loan length, the APR, and the down payment. As Mike says, with this tool "customers now figure out what their buying power is on any specific unit in your inventory."

Why the trade-in question matters

For a used car manager, the trade-in step is worth watching. A shopper who answers yes is telling you there is a vehicle coming in on the deal. That is an acquisition conversation your team can start, not just a retail lead.

It also means the payment conversation and the trade conversation start in the same place. Your salesperson is not walking in cold. They know what the shopper wants to pay and that there is a car to appraise.

Where Know Your Buying Power fits in MOTO(convert)

Know Your Buying Power is included with MOTO(convert), the MOTO(acquire) website trade tool with instant valuations, firm offer requests, and monthly value tracking. Mike's point in the video is simple: if you want this tool on top of all the other tools at MOTO(acquire), it is completely free as long as you sign up for one of the other tools.

That gives a dealer two tools on the same site. One answers "what is my car worth," and the other answers "what can I afford." Those are the questions shoppers bring to a dealer website, and both are chances to start a conversation.

For more on turning website traffic into leads, see our Dealer Website Conversion videos.