Dealers who respond promptly and personally to online customer inquiries aren’t just offering good service – they’re selling more cars.
That’s the takeaway from the 2025 Pied Piper Internet Lead Effectiveness (ILE) Auto Dealer Group Study, which ranks how well dealer groups respond to internet leads submitted through their websites.

“Modern customers visit dealership websites first, and today’s sales success is driven by how the dealerships respond,” Fran O’Hagan, CEO of the Pied Piper consultancy, which uses mystery shopping to track responsiveness metrics across the largest U.S. auto groups, tells WardsAuto.This year’s No.1 spot goes to Napleton Automotive Group, based in Loves Park, IL. That is its fourth consecutive No.1 ranking. And they did it with a breakthrough, too.

The 2025 Napleton score of 91 marks the first time a dealership scored above 90.
“The secret is that we take responding online seriously,” Brian Napleton, who owns the 50-dealership group based in metro Chicago and operating stores in seven states with his brother Ed, tells WardsAuto. "Responding to online (inquiries) in an efficient, timely manner is the first impression you get to make with customers. What’s more important than that?”    

The other top winners include Herb Chambers Auto Group, based in Dorchester, MA (81); Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, based in Irving, TX (76); and Ken Garff Automotive Group, Salt Lake City (75).

This year’s study found a 50-point spread between the highest- and lowest-ranked groups, emphasizing how much room there is for improvement. On average, the industry improved its ILE score due to faster email and phone follow-ups and increased use of text messaging to answer specific questions.

The High Performers’ Formula
What separates top-tier groups from the rest? Speed, consistency and multi-channel communication. Pied Piper recommends this simple, effective sequence:

• Respond via email or text within one hour.
• Follow up with a phone call as quickly as possible – ideally within 15 minutes.

In this year’s rankings, top-performing groups responded to 90% of customer questions via email or text within an hour and followed up with a phone call 96% of the time – three-quarters of those calls came within 15 minutes.

Why It Matters
Dealers that improve their ILE performance from a score below 40 to above 80 see, on average, a 50% increase in unit sales from the same volume of website leads, says Cameron O’Hagan, Pied Piper’s vice president of metrics and analytics.

Yet many dealers overlook this opportunity. “Online customer experiences often don’t appear clearly on dealership dashboards, which makes this portion of performance easy to miss,” says Fran O’Hagan.

Key Takeaways for Dealers

• Treat online responsiveness like a first showroom impression.
• Establish or refine your Business Development Center (BDC) to ensure consistency.
• Staff BDCs with dedicated agents who can follow structured communication protocols.
• Use text messages and phone calls strategically – not just for speed, but to build rapport and provide real answers.

Consistency is King
Top-performing groups don’t leave online responses to chance. Many operate centralized BDCs staffed by trained, full-time professionals who are measured on lead response time and quality.

“It’s not about pressuring the customer,” says O’Hagan. “The most effective approach today –both in-store and online – is friendly, helpful communication, not the old-school hard close.”

As digital interactions become the starting point for more car sales, the dealership response playbook is evolving. Dealers who embrace it are not just winning awards – they’re winning business.

See below for the rankings: