Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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��ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ADVENTTR Customer e-mails should follow a pattern. If the last message to a customer contained information he or she requested, the next one should ask if he or she had a chance to review the material. comments, identifying whether or not they are already your customer and whether or not they���re local. Inviting someone to stop by for a test drive when they live 90 miles away isn���t going to work. In fact, it probably has the opposite efect. And never ever converse with a past customer as if you were speaking to them for the frst time. STEP 5: BE CONGRUENT I told you not to use 10-dollar words, yet here I am using words like ���congruency.��� Sorry about that. What I mean is your emails should have a pattern. Each message should fall in a logical sequence with the last e-mail you sent. For example, if the last message contained valuable information your customer requested, the next e-mail shouldn���t be about the big sale, checking out your specials, browsing your inventory or liking you on Facebook. A better message would be: ���Did you have a chance to review the information?��� or ���Did I send you everything you needed?��� One BDC manager I know sends a price quote on Day 1, asks for a trade-in on Day 2 and ofers fnance options with a down payment/payment matrix on Day 3. It���s very congruent and it works, which is in congruence with selling more cars. Sorry, I couldn���t Although this is a templated e-mail, notice how there is no mention of price. It���s important to talk about something other than price. If you don���t, the cheapest dealer will win the sale. help myself. STEP 6: BE BRIEF Many people are reading your e-mails on their smart phones or mobile devices. So be sure to use short paragraphs in your emails. In other words, be Twitter-like. Just be sure to leave some wiggle room around your calls to action and your phone number so they can easily click on them if they are on a mobile device. If you type like you talk, this should be easy. STEP 7: TEST YOUR FORMATS Test your stationery and see how it looks on a mobile device. One good idea is to format your e-mails in a table. Tis will usually center the e-mail on any type of screen and makes it look crisp, uniform and professional. Remember that e-mails can be both personal and professional. STEP 8: ASK QUESTIONS If you don���t ask a question, they can���t respond! Questions evoke responses. Questions motivate customers to reply. A question begs to be answered; it���s human nature. Try one of these: ���Should I be looking for a diferent car?��� or ���Was the information I sent yesterday helpful?��� STEP 9: DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS Let customers know your process. Tell them what the next step is and show them how easy you are to do business with. Since you want to be brief, consider a link to a landing page with more information about your process. How about a link to a video explaining your process, your priority appointment, your pre-approval process or trade-in evaluation process? Talk about something other than price. If not, the cheapest dealer will win the sale. STEP 10: CREATE CHEMISTRY, NOT CONFLICT Te tone of your e-mails is just as important as any other element in its DNA. If you are truly trying to be helpful, it will come through. Be the dealer that can, not the one that can���t. Your customers should feel like they are being served, not sold. Te paradox is that they are being sold ��� on your great service. My last tip for you is to use a metal trash can when you���re burning all of those e-mail templates. No, I didn���t make the mistake of using a plastic can, but you never know. And when you���re done, use the 10 steps I provided to help you win the battle of the inbox. Let me know how you do. APRIL 2013 ��� AUTODE ALE R MONTHLY.COM 39