We’ve always known about our phone answering problems, but I rarely hear anyone talk about what we’re saying to customers via car dealer email.
Did you know that you can measure all sorts of things around email marketing and email responses to discover who is doing it well and who isn’t? My favorite is to look at the number of emails sent against the number of emails a customer replied to.
For example: Joey sends 800 emails in a month and only 100 customers reply to him …100 ÷ 800 = 12.5%. When I see this number at a percentage less than 35% I start reading emails.
And what do I find when I start reading the emails that aren’t being replied to?
Everything from people putting FU (more seasoned sales people believe this means “Follow Up”) in the subject to “we don’t provide prices over email.” I even see messages where sales agents tell customers the dealership’s advertisements are a joke. And the vast majority of the emails I read do not answer the customer’s questions.Email is where you are losing the most opportunities. Maybe as much as half.There are two main email lessons to teach your staff:
- Email needs to benefit the consumer (and all communication for that matter). Happily answer their questions and provide a path for them to follow.
- Consistency. You’re not having one on one communication with another person; you’re a representative of the dealership. They’re not going to be friends with you after the sale. If you say something wrong they’ll turn on you in a second. Be sure that your message is consistent with the one the dealership is saying, and never berate it.
Managers, please start measuring the difference between the number of emails sent to the number of emails your staff is receiving. And then read the emails being sent from those individuals under the 35% mark.
I predict that most dealers are under a 20% email response average from their customers. That means that up to 80% of what you’re sending might be telling a customer to buy their next car somewhere else.
Whats your dealers email response average?
Originally posted on DealerRefresh
