The next step: Since traffic is considered the ‘x’ factor of opportunities and the number of opportunities retained is the mark of a dealership that can retain and build market share, it makes it even more important to have processes in place (phone and elsewhere) where the opportunities that you work so hard for are not frittered away because of alienating procedures. I recommend that dealers do their own ‘mystery shopping’ and find out what the customer goes through starting on the phone and working their way through other parts of the contact with the customer. Dealers and GM’s are amazed at what they find when they do a little mystery shopping to see how those hard fought opportunities are handled.

The messages don’t need to be discounts or free stuff (those don’t hurt though), the content just needs to be relevant to your customer’s interests and worth their time.

Another use we see a lot of is using text messaging as a way of initiating the conversation with customers. They may not want (or be ready) to call or visit in person, but if they can quickly text a question, comment or inquiry about something, it’s a great opportunity to start a “conversation” that gets them comfortable. Two way text messaging software is required to do that, but it works.

Thanks for posting!

The best way to start is the simply start your twitter account and follow like minded businesses and watch what they do and how they do it.