5 Key elements of dealership sales follow-up emails that hold shopper's interest
Car shoppers may spend as long as 180 days on their car-buying journey. Is your sales follow-up strategy aligned with that market reality?​
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An email sales follow-up strategy is vital for any car dealer to increase sales. But it's not just about sending a great email—you must send the right one at the right time to the right customer with the right content. Let's look at five key elements of a good sales follow-up email and how you can use them in your dealership.
1. PERSONALIZE
TREAT EVERY SHOPPER LIKE AN INDIVIDUAL
Personalization is not just about using the shopper's name. It's about finding out what the shopper wants and then delivering it to them in a way that adds value to their lives. For example, if you know that a particular customer wants a new car and prefers reliability, but has a budget that doesn't fit a new car, align the message to that shopper's profile and influence their next car decision.
2. BRING THE RIGHT CONTENT
RELEVANT CONTENT TO HELP THE CAR-BUYING JOURNEY
Use relevant content that helps your car buyers along their buying journey. The goal should be to nudge (not push) them along to the next step. A good rule of thumb is to focus on providing helpful information without being overly promotional or salesy, making people more likely to engage with future correspondence from you.
3. USE INVENTORY ASSETS
HIGHLIGHT AND SHOWCASE THE PRODUCT
Use video, images, and other inventory assets to make your follow-up email more engaging. For example, a video is a powerful tool for car dealers to use in their follow-up emails, as it allows you to demonstrate the features of your vehicle in a way that text alone cannot do justice. The same goes for images. They can help illustrate what makes one car different from another.
4. MAKE IT RELEVANT
BUILD A COHESIVE MESSAGE SUPPORTING THE MAIN MESSAGE
Use relevant content to highlight and support the main message. For example, if you highlight Certified Pre-owned inventory options, highlight the Certified Pre-Owned benefits. Similarly, when highlighting a make and model, use content to highlight what's unique about the vehicle.
5. HIGHLIGHT WHY BUY FROM US?
SHOWCASE DEALER & OEM VALUE
Dealers don't just sell cars; they sell the experience of buying them from their dealership & the brand. Highlighting and including the relevant dealer and OEM brand value goes a long way in establishing credibility. Make the message look professional - Use consistent branding, call-to-actions, short paragraphs, image and video assets, and bulleted lists where appropriate. Remember, each message is a representation of your dealership and OEM brand.
Remember that the most important thing is for each message to be relevant and personalized for every customer. Good follow-up emails can make all the difference and convert a prospect to a customer.
Power your sales follow-up strategy with myautoIQ
Do these steps sound daunting to do manually for every email? We agree. Your sales follow-up strategy is impossible to execute manually. But the good news in this age of technology is that you have tools available.
If you want to understand how myautoIQ implements these 5 key follow-up steps in a zero-touch way, contact us to schedule the discussion.