The Dealer Impact Blog

The Rules of Engagement

Win Your Customers by Wooing Them through Social Media

Winning the hearts, trust, and life-long loyalty of your dealership’s customers begins by following a few simple rules of engagement on the social media sites of your choice—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, or Google+, just to name a few.  By keeping the following fundamentals in mind when managing the content on your social media venues, you’ll keep in touch and in tune with your customers.  And in turn, this will help you stay on target with your dealership’s sales goals.  Think in terms of your customers’ lifetime value.  Put a greater emphasis on investing the relatively small amount of time and energy regularly to cultivate high-quality relationships that offer long-term satisfaction and returns for both you and your customers.

Be informative.  As often as you can, post on your dealership business pages on your favorite social media sites.  Your customers are anxious to hear from you.  They want to know about your dealership’s latest discounts, rebates, incentives, giveaways, and upcoming events.  They want to know about manufacturer and industry news that may impact them.  They want facts that will help them make the most informed decision when buying a vehicle.  They want service specials, links to other helpful automotive resources, along with maintenance and safe-driving tips.  And don’t forget to share videos and photos as well to engage them.  If you can save your customers time, money, and headaches, they’ll remember you, thank you, and stick with you.

Be ready.  Be on your toes and ready to share news and announcements at a moment’s notice.  Your next prepared post can be online in seconds, and that immediacy works to the advantage of you and your customers.

Be concise.  Your customers will appreciate short bursts of information on your social media sites that they can scan, absorb, and act on at will when it’s convenient for them.  Being brief also cuts the prep time for you in drafting and finalizing the details to be posted.

Be inquisitive.  Strike up a healthy conversation with your customers.  Pose some thought-provoking questions online.  Ask for comments, opinions, and reviews.  They’ll appreciate the chance to speak their minds.  And when they do, you’ll receive valuable feedback that will help you continue to support and satisfy your customers—now, and down the road.

Be yourself.  Being honest and genuine is the key to having sincere, open, and ongoing interactions with your customers online—just as it is in person.

Be committed.  You believe in your business, the vehicles that you sell, and the service that your dealership delivers.  Make sure your customers know this.  Show them every day in the way you talk about your dealership, its inventory, and its services.  Use your web presence to most effectively present the distinct elements of your dealership’s brand personality and to reinforce them.

Be there.  When something goes wrong for your customers, be there for them.  Be responsive.  Acknowledge what happened in general online—and in particular offline, directly with your customer.  Offer your dealership’s apologies.  Research the problem.  Then make it right, and learn from it.  Very often, what began as a strained customer relationship can be transformed into an even stronger bond when a dealership responds sincerely and promptly with a satisfactory resolution to a customer’s complaint.

Be generous.  You and your dealership are a living, breathing, vital part of your neighborhood.  Be sure to let you customers know about the variety of community and charitable events and causes that you and your dealership put your time, money, and muscle behind.  It’s feel-good news that everyone loves to hear, and it’s news that you should be very proud to share.

Be grateful.  Every business is in business because of its customers.  Thank your customers as often as you can—for their patronage, their patience, and for the trust they’ve placed in you, your dealership, and in the vehicles that you deliver.       

Be good.  Keep up the good work that you do at your dealership every day, and be sure to share it with your old and new friends who interact with you on social media forums.  This interaction is vital for developing enduring customer relationships.  And it offers countless mutual benefits for you and your customers—right this second, and right on down the road.

For more information about engaging your customers through social media and expanding your digital reach and market presence, visit our Full-Service Page for details or contact Dealer Impact at (877) 334-9638, or email us at sales@dealerimpact.com.

Dealers Receive Google Places Notice

Some Dealers have mentioned that they are receiving a notice about their Google Places.

See below for details:

Google Places Team have recently been sending out letters about updating information on Google Maps and Places. This is causing a stir, so let me advise you to be calm.

The notices are part of a transition that Google has in mind that will eventually transform what we know as Google Places to something better. Google now has a documented escalation process and trouble ticket system that is fixing Google Places issues in a timely manner.

In fact, Google has been listening to dealers and in the coming months you will see that Google does want businesses to control and leverage their business pages. The visibility, traffic, and advertising opportunities with Google Places FAR outweighs some of the pain that dealers experience as Google Places is transformed.

via DealerRefresh

New Facebook Insights

Facebook has released some major changes to their Page Insights.

See the Infographic below for a great explanation.

via All Facebook

Karl Chevrolet’s Carl Moyer: In the Driver’s Seat and Out of the Ordinary

Automotive News TV Special Report gets up close and personal with auto dealer Carl Moyer, as he shares insights and best practices that helped him build a rock-solid Chevy empire at Karl Chevrolet in suburban Des Moines, Iowa.  Dealer Impact Systems is proud to be a long-time partner with Karl Chevrolet, serving the dealership as a client since 2003.  We salute Mr. Moyer as an industry innovator, and congratulate him and his entire team on making Karl Chevrolet one of the nation’s most progressive and successful dealerships.

Digital Dealer Conference 2011

Dealer Impact will be in Vegas this week for the 2011 Digital Dealer Conference! If you have any questions about our Full-Service Programs, Social Media, or Reputation Management please don’t hesitate to ask.

You can find more information about the conference here.