Businesses everywhere are catching on to the advantages that SMS texting can offer when communicating to customers. For dealerships, texting is becoming a key component to a larger sales and marketing strategy that allows auto sales to benefit from the advantages that other retail industries have attained from the online world.
If you want your team to get the most out of this useful technology, it can help enormously to provide your sales staff with some instruction about car dealer texting and its etiquette. Older sales staff in particular, who are less accustomed to digital technologies, may find difficulty bringing their seasoned sales skills to this unfamiliar medium. Here are a few educational texting tips designed particularly with auto sales professionals in mind:
1. Be succinct
Texting developed as a casual way to send quick snippets of information in as little space as possible. While you don’t have to continually update your sales staff with all of the new shorthand employed by younger SMS text users (which would be akin to teaching them a whole new language), you should ensure that they understand that it’s an important part of this medium to be terse. In fact, a long-winded text message is likely to make your sales person seem out of touch an unreliable and could even spoil a sure sale.
2. A Personable Tone
In the same way that positivity, friendliness and charisma can help a sale’s experience that occurs in person, they can go a long way when texting. The world of texting tends to be a less formal atmosphere and your customers will want to keep it that way despite the fact that you’re conducting serious business.
3.To Emoji or Not Emoji?
Like it or not, emojis are pretty much an essential part of text messaging. That said, there are a few pitfalls that you’ll want to train your sales personnel to avoid. For one, vague emojis should be used but used sparingly by a salesperson in order to avoid seeming ridiculous.
Secondly, emojis are symbols and that means that many have come to signify very specific things online. Many even holds meaning of a more adult connect, which you’ll want your sales staff to avoid. Mandate that every one of your staff that will be using text messaging do some online research to familiarize themselves with the vernacular.
4. Use Correct Spelling
It may be commonplace for the younger generation to use shorthand or alternative spellings when texting but your sales team should not. While the right client might find this appropriate, a good majority will not. Avoid taking risks by retaining correct spelling.
5. Be specific and Remain Relevant
While these two pieces of advice may seem obvious in a sales speculation, they become even more important in the works of SMS texting. While a personal tone is important, don’t get so personal that you end up in long conversations that aren’t about auto sales. Speaking too vaguely will risk misunderstandings – remember while instant messaging may be conveniences it also lacks the shorthand of tone of voice or facial expression.
SMS text messaging can provide an important resource for dealerships, just be sure that your sales team gets informed before they try it out with your customers.
