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 The Power Of Proactivity
Rev Up Customer Communications With RPM Mail
The Power Of Proactivity
Marketing to the other 98%
Unlike many other industries, where consumers plow though a product and buy more quickly (i.e. milk, office
supplies, soda) the auto industry has a slower consumption cycle. The average consumer keeps their car 2.5-3 years
and at any given time only 2% of consumers are in the market for a new car.
So how much of your marketing is targeted at that 2%?
Half? 75%? All of it?
If you're like most dealerships, the overwhelming majority of your marketing is focused on the "buy now" customer.
And that's the only customer that your sales team is interested in. So you run television commercials, radio and
newspaper ads, special limited-time sales events and the like. But in spite of your best efforts, you can't create
need in the mind of the consumer.
Cars are simply too expensive to ever be an impulse buy. Although which car to buy is often an emotional decision,
the decision to buy is not. So, because you can't create need, the best you can realistically hope for is to ensure
that when a consumer decides to buy, you're at the top of their list.
So that raises the question: What are you doing to proactively market to the 98% of customers that aren't in "buy
now" mode?
Are you staying in touch with them using something other than an offer of 1.9% financing or a free oil change
coupon? This business is about relationships__all sales-centric businesses are__and that means building loyalty
that goes beyond their pocketbook. It means turning customers into friends.
The best customer relationships are friendships based on trust, understanding and caring. And friends make a point
to reach out to one another… sometimes just to say "hi". They make a proactive effort to be helpful and available
with messages that say "we respect you, value your time and hope to see you soon" rather than just "give us your
business". And when you treat your customers like that, they'll come back to you again and again.
That can happen with your customers. And it will when you embrace the idea of proactive communication.
Rev Up Customer Communications With RPM Mail
Coming Soon From Dealer Impact
Let face facts, your sales staff is only interested in talking and meeting with customers who are ready to buy.
And that's how it should be. Their job is to close.
Ensuring that your sales team, as well as the parts and service departments, have a steady stream of customers
ready to buy is the job of your marketing. And, because only 2% of customers are in the market for a new car at
any given time, staying in touch with them during their non-buying time is critical. That way, you'll be sure
they come knocking on your door when they're ready to buy.
To that end, Dealer Impact is developing, and will soon launch, RPM Mail. RPM Mail is digital marketing tool that
allows your dealership to automate your customer communications. You'll be able to send targeted, Flash-animated
messages directly to consumers easily and automatically. That's right, the messages will send themselves based
upon customer actions (taking a test drive, buying a car, visiting your web site, etc.) or you can send messages
as part of a targeted electronic mailing.
RPM Mail will change the way your dealership talks to its customers. It will rev up your customer communications.
Ask your Dealer Impact representative or call us toll free at 877-334-9638 about RPM Mail and our
complete line of digital marketing solutions.
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Car Dealers Ramp Up Online Ad Spending
By Ellen P. Gabler
Minneapolis · St Paul
Business Journal
Denny Hecker's doing it. So are Paul Walser, David Luther and Barbara Lupient. Some of the Twin Cities'
largest auto dealers are shaking up their ad budgets to give consumers what they want. And that means
folding up the newspaper and sticking a mouse__not a stick shift__in the potential buyer's hand.
read more
Detroit, Tap Your Inner Classics
By David Welch
Business Week Online
Motown has a chance to rekindle the passion its autos once inspired among Americans by unleashing design
the way it once did.
read more
Ruined Vehicles, Fuel Costs Add Volatility to Auto Industry
BY JEWEL GOPWANI
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Hurricane Katrina left behind thousands of soaked, crushed and mangled cars and trucks that first met the
storm sitting in driveways, outside apartment buildings and on dealership lots.
read more
Oil prices lift demand for hybrids
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
Financial Times
Soaring fuel prices have spurred US demand for hybrid petrol-electric vehicles. Sales of the Toyota Prius, the
top-selling hybrid, reached 9,850 in August, more than double a year earlier. Toyota has sold 72,849 Priuses
this year, up from 31,406 in January-August 2004.
read more
Check out the latest Virtual Dealership solutions from Dealer Impact Systems:
www.leonardevanscars.com
www.dandeery.com
www.allenmotor.com
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