With so many customers using the Internet as a starting point to shop for a vehicle, we need to get better with the quality our responses. I see some of the worst templates you can imagine on a daily basis. Some dealers bombard their customers with e-mail after e-mail. Why not send one e-mail that’s going to do the job and do it right the first time? Quality over quantity is what it’s all about.

I am going to show you how to deliver a powerful first response that will be unlike any other you’ve seen from a dealership. What I am about to show you will take a little practice and effort, but will certainly deliver a more powerful message to your customers.

Let’s go ahead and take a look at a template I’ve written below. Please make sure you activate the link within the template: “VIP video for Jerry Thibeau.” Imagine it was your name in the e-mail; you’d probably click on it. The first thing you’ll notice is that I have loaded this e-mail with key words and phrases that are going to speak the customer’s language. They’ve been placed in red bold so that you can easily spot them.

Jerry,

On behalf of ABC Motors, I would like to thank you for you inquiry on the Chevy Malibu. Not only will your shopping experience be a pleasurable one, but we’ll also provide you with outstanding service after the sale.

In order to save you as much money as possible, I do have a few questions that I would like to ask you:

1. Do you currently own a GM product? Extra incentives may apply if you do.
2. Will you be looking to get top dollar for your trade?
3. Are there any accessories you would like to add to your new Chevy Malibu?

While e-mails are an easy way to communicate, I’ve always found that they lack that personal experience our customers expect when purchasing an automobile. With that said, I’ve made a personal video just for you: VIP Video for Jerry Thibeau

I look forward to speaking with you shortly, what would be the best number for me to reach you?

(Salespersons sig file)

Notice we’re trying to engage the customer in conversation. We will also encourage you to address any questions asked by the customer. This template is one that we would send to an Internet lead with no phone number. If they had a phone number we would suggest picking up the phone and calling your customer; now they become a phone-up. If I couldn’t reach them on the phone, I would simply change the bottom line to read: “I tried calling you at the number you provided, but was unable to reach you. What would be the best number for me to reach you?”

Let’s talk about the VIP video, you’re probably wondering how we made that video and how long did it take to make? Well it was simple and quick. It took about 5 minutes of pre production setup and then a couple of minutes to shoot. I use a product called Jing to create the video and then store it on a site called screencast.com. The best part, it’s all free!

I’ve gone ahead and made a tutorial video on how to create on of these VIP videos for your customers.

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Wynns to guide fast growing CRM company’s marketing effort as Vice President of Marketing

Baltimore, MD – March 30, 2010 Industry leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software maker iMagicLab announced today that technology innovator and Dealerskins founder Michael Wynns will be joining their executive management team as Vice President of Marketing.

“I am very excited to add Michael to our strong team of industry professionals,” said Richard Keith Latman, CEO of iMagicLab. “He brings a wide range of talents and experience to our organization and we are delighted to have him lead our marketing efforts.”

Michael Wynns is the founder of Dealerskins, an award winning website services company based in Nashville, TN. Before selling to Trader Publishing in 2005, he personally consulted over 800 dealerships regarding the development of their Internet strategies and was the visionary behind the company’s VIP Customer Loyalty programs, Vehicle Promotion Center, and Redline Performance Content which was chosen for use on Vehix.com and Comcast.net.

Since leaving Dealerskins, Wynns has been actively engaged in a variety of automotive technology and training ventures – most recently as VP of Marketing at Visible Customer, LLC where he lead the development of the industry’s first Customer Lifecycle Management Playbook.

“IMagicLab has all the right pieces,” said Wynns. “They have a great team, they have great ideas and, best of all, they have created fantastic technology. The logic is intuitive, the execution is solid and the platform is both stable and scalable.”

“Forget everything you think you know about iMagicLab,” Wynns continued. “Their new DealerCRM is a game changer! It works across all departments (showroom, sales desk, F&I, service and Internet) so seamlessly that it actually dares a dealership to believe in the abilities of its people and what they can accomplish by working together. Any person at the dealership, regardless of title or geographic location, can access iMagicLab’s DealerCRM and instantly become more productive. It’s a beautiful thing to see and it is very empowering for the user.”

“Michael Wynns has a long history of being ahead of the curve and of helping auto dealers grow sales and service revenue” said Latman. “I cannot think of a better person to help us explain to dealers, managers and sales people why iMagicLab’s DealerCRM platform will help make them more money and keep customer retention high. Clearly now more than ever before there is a significant difference between technology providers in our space and I believe Michael is the perfect person to help showcase our tools to the marketplace.”

About iMagicLab

iMagicLab is one of the fastest growing customer relationship management software companies in America. They exclusively serve the automobile retailing marketplace and are an approved solution for most of the major automobile manufacturers in the United States. iMagicLab creates customer relationship software, internet lead management solutions, inventory management systems, service scheduling and retention, lead generation, websites, DeskLog, AutoPencil and eBay auction services specifically for the automobile retailing industry.

Visit the company’s Web site at http://www.imagiclab.com for further information on iMagicLab or dial (888) 304-2525.

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DealerRater Poll Reveals Consumers Want More Facebook Car Promotions

Did anyone else catch the post over on DealerRater.com in regards to some not so surprising results?

According to the poll, consumers WANT to be marketed to.

The most common suggestions for dealers from respondents include offering special promotions, updating customers on new makes and models, sharing feedback and testimonials, and sending out service reminders or recall notices.

26% of respondents, was for dealerships to offer more promotions

Many articles across our industry and other verticals suggest that “Social Media” is NOT the medium for selling and a medium for listening and communicating. I’ve been saying this for sometime now; at the end of the day let’s not forget we are here to sell and the consumer knows and expects that on many levels.

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Is “Call Us” Or “Email Us” Really the Best We Can Do On Our Dealership Websites?

Let me congratulate you for being on DealerrRefresh. That act alone puts you at the forefront of one of the biggest trends to ever hit the car industry: The Internet.

Now let me challenge you with a question:

“Why does your dealership have a website?”

In 1995, NADA recommended that every dealership get one as the future of the industry was going online.

It is now 15 years later, NADA’s recommendation was achieved many years ago; yet what is different?

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POSTPONED? Happening? WHAT?

If you haven’t been on DealerRefresh in a while you might have missed the proposed bake-off between VinSolutions and iMagicLab.  It all started when Sean Stapleton, VP of Sales at VinSolutions, stated in a press release welcoming Sean Wolfington to VinSolutions:

Today VIN is 24 – 36 months ahead of all companies in our space.

This caught the attention of Mark Bonfigli, CEO of Dealer.com, and Richard Keith Latman, CEO of iMagicLab.  Mark simply wanted to hear how VinSolutions thinks they’re ahead, but Keith proposed a bake-off to see who was really ahead.  Sean responded with:

Richard Keith Latman – Thank You for your response. I would love to have a vendor “Bake off” with you on video, live, or anyway our customers and prospects would like to see this. It would be great for the industry to really understand where everyone stands. NO BS, or “Coming Soon” stuff! Richard Keith Latman, remember you made the offer and I am 100% looking forward to this!

And ever since Sean Stapleton has gone silent.  However…

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