Digital Dealer - July 2018 - 32

S A L E S / VA RIABL E OPS: M o b ile M e ssa gi ng

By Anne Fleming
President,
Women-Drivers.com

To Text or
Not to Text?
Is texting a part of your
dealership's communication strategy with women
customers? When used
properly, texting as a
business practice is a direct
and efficient way to communicate. Used improperly, it
can cause annoyance and
frustration. Read on to
review the rules for proper
text etiquette, especially with
your largest audience -
women.
New research from Women-Drivers.com shows that
one in five women prefer
texting with their dealership
when they are buying a car.
Fifty-one percent of women
surveyed prefer email as the
main communication method when car buying while
30% prefer a phone call, and
19% prefer text.
With 52.6% of the respondents under the age
of 40, why is this? Email is
a more formal communication method and therefore
preferred by most in this
audience. Many women limit
text messaging to a family
or personal communication
tool whereas others use it to
save time. The key is to ask
up front to find out a woman's preference for methods
of communication - noting
that her preference may vary
as to what information is
communicated (i.e., reminders, updates on a pending
32

J U LY 2 0 1 8

1. USE AN SMS
MESSAGING SERVICE.

These services specialize in
keeping up with the etiquette
and rules. Allow a customer
to opt-in and always have the
option for them to stop messages. Provide monitoring/
reporting to verify that messages were sent properly and
received. Keep up with mobile
phone carrier requirements
and adjust photo sizes and
message lengths to comply.
This ensures your messages
won't be cut off or refused.
2. FOLLOW THE SMS
SERVICE'S PROCESS for

asking permission from your
customer. Never send a text
from a phone number your
customer does not know.
3. CREATE A SET OF
POLICIES for the types of

texts that can be sent. Be
sure to keep up with your
customer's preferences.

purchase, invitations, etc.).
For customers who like
text messages, texting:
 Conveys a sense of
urgency or need for a response. Texts are best used
for messages that need to
be communicated within a
current time frame. Reminders about appointments, or
that the perfect new car has
arrived are good examples.
Texts can also be used to
keep an ongoing conversation, provided the responses
are kept short.
 Provides a direct, quick
message that can be kept
active, but allow response at
a convenient time.
 Allows a conversation
to be maintained without
full attention. For example,
a woman can respond to a

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

text while watching a game.
 Can be more personal
than emails, and less demanding than a phone call.
Text messages are not
appropriate in the following
circumstances:
 If a message is long,
it should be delivered in an
email or phone call.
 Messages that are
information-only are best
delivered in an email.
 If a message is prepared and sent during late or
early hours, it's best sent in
an email.
 If you haven't established a working relationship
with your woman customer
for a specific opportunity.
Once you establish a
policy and process for using
texts, here are a few rules:

4. DON'T OVERLOAD A
CUSTOMER WITH TEXT
MESSAGES. Many mobile

phone plans allow unlimited
text, but your customer's
brain has a limit. Over-communication can kill a deal
quickly.
In today's fast-paced world,
text messages can be a great
convenience and help personalize a relationship. This
can result in a happy customer who gets what she wants -
and that is always good news
for your business.
ANNE FLEMING is president
of Women-Drivers.com, which
has innovative solutions to assist
dealers in showcasing their
trust and commitment to women
buyers and in turn expand their
sales to this powerful buying
segment. EMAIL: anne@
women-drivers.com
http://www.Women-Drivers.com http://www.women-Drivers.com http://www.women-Drivers.com http://www.Women-Drivers.com http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - July 2018
