Digital Dealer - May 2019 - 35

AN EMPOWERED SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER TAKES
RESPONSIBILITY AND BECOMES ACCOUNTABLE TO
SEE EVERY ISSUE THROUGH TO THE END."

The more unhappy customers feel these emotions, the
more likely they are to keep
feeling them, so keep your
cool. Listen, empathize and
use your strength to diffuse
their energy.

6. CLEAR, CONCISE,
PROFESSIONAL

When customers engage
with your store, they expect
(often subconsciously)
proper grammar, spelling,
and punctuation. This is
an easy point to forget - so
don't.
User-generated content
(content that customers
produce, such as online
reviews) is representative of
the experience another buyer can expect. Prospects
examine reviews to become
knowledgeable about the
business and your review
responses are included in
their perceptions.
Poorly written review
responses or robot-sounding "corporate speak" will
work against a dealership's
digital reputation. These
can damage any goodwill
you've earned because it
looks like you don't care.
7. ABILITY TO
RECOGNIZE LEADS

Social media, including
online review sites, are
places where people share
their experiences and
opinions. Often during those
conversations, questions
will arise.
A social media manager's
job is to monitor for those
questions and recognize

them as opportunities to
bring a customer closer.
She/he must be able to
distinguish a lead and treat
each as though the person
were physically in front of
them.
Pro Tip: If you are asked
a question (typically they
appear in the comments of
your posts or on Facebook

many friends who can't tell
jokes or write funny posts,
but they laugh at funny
stuff.
Laughter is the shortest distance between two
people.
Laughter is a universal
means of communication.
Humor can humanize a
business. In social media

POORLY WRITTEN
REVIEW RESPONSES
OR ROBOT-SOUNDING
'CORPORATE SPEAK'
WILL WORK AGAINST A
DEALERSHIP'S DIGITAL
REPUTATION."
Messenger), make every
attempt to answer their
question. Then, pose another consultative question that
will help them think through
their purchase decision and
ultimately guiding them to
the appointment. These are
the tenets of consultative
sales but to the buyer, it's
advocacy.
8. A SENSE OF HUMOR

First, let me note that humor is not for amateurs - it
should only be attempted by
those who aspire to master
it. And by master it, I mean
that a reasonable person
would laugh or find humor
in your content.
That said, I've included
a sense of humor in my
list here because you don't
have to be funny to have
a sense of humor. I have

(and all marketing), people
pay big bucks to reduce the
distance between people so
if you can master it successfully, humor rules.
9. AUTO INDUSTRY
EXPERIENCE A PLUS

While it's an added bonus
that a candidate has experience in the auto industry,
it's not a requirement. An
overview of operations and
an immersive trek into company culture will go far.
With a high empathy
quotient, she/he will quickly
get up to speed on how the
industry works.
10. ABILITY TO
RESOLVE - NOT INFLAME

The capacity to balance
a timely response with a
reasoned response fosters
resolution. Inflammatory
remarks and/or behavior will
D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

not resolve anything.
A social media manager
may often be working on
their own without supervision, so a calm approach to
any conversation, including
conflict resolution, should
be in their wheelhouse.
Bonus Tip: A social
media manager must have
authority.
An empowered social
media manager takes
responsibility and becomes
accountable to see every
issue through to the end.
With authority, they can
escalate an issue, follow
through with the players
involved, and respond to
the customer in a timely,
respectful manner.
Without authority, they
are crippled and the
customer receives a poor
experience.
Your social media speaks
for your organization.
Develop a sensible social
media strategy to manage your digital reputation
effectively and secure it
all by choosing the right
person, with the right skills,
to maintain it.
KATHI KRUSE is an automotive
social media marketing expert,
blogger, speaker, coach, author,
and founder of Kruse Control Inc.
Born in the heart of Los Angeles
to a family of "car people," Kathi's
passion for the car business
spans a 30-year career managing
successful dealerships in Southern
California. Kathi is the author of
"Automotive Social Business -
How to Captivate Your Customers,
Sell More Cars & Be Generally
Remarkable on Social Media."
EMAIL: kk@krusecontrolinc.com

M AY 2 0 1 9

35
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Digital Dealer - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - May 2019
