When it comes to marketing your car dealership, your database of email contacts (also known as a ‘house list’) is as good as gold in bringing new or repeat business through the door.
However, because of the prevalence of spam and unwanted solicitations, prospects are often leery about giving their email address away to a car salesman or service department.
Yet if you know how to “sweeten the pot” when asking for an email address, you can gather contact information from 99% of your prospects almost 100% of the time, to your benefit.
You do this by offering a very real incentive in exchange for their email address. Whether that’s a service coupon, a special discount off the vehicle of their choice or an entry to win a flat-screen TV at the end of the month, you want to provide something of value in exchange for access to their inbox on a regular basis.
Similarly, you’ll want to be very clear about what you’ll do with their email address once you receive it to remove any fear or reservations that you’ll use this “access” to spam their accounts. Explanations such as, “You’ll be subscribed to our newsletter where we’ll send you weekly service coupons and deals not available to the public” work well in bringing down the walls of prospective buyers.
Either way, make a commitment this year to start collecting email addresses from every single prospect that enters the dealership. Take time to get very clear on what you’ll offer in exchange for this email address and how you’ll be communicating with your leads once you do. Clearly explain that to your prospects and you’ll be on your way to building up a house list prime to get results for your dealership!
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About Robert Ring, Auto Dealer Marketing Strategist
Robert Ring is an experienced car dealer marketing strategist and consultant for auto dealers seeking to increase brand awareness, generate more leads and increase their bottom line with the power of online dealership marketing, To accomplish this, Robert helps dealers set up websites that work (and outrank the competition in search), install CRM and email marketing systems designed to generate fresh leads or sales of aftermarket products, social media strategies to reach prospective buyers on their own turf and holistic inventories of the effectiveness of each dealership he manages. For more information on Robert’s services or to contact him directly, please email ring@yeschant.com
