Wow!!!
I am so impressed by all the opinions that you have posted, I know both Mr. Mushro and Patti and I have spoken to them on the phone about this topic before.
Please allow me to share a few issues and perhaps at the risk of covering some old ground we should point out a few things.
Auto Responders are a plus for several reasons:
**They work 24/7 365 days a year.
**It allows you to deliver a clear message in real time, or darn close.
**If the letter is formatted correctly it can save you a lot of work.
**They sets up the persona that you would like to project to you customers.
**It keeps the ISC from having to be chained to a desk and allows you to better leverage your time.
There is not one element that you can add to you current selling situation that will more
dramatically improve your closing ratio than immediate response. I don't care if your reply is personal or automated nothing impresses a prospect more. If you can't get back to them in real time then perhaps you should look into auto responders.
However, like all good things there are a few draw backs that we need to address. I like Eudora and recommend it for all of my clients the 4.2 Version is only $49.99 and offers a $10.00 mail in rebate. Unlike Outlook, it is simple to configure to preform a variety of task including: Auto Print, Forwarding, Labeling & Auto Responding. One other key feature is Eudora will allow you to manage numerous email addresses and multiple personalities like: F&I, Used Car Manger, GSM or the Dealer(Great for a Thank You email). One other feature is that you can develop an entire library of templates and auto responders for almost any occasion like a weekend or a day off. Eudora can be used with an ISDN,DSL connection or a dial up, and can be configured to check for purchase request as often as you need I prefer every 10-12 min..
True,it will not send a reply to all of the major lead providers (YET) but it is my
understanding that many of the companies are looking into changing the format. The key is that the email address of the sender has to appear in the header for it to work. There are however other ways that this can be set up to work by implementing the use of a "Net Search Pager" this allows you to get your mail any where you might be unfortunately, they don't work everywhere.
One of the problems that I see in most dealerships that I visit that the Dealer's own web page can't use an auto responders because the web developer has used MS "Front Page" to create the purchase aplication and this will not allow the Cgi bin to create a purchase request with the senders address in the header format. It also limits the number of search engines that will accept their page.
There are a few pit falls to auto responders that need to also be addressed and that is
the content of the message: It should not sound like a TV or Radio Commercial. Avoid the old cliches that project that image, remember the vast majority of Internet Customers are trying to avoid that process.
One last warning...the auto responder is only the start of the journey to selling a car. We know that the people that are writing you prefer communicate by email so this is a great first step. But, you can not expect the car to sell itself a timely phone call or follow up email is critical in order to
proceed.
If you have questions about any if the details regarding my comments please let me know. I have friends all over the country who have done a great job of selling cars on the web and I can refer them to you so that they can help you get a no-charge evaluation of your current process and perhaps help you move your game to the next level.
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Good Luck,
G.Machado
GMACGroup.com
machado@dealertools.comphone: (888)908-0888
e-fax: (888)421-2892
[This message has been edited by G.Machado (edited 11-18-1999).]