The text advantage: Why your dealership should use texting

Text messaging is taking over. No, this is not old news from the 1990s. It is 2017, and everybody is talking about texting. “Why, isn’t texting available for a long time and an old technology?”, one might ask. It is, but it is also the one that is currently flourishing. Stats show that in 2014 over 561 billion text messages were sent in one month. Only in one month! And one can only imagine how many messages people send today.

Texting obviously has advantages over traditional communication methods, such as phone call, voice mail, and email. Even more in business. Here we will try to explain why and how your dealership could benefit from using a text messaging app to communicate with customers.

Advantages:

1. Easier for the customers

Texting is the preferred method of communication, Chicago Tribune research showed. As opposed to phone calls that can bring a lot of trouble regarding noise, forgetting about appointments, the uncertainty of who’s calling, and even avoiding to pick up, text messages seem to be up to the point. They are easier to respond to even when they are doing something else: having lunch, at a meeting, or watching TV.

2. Cheap

When it first emerged twenty-five years ago, texting was a free service to all cell phone users. However, very quickly, mobile operators saw the opportunity to charge for it. With the rise of mobile apps and the Internet usage on mobile devices, texting has become so cheap that it is almost free. In fact, operators struggle to attract users, so they give out free SMS packages. Call it a convenience, right?

3. We all love it, no matter of our age

People usually believe that texting is only for the youngsters. Wrong. People of all ages, including teenagers, Millennials, adults, and seniors – love using texting. The days when you could see only the young in a ‘typing pose’ are gone – now we all do it regularly, and are not ashamed to admit it. There is no need to fear about not getting a reply – when you send a text to your customers – no matter their age – you will get a reply, fast. Texting brings more convenience and erases differences between people and that is why we all decided to embrace it.

4. High “read” percentage

Another research, conducted by Conversational Advertising, proved that 90% of all SMS is read within 3 minutes. Such a high open rate comes from the fact that people carry their phones everywhere – and we always know where it is. When it beeps, we cannot help but see what the alarm is all about. This attachment to our phones comes from the integration of many services we have on them: GPS driving guidance, google search, news, calls, email, Facebook, WhatsApp, weather forecast, not to mention all the games and apps on it. So, when one uses mobile technology on a day-to-day basis, businesses need to take advantage and get involved.

5. Easy to use

Ease of use is one of the best assets texting has. Back in the day when we had our ‘dumb’ phones with numeric keyboards, texting was still popular, and many even learned how to type without looking at it. Today, when almost everyone has a phone with a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard, this service has become even more convenient to use. You get a text and reply to get things done – within moments. A piece of cake!

6. Improves customer satisfaction

Messaging has the power of making things better, and customer satisfaction index (CSI) is not an exception. If your clients are not satisfied with the service you provide them with, they can: (a) not do anything about it, and (b) complain via survey. The first option is the worst for you because you cannot learn from your mistakes and even risk of repelling other customers if the word is out. The second option, however, is way better: you can learn a lot about your business. If you measure CSI and compare it to previous years – and see either a decline or rise – things become visible to you. Texting makes CSI scores go up, just like one of our Toyota dealerships in Chicago that increased their CSI by 11% (from 107th to 24th place in the region within 5 months of texting usage) and they tracked, in one month, $11,644.52 in additional work, all being approved via text. Did quick approvals help their productivity too? Absolutely. The numbers say it all.

7. Bigger ROI

If you want good ROI, you have to invest smartly. The benefits of our texting have an immediate impact and it will pay off in the long run too, so you should learn how to choose and make the best choice of a texting partner for your dealership – the one with highest ROI.

8. Messaging history

As opposed to phone calls, messaging has a great feature called: history. When you get a phone call, you need to listen to the recordings or have a paper and a pen to take notes about the conversation. With a messaging service, you have it all written down and stored: who said what to whom and when and why. With texting, you can’t get confused, especially when it comes to prices.

9. Private stays private

Another significant advantage of texting is that it is private. If we talk on a phone, everyone around us – whether they want it or not – can overhear our conversation. However, if you want to keep things about anything confidential, simply ask your dealership to implement a texting software and text all the way!

If your staff is still in doubt whether they should use automotive dealership texting or not, you can schedule a demonstration at your store and ask any questions you may have.

Text “Demo” or call: (415) 903-8800

Msg&Data rates may apply ;)