• April 29, 2020
• Mark Dawson
• no comments

Reach out to your customers. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Problem is that you’ll probably be going 100 mph once your staff is back, but it is a small investment in time that your dealership really should do.  Here’s some detail in how to approach this ‘simple’ initiative.

What to tell them (Reassurance messaging):

1. Let them know you’re back and at full capacity, along with a reminder of your hours
   1. Simply reassure them that things are back to normal and you are ready to serve them.
      1. Just because Trudeau stands in front of a podium and says you can be open, doesn’t mean that your customers will make the correlation that YOU are open again. They need that reminder.
   2. Let them know what you’re doing to keep everyone safe; them and your staff
      1. Educate your target audience on how your dealership is taking things seriously in regards to the health of all of those involved with your dealership.
         1. Some of your clientele will have taken their COVID-lockdown quite seriously and will have lasting concerns. You need to alleviate those concerns before they even ask them.
      2. Thank them for their continued patronage
         1. Thanking them and letting them know that you and your greater community, have made it this far and encourage them to reconnect with you as they have in the past.
            1. Reassure them that you are here for them, just like before. They need to feel that some things post-COVID are still the same as they remember them.

Outreach medium to use:

1. Social Media
   1. No matter what social media channels you utilize, get the message out there on it. You never know what media each customer uses or prefers so get it out everywhere.
2. Website
   1. Do a blog post with full details but supplement that with an image on your homepage slideshow or an entry/exit pop-up and have those graphics link back to your blog post (or build a specific page on your website for this messaging/link – only has to be text, unless you have graphical skills to add imagery)
3. Email/SMS
   1. Send out a quick email or SMS (text message) blast to your clients. It’s quick and easy and super cheap.  It doesn’t need to be fancy or long, just a basic message and thanks for their continued support.

Mode of outreach:

1. Video
   1. A message from the owner will hit home with your clientele. I promise you that that a quick 30-45 second video of the owner saying thank you will be one of your most engaging social media posts of the year.
2. Graphical
   1. Grab an image from pexels.com or some other free image site (don’t just grab an image from another website unless you don’t care about copyright infringement legality issues), place some text over it and voila! Imagery will make it stand out and get more eyeballs on it no matter if you’re talking social media or a blog post.
3. Textual
   1. If your medium is text only (ex. SMS), make it short and sweet and right to the point. Even when you’re combining text with a graphical component (ex. social media post), keep it tight.

The only other suggestion I would have is to layout your plan today, NOT the day you come back, if at all possible.  If you need help, let me know!