Guaranteed to Generate a Response

[john.quinn]

I'm hoping someone out there is ballsy enough to try this and lemme know how it works.

I've recently stumbled across what may turn-out to be a stroke of genius. Years and years and years of working internet leads, and I never thought of this...

Part of this game is getting unresponsive people to respond, right? We all have templates and offers and even gimmicks to try and determine if there's an actual human being on the other end of this email.

What if, say, after 3-4 days of hearing absolutely nothing back from your internet lead, you send them a BLANK email?

I saw this happen at a dealership recently. A few people who had been unresponsive all week received a blank email, and responded, "Hey -- you just sent me a blank email." I think the curiosity of human nature got the best of them. I'm thinking a good Internet Manager can turn that into a quality back-and-forth exchange.

What do you think? Worth a try? Not much to lose if you have an unresponsive lead...

 

[kcar]

Interesting idea, but dunno feel like most would chalk it up to an computer error or an auto-responder.. I have one salesperson who continued to send out iLeads with a blank title, this has stopped now, but he got zero responses back.. In my other view, it does make the e-mail stand out by being blank, just a transparent gap in between e-mails..

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

John, interesting concept, my thoughts are below:

 

[kcar]

John, interesting concept, my thoughts are below:

 

[DealerMarketing]

you just sent me a blank email." I think the curiosity of human nature got the best of them. I'm thinking a good Internet Manager can turn that into a quality back-and-forth exchange.

John: . What turned me off most when I bought my car online was salespeople who sent me an email about everyday. I know you should call/email the customer until they die or buy but it got really bad. I think as salespeople you can oversell and blow more deals by sending emails day after day with no dialogue. I know a ISM's job is not an easy one but I think you need to think more out of the box. I did buy from a dealer who had an ISM with chat, it worked for me and they got my business!

 

[kcar]

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[mcampo2501]

John: . What turned me off most when I bought my car online was salespeople who sent me an email about everyday. I know you should call/email the customer until they die or buy but it got really bad. I think as salespeople you can oversell and blow more deals by sending emails day after day with no dialogue. I know a ISM's job is not an easy one but I think you need to think more out of the box. I did buy from a dealer who had an ISM with chat, it worked for me and they got my business!

There's no winning with any one stratagy. I've seen deals come together because of constant follow up, and I know there are people that get turned off by it as well. If you respond to one of the dealers emails, and you continue to get daily auto emails, that dealer is doing a very poor job of customizing their process to the needs of the customer. On the other hand, if you give your information to a dealer (asking for information) and never respond to any of the phone calls or emails you get, then you deserve an email every day. All we're looking for is a two way conversation. Text, call, email, chat, it doesn't matter. If you remain active in communicating with your sales person, you will not get spammed...

 

[bzweifel]

Dealerships take the whole email thing way too seriously. The responses that work best for me are:

Blackbook/trade-in lead:

Dave,

Thank you for your interest in selling me your vehicle. How would you rate the exterior condition of your Accord 1-10? The estimate appraisal will be based on the condition that you tell me.

________________

SUBMITTED A LOWBALL OFFER/ REQUESTED A INTERNET PRICE/ "WHAT'S YOUR BEST PRICE?"

Susan,

Thank you for your offer. Here’s what I can do:

		MARYLAND REGISTRATION
		Stock#
		MSRP
$28,900.00		Sale Price
$200.00		Processing
$1,746.00		MD tax 6%
$340.00		MD 2 year tag, title, reg, Lien, temp tag
		Rebate
$31,186.00		Total
		VIRGINIA REGISTRATION
$28,900.00		Sale Price
$200.00		Processing
$873.00		VA Tax 3%
$150.00		VA 2 year tag, title, reg, Lien, temp tag, FedEx
$0.00		Rebate
$30,123.00		Total

_________________________

SELECTED AN ACTUAL STOCK NUMBER FROM MY WEBSITE:



Karen,

Thank you for your interest the Camry! This stock number N06829 is still on my lot an available for sale. I don't expect you to believe a Car Salesmen, so here's a picture

[Insert picture that was taken today - it's even better if it's either really nice outside or really gloomy/raining because they know you really took it right now because the weather is abnormal.]

Are you still researching or would you like to swing by to take a look?
________________________



Keep it short and say something. Do you enjoy talking to an automated phone menu? How is an email any different?

 

[john.quinn]

I was hoping for this conversation.

IMO, if you are not getting the response you want, you have not provided enough of a reason to "earn" that response.

That said, there is still a certain percentage that will remain anonymous behind their electronic shield. A Subject Line like (perhaps) "The Information You Were Waiting For" or something like that may get the best of Curious George when followed by white space.

 

[mcampo2501]

We, as internet sales specialists also have to accept that some of our emails aren't getting delivered. The spam filter is certainly responsible for some of the unresponsiveness that we'd like to blame on the customer. If there's something that I like about the blank email idea, it's that you really don't have to worry about the too much/not enough information dilemma. But I think this needs to be email one or two. Once they're unresponsive, I don't think the blank email gets them back. I'm thinking (if I were going to do this) that the first email should be an introduction email, announcing that an email with the information you requested will be on its way shortly, and the second email should be the blank one. That would put the customer in a position to say, "You're email was blank". A bit risky though...