TrueCar now masking customer email addresses

[Jeff Kershner]

Yes - NO branding what-so-ever, and with this new masking of the email...

I don't know how I feel about it. Depending on how it's being executed, It's possibly another chip away at the opportunity to build that one to one, feel good connection with the customer. Another "wall" added between you and the potential customer.

The bidding platforms like CarWoo had this feature. Speaking of -- didn't TrueCar acquire CarWoo awhile back? Hummmm

However, let's consider this: many customers aren't giving up their main personal email address anyways. Sometimes you get that email address they check only every once in awhile. With this feature, the customer "might" be more inclined to give up their personal/frequently used address; resulting in a higher open and engagement rate.

This could also result in some additional reporting on your email performance that you were not getting before.

Believe me, I'm not throwing this out there to defend TrueCar (i'm personally not a fan), because when I have my dealer hat on, I'm initially skeptical.

 

[BHavican]

It's disappointing because one of the benefits of TrueCar was being able to collect a ton of names and email addresses for us to market to whether we sold them a car or not.

As more and more OEMs are moving towards ad pricing standards (Mazda and Cadillac so far this year) I'm surprised they'd make that decision.

Oh well, just makes it easier for me to talk my soon to be new boss into dropping them next month.

 

[NOSPDLIMIT]

I dont mind the masked email but now they sending us emails (Requesting we send an instock quote) under the customers profile in our CRM which alerts our team that the "customer" responded.

Its not a true customer response and this is jamming up the process we have during follow up. I have called Truecar a few times and asked them to stop. I feel like Turecar is getting a little to hands on with this move. Grrrr!!!

 

[skeetle]

Okay - I'm gonna get (flamed) for this but oh well - when has that ever stopped me before.

I think it's a good idea -- HEAR ME OUT

1.) The Prospects REAL e-mails are in your truecar portal.

2.) They do this to avoid our e-mail getting put in the SPAM folder in a customers email box.

3.) They do it to continue with the source branding - which is part of the good stuff about TrueCar.

Why would they want to do anything to hurt us? We're paying for their service - if they REALLY wanted to hide the customer's e-mail addresses from us, why would they put them in plain view in the portal?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Okay - I'm gonna get (flamed) for this but oh well - when has that ever stopped me before.

I think it's a good idea -- HEAR ME OUT

1.) The Prospects REAL e-mails are in your truecar portal.

2.) They do this to avoid our e-mail getting put in the SPAM folder in a customers email box.

3.) They do it to continue with the source branding - which is part of the good stuff about TrueCar.

Why would they want to do anything to hurt us? We're paying for their service - if they REALLY wanted to hide the customer's e-mail addresses from us, why would they put them in plain view in the portal?

@skeetle not sure if you read my comment on the first page but our pinons align.

But what about your CRM? I'm hearing a few dealerships having some issues with New lead and email response notifications. Anyone else having issues?

 

[NOSPDLIMIT]

@skeetle not sure if you read my comment on the first page but our pinons align.

But what about your CRM? I'm hearing a few dealerships having some issues with New lead and email response notifications. Anyone else having issues?

YES!!! I have Vinsolutions as a CRM and when truecar sends us an email in the customer dashboard it becomes a "Contated Lead" This is throwing off the metrics we have for contacted vs Appt made vs shown vs sold. It also sets off our contacted process for follow up.

Truecar told me that they are getting calls from dealers all over with the same issues. They are working on a opt-in or out for dealers that like the new Turecar process and for those that dont.

 

[bdcwendy]

So, just a thought. I am thoroughly enjoying reading the perspectives of all of you who have far more advertising/retail/auto industry experience than I, but...
As a BDC person, when working leads for a dealer, I did not like the practice of a couple of lead providers who kept the prospect email address to themselves and used an "alias". One was (and is) a text lead provider. Here is a question that you might want to ask True Cars when deciding whether to opt-in or out. Is there a time limit after which the "alias" email becomes invalid? The text lead provider I spoke of has that happen after 30 days. If you do not establish contact within 30 days of the lead submission, it is worthless. For present and future marketing.

Also, an observation from a Day1 member, the threads on these topics are absolutely amazing and I look forward to reading each and every one!

 

[jakewirth]

Below is how the "TrueCar Customer Update" email reads, this is what they send us a few minutes after the original lead:

Customer Overview

Dear _______,

We recently introduced you to TrueCar customer ____________. Please review the Customer's Vehicle Preferences below and present _____ with vehicle offers from your current inventory.

Good luck with the sale!

Best Regards,

The TrueCar Team

NAME
_____ ______
_______ AFFILIATION TRUECAR
_______ 's VEHICLE PREFERENCES
2015 Cadillac SRX
Luxury FWD

Interior Color
Ebony w/Ebony accents
Exterior Color
Radiant Silver Metallic
Color Preferences
Blue, Silver
Purchase Strategy
Planning to lease
Comments
*AAA Member identified on TrueCar*
View Certificate »

NO VEHICLES HAVE BEEN PRESENTED TO ________
This customer has not received a VIN-based Offer. Visit the TrueCar Dealer Portal to send an Offer on an in-stock vehicle.

Create Offer Report Sale

Need Assistance?
Contact your account manager at (866) 480-1313
120 Broadway Suite 200, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA
​

 

[skeetle]

UPDATE:

I just received this e-mail from Truecar:

"Although we received much positive feedback on this new feature that shared customer buying information, we also received a handful of complaints that our new email was causing problems within the workflow of certain CRM providers. As of yesterday (May 14) we made the decision to temporarily suspend this feature.

We look forward to re-releasing the feature to share important details and updates on customer buying intentions in the very near future and will provide advance notice prior to doing so."

 

[cwooldridge]

In response to Skeetle's information that Truecar is displaying the customer's Real email address in the dealer portal, we do not see that in our case. Does anyone see the real customer email and, if so, where specifically is it in the portal?