Despite the challenges that dealers are facing – one time customers, seasonal peaks, and limited supplies – they are still finding ways to increase sales and grow their business. The key? Incorporating text messaging into their customer communications.

That’s because, as opposed to phone calls, text messaging is quickly becoming the preferred method of communication for customers. With government restrictions pushing businesses to operate online, the propensity toward text messaging has only accelerated since the pandemic. In addition to streamlining your communication with customers, there are many advantages to using text messaging.

1. Texting makes it easy for your sales team to follow up with leads and secure sales opportunities.

For example, you can send customers a link where they can submit a sales deposit by ACH or credit card. Even once a deal has been closed, your dealership can continue nurturing its customer relationships.

2. Text messaging frees up your phone lines by creating a direct link to each department of your dealership instead.

Think about how many opportunities were lost with customers because the phone line was tied up. By directing your customers to the right department, right away, you get them to the person they need to speak to faster. It eliminates phone tag and makes their interactions with your team much more pleasant.

3. But the truly unique aspect of text messaging is that it can give you direct and immediate feedback from customers.

Getting dealership reviews on a regular basis is a crucial aspect of establishing a legitimate and respectable reputation – online and offline. To start building your online reviews, ask customers how likely they are to recommend your business to others on a scale of one to 10 (very unlikely to very likely).

Once you’ve identified your happiest customers – the ones very likely to recommend your business – send them a text that links directly to your Google My Business or Facebook Business page. Then, wait for the reviews to pour in.

With a text message automation tool like Ideal TargetCRM, you can boost reviews by sending customers automatic requests for reviews through text messaging.