Avoiding customer misunderstandings
There are a couple of important guidelines to follow when writing e-mails to customers in order to avoid any misunderstandings. My first suggestion would be to avoid humor at all costs or to at least wait until you’ve established a rapport with your prospects that you feel very comfortable with. Humor very rarely creates the same reality in the recipient as it does in the author. Since e-mails do not transfer body language with them (such as facial expressions or other such nonverbal communications) you take the risk of losing control over the interpretation of your content.
The most common problem associated with including humor in an e-mail message is the fact that your intended message may go from sounding humorous to sounding literal. You will also want to be extremely cautious about forwarding humorous messages to a list of customers or prospects. I’ve actually seen dealerships get into legal battles over e-mails that were initially sent as harmless jokes. Now, I don’t believe you should lose any sleep over such things, but rather just keep them filed away in your e-dealer code of ethics.
When to call, when to e-mail
To begin with, you’ll always want to e-mail a response to your prospects prior to picking up the phone for the first time. This is done as a courtesy to inform your prospects that you will be calling. Even if you wind up calling the customer before they get an opportunity to read their e-mail, you can refer to the fact that you are calling them as indicated in your previous e-mail. This will keep your prospects from getting antagonistic or finding an excuse to be anything but polite to you during your conversation.
If you’re ever concerned about the privacy of your comments, I would also recommend calling your prospects as opposed to e-mail them. In addition, if you find yourself unable to move forward in the negotiation process until you have received an answer from your prospects on one or more issues, I would strongly suggest calling as opposed to e-mailing them. If at any time you find yourself getting mixed signals from your customer, I would recommend taking the next step over the phone as opposed to sending an e-mail. Regardless of where you are in the negotiation process, you will need to get a “read” on where your customer is at emotionally. Unfortunately, you will not be able to do this with an e-mail.
On the other hand, if you are sending information that is complex in nature, I would recommend sending the content in an e-mail first, followed by a phone call afterwards. Many times Internet Sales Managers or any other salesperson for that matter, will want to leave information regarding a vehicle on their customer’s voicemail. I would be cautious when using the voicemail, as nothing is more frustrating than getting a voicemail that needs to be replayed ten times in order to get all the information correct.
Should I e-mail or send a fax?
Don’t laugh! That old out of date technology can make you some money. The single greatest advantage of using a fax machine as opposed to sending an e-mail is that faxing creates mass for your prospects. Faxing is also a medium that your competition may not think of early in the sales process. Also, if you are trying to send something that is formal, a fax can serve as a great tool for creating the image you’re trying to portray. Additionally, no salesperson wants to have their valuable information thrown away or deleted from their customers in box. The great thing about faxing is that you send the customer something that must be physically thrown away, whereas if you were to send an e-mail, your message could be deleted with the click of a mouse. If your goal is to force your customer to keep your information over your competition’s information, then using the fax on occasion might be a great strategy for you.
When it comes to the fax I usually follow this rule. If its speed you are looking for, use e-mail. If you’re trying to create impact in the mind of your customer, use the fax machine.
e-Mail length vs. reading time
When reviewing your e-mail for the purpose of judging its length, pay no attention to the number of pages it contains. Typically, when reviewing a document for the purpose of judging its expedience, we pay the most attention to the length of the document. The fact is that the length of the document really has no bearing on whether or not the document will be read by your prospects. What’s more important is the time it actually take your prospects to read the document. In the world of Internet car sales, time to the finish line means more in the world of expediency than any other single factor.
Using your signature correctly
Make no mistake; over 90% of Internet customers go directly to the signature block when searching for a means to contact you. Your signature block should include alternate ways for you to be reached. You should not rely solely on the return address on your e-mail itself. Many times an e-mail address contains only part or fragmented sections of an individual’s name, so the customer will need to refer to your signature line to either spell or pronounce your name correctly. You may find it helpful to create different signature blocks for different kinds of customers, such as Nissan customers vs. Subaru customers if yours is a multi-franchise dealership.
Typically, you want to keep your signature to no more than four lines. As long as your signature contains your basic information, you’re on the right track. Sometimes, salespeople will attempt to include information or hype in the signature line, which really should not be there. As long as this practice is avoided, your signature line should serve you well.
Sending return fire e-mail
Every Internet Sales Manager has received heat e-mail from customers that for all intents and purposes seem to have been devised by a complete lunatic. There have been times during our Internet “mystery shopping” endeavors that I have intentionally sent insulting or insensitive e-mail messages to an Internet manager. This may come as a surprise, but I would estimate that in nearly 80% of the cases, I have received an equally insulting or insensitive return message from the Internet Sales Manager.
The key here is restraint. When you receive a less than desirable e-mail from a prospective customer, take a time-out prior to responding.
Attitude, sarcasm and humor
As we mentioned earlier, body language does not come across very well in an e-mail message and thus all forms of attitude, sarcasm and humor come across equally as misunderstood. A good rule of thumb when you’re tempted to include any sort of attitude in your e-mail is to stand back and consider whether or not you would want the e-mail forwarded to your Dealer Principal.
Replying to long messages
When replying to long e-mail messages a good guideline to practice is to delete all repetitive information from the body of the message you are replying to. Doing this keeps information you are sending to your prospects fresh and up-to-date. It allows you to focus your attention on addressing specifics without having to weed through repetitive and insignificant information in the process. Oftentimes, you’ll find that during the sales cycle, a prospect will send you information they received as an e-mail forwarded by a spouse or a third party buyer. When this happens you’ll often find that the party who received the forwarded information has had a much more difficult time trying to sort out the final information. If you take the time to delete out unimportant information from your replies, you’ll find that you have acquired a significant communication advantage over you’re nearest competition.
Making e-mail replies stand out
A great technique that is rarely used is highlighting the text that contains your response. This can be extremely helpful to your prospects as they search for pertinent information in your reply e-mails. You’ll find that most e-mail programs, such as Outlook and Outlook Express, along with most lead management systems, support the use of color. You’ll find that highlighting your responses makes your text stand out significantly and will assist your customer in completing their cycle of action faster and more effortlessly.
Proper spacing
The only real rule when it comes to e-mail message spacing is to not double-space the entire message. Double-spacing between paragraphs is recommended. Other than that, a single-spaced message is considered to be more professional across all types of industries. The goal here is to create a level of professionalism that is consistent with the global marketplace.
Upper case vs. lower case
If you are someone who hates to hit the shift key and just tends to send e-mails in either all lower or upper case, I would recommend rethinking your strategy. While it may be more expedient for you, it is far less expedient for your customer. The most common complaint from customers involves messages that are written in all upper case letters. The interesting thing about this kind of complaint, however, is that messages sent in all lower case letters are actually harder to read than messages sent in all upper case letters. Either way, I would suggest using the shift key at the beginning of all sentences and a period at the end of all sentences.
Using return receipts
Using return receipts when you e-mail is a tricky business. Some people will consider it to be just a precaution so that you know that they have received your message. Others will view it as a form of entrapment on the outside chance they might try to claim they did not get some information that you are quite sure you sent. Still others will view it as a spy tactic in which your curiosity to know exactly when they read your e-mail message is just too great a temptation to pass up.
The challenge becomes trying to anticipate or predict exactly how using return receipts will be perceived in the minds of your customers. The bottom line is that we really don’t know how they will perceive this tactic, but rather, they will certainly perceive it in one way or another. For this reason, my suggestion is to use caution when utilizing return receipts on a day-to-day basis. Playing the return receipts “Russian Roulette” game can have adverse effects on your attempts to gain rapport with your prospects.
On a side note, we have researched local communities where using return receipts carried a high indicator while other geographical areas indicated a very poor response to using them. To play it safe I would make sure that you know your local public prior to making any decisions pertaining to e-customer interaction.
Properly forwarding messages
When forwarding messages from one party to another, I always recommend adding some text that explains to the recipient exactly why you were forwarding the message in the first place. You can add an explanation in the subject line or in the initial text of the e-mail message. Either way is acceptable just as long as the recipient has a clear understanding of why the forwarded message is pertinent. Another good tactic is to change the subject line altogether so that your recipient perceives your e-mail as a unique e-mail. This will usually cause the recipient to pay closer attention to the initial text prior to reviewing forwarded material.
Using 911 subject lines
The average person in this day and age can receive dozens if not hundreds of e-mails every single day. Out of sheer necessity, people commonly use the subject line of an e-mail message as a determining factor of importance and priority. In the event you have an e-mail that is truly urgent in nature, I would say that it is perfectly O.K. to attach urgency to the subject line. The only drawback of this tactic comes when the urgency tactic is wrongfully used. The instant an individual receives an urgent message from a known party and the message later proves to not be as urgent as originally perceived, priority privileges can suddenly be revoked.
Handling ongoing replies
When replying to the same message multiple times in an ongoing communication, you will want to replace the subject line each time you hit the reply, but in such a way so that the recipient can easily identify the most current message without sorting it by the date received. This is especially helpful when sending multiple messages back and forth on a single day.
Before hitting the send button
Before hitting the send button you’ll want to make sure that you have covered a few bases. First of all, you’ll want to make sure that your e-mail has not been sent in haste or seems like an impatient response. While it can sometimes be effective to give your customer the idea that you are busy and on the run, it’s a better overall strategy to make sure that all responses carry with them the message that you slow down long enough to spend the required time to properly answer your customer’s questions.
Secondly, you’ll want to make sure that you stick to one subject per e-mail. Sometimes the recipient will need to forward the information to another party, but is really only attempting to convey a single part of your message. In addition, e-mail messages containing multiple subjects can be difficult to file and even more difficult to retrieve in the future.
You will also, of course, want to run your spell check.
Finally, in the event that you are sending an attachment, make sure to tell the recipient what the attachment is and exactly what your reason is for sending it. Some attachments are meant to be informative while others are meant to evoke a question, confirm details, or seek direct approval of some nature. As long as your attachment carries an explanation with it, you should be in great shape.
Avoiding e-mail hypnotism
Avoiding e-mail hypnotism is more difficult for the Internet Sales Manager of an auto dealership than any other person I know of. As an Internet Sales Manager, you’ll look for new e-mail constantly, as the level of message inflow is directly relative to your level of success and income.
You will find that there are many times when you are trying to think of an answer, or attempting to come up with an explanation that needs to be well thought out prior to sending it to your prospect. During these times while your brain is trying to think of the best possible solution you may tend to enter a hypnotic state as you write and rewrite possible scenarios on the notepad of your mind. At such times, it is extremely tempting for an Internet Sales Manager to find himself staring at the computer screen, waiting for messages to come, while hitting the send and receive button over and over again.
My point here is that checking your e-mail is a healthy thing, but checking it too often is about the unhealthiest thing an Internet salesperson can possibly do. If you are an Internet salesperson who is plagued by this ongoing mental state, my best advice would be to disconnect yourself from your computer during times when you need to seriously think. This will cause you to get down to business and the reward of successfully finding the answers you’re looking for will be realized when you give yourself permission to plug back in to your system.
Saving e-mails for later
Most automotive Internet salespeople receive many different kinds of e-mail at work. Some e-mail is personal, some is industry related, some e-mails are from customers, and others are internal messages from fellow employees. With this being the case, you’ll often find yourself having to prioritize which e-mails get read now and which ones get read later in the day. The best way to handle the prioritizing of your inbox is to create an additional folder titled “read later”. As you go through your inbox on a daily basis you’ll want to file all e-mails to be read later in the “read later” file. You’ll find that doing this will save you an enormous amount of searching time later on in the day.