In 2023, texting is one of the most common forms of communication. Pretty much everyone uses texting to communicate whether it be to set up hangouts with friends or to arrange business meetings. That’s why it’s become ever more common for dealerships to use texting to set up appointments and work with customers to buy a car. Research claims that the open rates for texts are at a whopping 98%, compared to the 20% open rates of emails. On top of that, on average it takes people 90 seconds to respond to a text message whereas it takes on average 90 minutes to answer an email. Knowing all of this, email still plays an essential role in communicating with your customers. But it should be noted that texting needs to be a part of your entire sales team's strategy. In this article, we’re going to go over the do’s and don’ts when using texting at your dealership. 

Texting Do’s ✔

Keep it simple. One of the most common mistakes salespeople make when texting their customers is overcomplicating things. Keep your text messages short, sweet and easy to understand. If you really have a ton of information to share, send it in an email and text them to let them know you sent them the email. 

Keep videos under 30 seconds. Sending videos via text is a great way to quickly show details of a vehicle or do a sales introduction. The one important thing to remember is to try and keep these videos under 30 seconds in length. Attention spans are lower than ever so trying to have your customers watch a lengthy video via text is a tall ask and will likely result in an early exit of the video. Keep your videos short and to the point and make sure to always be smiling with a friendly tone of voice. 

Reduce no-shows. Have an appointment in two hours? Send your customer a text reminding them that you’re looking forward to meeting with them. Confirming appointments with customers via text over a phone call is a less invasive way to confirm/remind customers about appointments. This will mean fewer no-show customers and more closed deals. 

Work around language barriers. Thanks to tools like Google translate, you no longer need to be limited in your conversations by a language barrier. With all the translation tools available you can now text in your native language and clearly get each other's points across for clear communication. 

Texting Don’ts ❌

Having salespeople use personal phones. We’ve mentioned this in previous articles but it’s important to repeat. Your sales team should be supplied with dealership cell phones so they can communicate with customers. This way, all the customer interactions are trackable and reviewable so you can ensure the salesperson is meeting the standard of quality. The other reason it’s so important that personal phones aren’t used is that if that salesperson leaves your dealership, they take that contact information with them.

Not using text templates. Texting templates are critical to ensuring that our messaging is professional and on brand. Create different templates for different situations so your sales team can easily use the correct template based on what stage they’re at with the customer.