Mail Ninjas

Direct Mail, Ninja-Style

7 Lessons From a Sleazy Salesmen

There was a guy in a Facebook sales group, that used to livestream his sales calls for about an hour at a time. He would use the most crass statements and offensive humor – to his customers – while smiling and dialing his sales calls. It was truly cringeworthy to watch. He was the living embodiment of the a-typical “sleazy-salesman”…. He called himself “TheFlowfessional”.

But, no matter what happened, he just kept going. Making jokes, laughing at people and dialing away. As entertaining (and sometimes crazy) as he was to watch, there are lessons from everything in life.

Here are 7 takeaways from the king of cringe:

1. PUT IN THE WORK
Show up to your life each day and put in the work. You can daydream and visualize about all the things you want in life, but if you don’t show up and put it in the work, it’s all for nothing. This guy shows up each day and puts in the work, consistently. He isn’t scared of that phone, cold-calling or rejection.

2. KEEP IT FRIENDLY ( but not too much)
As “sales-ey” as some of his lines are later in the conversation, when they first answer he talks to them as an old friend would. It’s confident and nonchalant and doesn’t necessarily scream “sales call”.

3. CONTROL THE CONVERSATION
Pausing, asking questions and waiting for an answer is a great way to control the conversation. He does this many times over the course of each call, even if it’s only asking them if they want to hear a funny joke – which is great convo, but in his case was SURE to offend!

4. KEEP IT FRESH
Having an actual reason to call someone is always a good idea. (Instead of “hey, you told me to call you back in 2 weeks…”)
He always reminds them that they previously asked to hear about fresh/new products. He is clear to his prospect that he is calling for that reason.

5. HAVE A GOOD TIME
A few years ago I found myself in an elevator with Darren LaCroix who was crowned “World Champion of Public Speaking” by Toastmaster in 2001. As I was about to take the stage to speak in front of a large audience for the very first time, I asked him for any advice he could give me. One of the things he said was:

“Have fun up there –  if YOU are having fun, the audience will have fun.”

“TheFlowfessional” is obviously having a good time. He jokes and laughs on the calls ( maybe too much) and even has fun making snide comments, grumbling sarcastically under his breath or singing little jingles to the camera to make himself (and us) laugh.

6. BE YOURSELF
In a world full of automation, fake people and cookie cutter scripts, it’s refreshing when someone comes correct and shows their true self. It’s hard to imaging this guys personality being much different if you were sitting down having a beer with him. Whether people like it or lump it, being unique is never a bad thing and is always memorable. Be uniquely you.

7. NEVER GIVE UP
Smiling and dialing. It’s a way of life for him and he is ok with that. No matter how the call goes, he moves right into the next one. He keeps the energy the same, pulls another joke out and keeps moving forward. Never give up.

Boom! Go get it.

The #1 Reason For Lack of Dealership Service Growth

When we show car dealers real data that shows a TRUE 10:1++ ROI, most say one of 3 things:

  • “Let me think about it.”
  • “Send me something.”
  • “Let’s connect again in a couple of weeks.”
I have been doing this since 2006 and have had more conversations with car dealers than I can count and I’ve found that there is one big reason car dealers say “no” to fully trackable, massive revenue and retention generating products even when a performance guarantee is attached…

And here it is:

They don’t know how great 10:1 ROI is.

I mean it – keep reading while I explain. I’ll start with some actual numbers for illustration purposes.

An investment of $8,000 to generate $100,000 – $150,000+ in new business.

These are real & consistent numbers that our clients generate in NEW business.
So why would someone ever say no to that?

Because they don’t know that these numbers are better than the numbers they are currently getting.

You may not believe this, but it is rare for the head of a Service Department or even a General Manager to KNOW what their current ROI is when marketing to inactive service customers. SUPER RARE.

If you are the GM of a dealership reading this and shaking your head in disagreement, call your service manager and as if he/she knows the the exact ROI for the latest marketing that targeted inactive database customers

They most likely can’t tell you – and if they can, it will be less than 10:1.  If so, it should be a no-brainer that your next call should be to us.

A few reasons for this could be that it’s not easily track-able, or they are doing so many different things that it’s hard to keep track of, or even worse – they get a report from a marketing company that “shows them” how well the marketing is working….because they take credit for damn-near every single customer that comes in.

If you don’t know the exact ROI of your last marketing effort, or a general average ROI of your last few, then you can’t be impressed with 10:1.

It’s just a random number that stands alone and doesn’t mean anything.

Numbers can’t stand alone in business. Growth comes from comparing numbers to other numbers – and then taking action based on those comparisons.

If a dealer KNOWS he is getting a 1-3% response rate and making roughly 3:1 ROI, then seeing a program that generates 10:1 is a no-brainer. You check a couple references to ensure it’s legit and then you sign up. ( or you can just watch video testimonials here)

It SHOULD be THAT simple.

But if you don’t really know your exact numbers, and you hear 10:1, you are left to decide on your own what that number means….maybe it’s better, maybe it’s worse.  If we are left to make a random decision on whether something we implemented is good or bad,  as humans we have a tendency to decide it’s good….even if it’s not.  And – who has time to go back and double check anyway, after all, we have cars to sell….

Believe me, 10:1 is better.  It’s FAR better than what MOST dealers are seeing when marketing to inactive service customers.

In fact, there is only one time we ran accross a dealership that was already getting better results than our averages – and he showed me the data. I thanked him for his time we parted ways. It happened ONE time.

Here’s an interesting perspective:  Buying a car from a customer for $7,000 and selling it for $12,000 is something to celebrate, yet spending $8,000 to generate $80,000 is somehow a tough decision that needs to be pondered. It’s bannanas.

I’m not saying ALL dealers, but yeah- most dealers. And if you’re shaking your head because you aren’t like that and you truly understand and appreciate great ROI, that’s awesome…..

But because of that, you should also be dialing our number right now and partner with us to generate that level of revenue for you too.  Unless of course, you are the very rare dealership that’s already getting better ROI than 10:1 with inactive service customers…. but isn’t it worth actually KNOWING?

Growth happens when you see the benefit in numbers that are greater than what you are currently seeing, and take action on them.

Connect today for a more profitable tomorrow and let’s create some real growth.

866-390-0348

Show Your Customers Some Love

—Originally Published in Fixed Ops Magazine—

“It’s the worst marketing program I’ve ever seen,” he said, “and I’m sure because we’ve been running it for the past two years.”

I believe that a prescription without an examination is malpractice, in any industry, and even within the same industry, every market is slightly different. So, I always first ask a dealer what’s currently being done, and how it’s working. When asked, it would boggle your mind to know how often we hear dealers say: “It’s ok”, “horrible” or even worse, “No clue”. How do you know if you should keep doing or stop doing something if you don’t even know if it is working for you? A service director once said the following about a marketing campaign he was running prior to working with us, “Its the worst campaign. We’ve been consistently running it for the past 2 years, and it doesn’t work.”

In my office we speak to hundreds of dealership decision-makers a month. The focus of a majority of these conversations is retention. We all know how important current customer retention is for any business, however it seems to be a constant source of struggle for many dealerships, and the major manufacturers watch it carefully. It can be the lifeblood of a dealership. The best, most reliable sales customers are the ones who stop by every three months for a filter change. The truth is, service carries every month, because not only does it generate revenue, but it’s also the richest source of sales customers. But, that’s only possible when retention is top-notch.

Bring the customers in, treat them well, do the job right, and charge a fair price. When done properly and with sincerity, they will not only return to you but they will refer you repeatedly to friends and family. Sounds easy, right? Well, there’s a problem…

THE PROBLEM
You are contending with aftermarket service centers. Price, more than ever before in recent memory, is a serious concern for customers; it’s tempting to try to compete with the little guys. But, in a race-to-the-bottom, you can’t win. A tiny operation with generic supplies and one service will always be the ‘low-price leader’. Racing to the bottom results in cost-cutting shortcuts that can hurt the customer’s experience. A deep discount can only be a one-time teaser to woo a customer back. You cannot and should not play this game, even if you’re the rare company that can win it. But the true sale must be made on the experience.

BUDGET/GOING WITH THE CHEAPEST OPTION/PRODUCT
While you’re pushing hard to distinguish yourself from the Lightening Lube stores, stop and think you’re your customer for a moment. Don’t make the same mistake that your customers make all the time: focusing entirely on price. If all marketing programs were created equal, price would be the only concern. But they’re not. The true litmus test is the dollor-for-dollar ROI generated. A million-dollar price tag is a bargain, when the return is $20 million, just like $99/month is a ripoff when it fails to produce. Focus on cost conceals value. Value is Benefit vs. Cost. Great quality service is cheap at twice the price. Keep that in mind, because at the end of the month nobody wants to say, “I know we didn’t hit our numbers, but we got a really great bargain on the marketing that didn’t help us.”

THE SOLUTION:
My advice to dealers for their customers is the same thing I tell my dealerships as clients, and it’s boilerplate sales copy: build the value for your customers. Be distinct and market yourself distinctly. Then, sell your service drive on it’s own, with amenities, services, and skills that no neighborhood Lube-mart can touch. Craft a great experience and they’ll happily pay full price for the next oil change or service interval.

If they have never been in your dealership before, do something above and beyond, like noticing that their headlights need restoration and take care of it for them at no charge. Let them know that you handled it for them and thank them for coming in. Things like this show that you care about the customers themselves, not just their pocketbooks. Get creative and empower all members of staff within the dealership to do whatever they can within reason to make customers feel comfortable and special. There are many ways to do this without spending money or losing profit. When everyone feels like a VIP, you are creating customers for life.

If a person has a truly winning experience, they will probably tell a few close friends. However, if they have a bad experience, or at least what they perceive as a bad experience, they will tell EVERYONE. A client of mine once mistakenly told a customer (who left angry) that a repair would not be covered by the warranty. Despite making immediate attempts to call the customer back to apologize and correct the oversight, the customer went on a 24-hour dealership review-site marathon slamming his store. The impact was tremendous. Negativity spreads like wildfire… and your money is flammable. On a handful of occasions, while looking for a dealership’s website, I’ve found hate-sites ranked higher than the client’s own webpage.

INDUSTRY ESPIONAGE
One of the cool “bells & whistles” of my retention product is a web form that asks flat-out where customers used to service before coming back to your dealership and why. We call this “Industry Espionage” I read every one of these reasons personally. Most of it is simple stuff. It would surprise you how a few easy changes can drastically improve the way customers feel about you and increase the frequency at which they visit you. Replenishing the hot coffee more often, free doughnuts, shuttle service, kid’s play rooms are great starters, but nothing can compete with the real basics: simple courtesy, competence, realistic completion times and accurate job estimates.

GETTING THEM IN
Before you can show a customer some love, you have to get them to come in. So how do we get new people in or get lost and inactive customers to come back? Marketing. Good marketing would be better, and unique marketing would be best. As we all know, there’s a lot of competition out there. Many other companies are fighting for these very same customers. No mystery there. Constant banners and pop up’s on the computer, radio spots (most of which are horribly annoying) television commercials (equally annoying), costumed people dressed as livestock or superheroes spinning signs on every corner, and we all have direct mail pieces in our mailboxes multiple times each week.

The problem is that most of these look exactly the same. There is usually very little difference between one dealership’s service coupons and another’s. Further, these are not much different than the after-market service center coupons either. With the exception of whoever put in the lowest price, they don’t give customers much of a buying preference. Price is only what something costs. We have all paid more money than we had previously anticipated for something we wanted because a buying preference was created based on value being built. Value needs to be added. Not sending a message communicating the unique value of your product will just become a spending contest; because when the message is the same, whoever puts the most pieces out there wins, whether print media, digital, or broadcast. The more unique, the more you stand out, and the more objectively effective your efforts are, the less you have to spend for the same result. That’s value, not cost. I’ve seen 2000 pieces of unique direct mail outperform 10,000 pieces of run-of-the-mill stuff 10:1.

 

Running a campaign within any medium of advertising needs to be easy to track. Whether this is done through Op Codes or another method and I highly suggest “another method”, you should always be able to tell at a glance if a campaign is bringing in customers. But, more importantly, whom it is bringing in, (ie: current customer, lost customer, no-history customer), number of visits, the total ROI to date for the campaign as well as an exact total upon completion. If it worked well, keep running it. But, the bottom line is this: if you can’t tell at a glance how well the campaign is producing – with hard numbers – find another.

We don’t just preach this stuff, we practice it too. We have 80-90% retention with our strictly automotive clients. Many of whom have even recorded video testimonials for our blog. When was the last time that your experience and results from a direct mail company prompted you make a video testimonial about them?

Now that’s real value.

Video Marketing

 

Not so long ago, in a galaxy NOT so far, far away, smartphones became so popular that websites were being viewed as many times on a mobile device – if not more times – than desktop sites.

As customers used the “pinch & zoom” technique on their phones in an attempt to properly read website content, smart businesses realized they had to make a shift in the way they presented themselves online, by way of mobile optimized websites.

Stay with me, I promise it’s about Video, I’m painting a picture for you.

Soon, Google started prioritizing the mobile sites and “Google Shaming” the non-properly-mobilized sites with a badge that deterred people from viewing them.

Customers – who felt annoyed with pinching and zooming – got real hip to this pretty quickly, so when they came across a non-optimized website from a google search, they would immediately click the “back” browser button and go to the next site on the list in search of one that was easier to view and read.

This meant if your site wasn’t optimized for smartphones, ie: mobile friendly, you weren’t getting looked at as often and thus, you were losing potential customers.

A new day is dawning – and a new shift has taken place. This time, it’s video – and over the next few years it will quite literally take over the majority of the internet.

And it’s already begun.

As you’ve probably noticed, the human attention span is getting shorter and shorter. ( kudos to you if you are still reading this) People are reading less and less and would much rather watch a quick video about something than actually reading about it.

Everyone wants to see videos. Videos for fun, do it yourself videos, videos about products they are considering for a purchase and even videos about a business they are thinking of visiting. One study from Google showed that six out of 10 people would even rather watch online videos than television itself. Good thing we aren’t in the TV business, right?

Implementing video into your business, marketing strategy, websites and social media channels better engages your customers & increases conversion rates.

Check out the statistics below and you will see why video is a MUST.

• 84% of people said that they were convinced to purchase a product after watching a video

• 92% of users watching video on mobile will share it with others.

• 59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read text.

• 81% of businesses already use video as a marketing tool — up from 63% over the last year.

• By next year video ad spending will increase from $1.97 billion to $5.71 billion.
• Because of how popular video has gotten, YouTube is the second most popular website after Google.

• Facebook has over 8 billion video views per day.

• Video in email creates a 200%-300% increase in click-through rates. You read that right.

If you’ve already gotten distracted while reading this or have already almost abandoned this article, that proves my point even further, because you’ve only been reading for around two minutes at this point.

If the above stats don’t make you want to produce videos like right now, read on.

Viewers retain 95% of video messages and only 10% when reading it. This is because video engages more of our senses like sound, music and visuals. Mobile video consumption rises by 100% every year and in a couple of short years nearly 82% of all consumer internet traffic will be online videos. You may need to read that again:

82% of internet traffic will be video. The gears should be really turning in your head about now.

Already, nearly three out of four customers say they would rather learn about a product or service by way of video.

People are looking for products and services and want to be entertained while doing it. They are looking to video for it – and not just any video – GREAT video. Ultimately, your customers spend a large chunk of time watching video on the internet, so they EXPECT to see it on your website and in your marketing and quite frankly, are disappointed when there isn’t any.

Short entertaining videos are your best bet because they get swallowed up by your audience like candy. Short is the key word here because the average number of viewers remaining by the end of the video is usually around 46%, but if the video is 90 seconds or less you see that number increase to 59%. In other words, roughly 60% of people will stop watching by two minutes, so as I said, keep it short and sweet.

Also, if you can make it funny, crazy or extreme, all the better, since many customers report that they would rather see a more entertaining “viral style” video. They say sex sells, so think of funny as the new sexy.

A few video ideas for your dealership could be:

• Quick intro videos for each of your service advisors or techs.

• Videos that showcase specialty products or services.

• Customer testimonials. (its easier than you think)

• Videos that highlight what’s different or unique about your dealership. Things like service drive amenities or special things you offer customers while waiting like snacks, coffee, wifi, loaner vehicles, courtesy rides or a full cafe, put-put, childrens play area or even a movie theatre.

• Videos that match your monthly sales offer, rebates, special financing or a special sale you have going.

• Videos that show what a customer can expect when visiting you.

Quality matters.

With billions of videos being watched daily, most people can be very discerning of good quality versus bad.

Lighting, sound and the right cameras & angles are paramount. Any disparity between them will be fully noticed – and your whole business may be judged by it. After all, would you hire a barber that had a dirty shop? Or an ad agent that came in disheveled or unkempt? Even though those things have little to do with the services they offer, many people will judge EVERYTHING you do based on those things.

Resolution is key. At Mail Ninjas, we ensure that the quality is crisp, sharp, clear and even the video spots we create for social media can also be saved in broadcast quality for television, if a client so desired.

Speaking of high-quality video, many of our clients have already gotten aerial drone footage of their dealership lot, which is a great idea. It is totally worth the small price to have it done because the eye-catching footage looks incredible and can be used over and over again on a multitude of different projects.

As I mentioned earlier, the human attention span is shrinking by the second. Two to three minutes ( and three is pushing it) is about the max that most people will give to a video on the fly, unless they were purposely researching something specific. Those longer videos should be reserved for actual product demonstrations or an intro to your business. For social media, 30-45 seconds is perfect to get your monthly message or current offer out.

Keep in mind, the average time to catch a customer’s attention is 2.7 seconds!

2.7 seconds before they skip over you and move on to the next video. Remember that number when you run video ads on Facebook or YouTube, you KNOW people have their finger hovering over the “skip ad” button, so you have to get your main point out quickly to capture their attention and keep them watching.

 

Do you remember that car racing arcade game from the 80’s called Pole Position? Whenever you made it to a checkpoint, you got another thirty seconds or so added to your gameplay. When you saw those glorious checkered flags waving, you knew you had more time.

Think of your video ads like Pole Position. Capturing attention quickly and then making a power or benefit statement every so often, will keep them watching.

74% of marketers who aren’t currently marketing with video, say they expect to start in 2019, because of this giant shift to video. There has never been a more dire need to stand out of above all the noise and the way to do that is with quality videos for your business and in your marketing.

One reason that a business may have not yet made the leap into making and launching videos, is price. I know some dealerships that used to pay thousands upon thousands for short video segments, especially if the crew travels to you with all their equipment. Want them to include some talent because you are camera shy? The price can keep going up and up.

The good news is, along with the massive video takeover currently happening, there has been an explosion of affordable technology & products that with a little time, energy and a few bucks, can have you doing great and professional-looking videos right there in your dealership.

Don’t know how? No worries, there are even videos online to show you how to make videos!

Don’t want to mess with it? You can hire a company like us to do what we do best, so you can stay focused on what you do best.

Want to do it yourself? Connect with us and we can steer you in the right direction to the most effective and easy to use products right there at the dealership.

At Mail Ninjas, we strive to be ahead of the curve and have been adding video links to our direct marketing campaigns for years. Because of the high demand – and because we love doing it – we now even offer video spots as a stand alone service for dealerships and business all over the country.

We even make great 30-45 second spots without even stepping foot on your property, and most of them are done for less than the cost of a set of new tires. You can find examples of the videos we produce on our Video Marketing page, or our YouTube Channel.

Bottom line, if you aren’t getting on the video train, you may get run over because there is no doubt this is happening. Happy filming.

Connect today and our Video Ninjas will put together the video spots for you.

The Ultimate Guide to Ringless Voicemail

RINGLESS VOICEMAIL DROPS:

Ringless Voicemail Drops or simply “Ringless Voicemail” is a fairly new technology that allows a company to send a pre-recorded voicemails directly to a large group of customers cell phones at once, without their phones actually ringing.  Think of it as an “eblast”, but with voicemails as opposed to emails.

This is an effective and relatively inexpensive way for a company to get a message or special offer out to a large customer base all at once. It can be used many different ways and for a wide spectrum of offers depending on the industry.

In the automotive industry we use it to tell customers to keep an eye on their mailbox for the offer we sent them, before a Direct Mail Campaign – OR – we send it during the Direct Marketing campaign – OR – as a follow up after a Direct Mail Campaign.

THE PROCESS:

  1. Record a voicemail message or offer to match your objective.
    You can choose to record your voicemail drop message yourself – or we can do it for you. We have incredible voice talent on-hand! We have found that the more candid and “non-scripted” it sounds, the better it will work. Speak naturally and from the heart about your offer.  Don’t worry about those “ums”, stammers, coughs or tripping over your words. That’s REAL and it’s how people naturally talk.  You can hear a successful Ringless Voicemail here.
  2. Creating the list of people to send to.
    We will upload the list of phone numbers into our system. Usually this is from our clients database. Our system filters out the cell phone numbers from the landlines and only keeps the cell phone numbers.  We can even filter out anyone who is on the “Do Not Call List” which has become a big deal in a number of cities and states.
  3. Decide the timeframe and volume of Ringless Voicemail Drops.
    You can choose when your Voicemails will be sent. They can begin at a certain time on a certain day and keep going until all numbers have been sent a voicemail, or it can send for just an hour or two on certain days. You decide. At Mail Ninjas, we also set the number of voicemails that will send out per minute to suit the needs of our clients based on the volume of call-backs their staff can handle.  We learned this one from experience.  When we did the very first Ringless Voicemail Drop for a client, we sent so many voicemails out all at once that within a few minutes our clients dealership phone was blowing up with call backs. We had to turn it down so they could catch up!  We slowed it down to a manageable level and they were pleased with the number of appointments & sales they were able to make from the Ringless Voicemails even before their Direct Marketing Campaign reached their customers physical mailboxes.
  4. Track and resend.
    We keep a close eye on the results of your Ringless Voicemail Campaign for you. We know how many were sent out and how many still remain. Sometimes the system can’t get a voicemail through for a various reasons. A person being in a bad service area or getting a busy signal are two examples.  We track the ones that didn’t go through and can resend your voicemails back out to just those people to make sure we maximize the effectiveness of your Ringless Voicemail Campaign.

Ringless Voice Mail - Mail Ninjas

THE RESULT:

Imagine glancing at your phone and you see “missed call” but didn’t even hear your phone ring.  Then you see a new voicemail pop up.  It creates a lot of curiosity and you will most likely check that voicemail right away to see what you missed. At a time in history when people are getting alerts and notifications on their phones left and right, this key-point is really what sets Ringless Voicemails apart.  When a persons phone suddenly shows a “missed call” and a “new voicemail” it gets checked immediately – and people interested in your offer will call you right away.  Get ready for your phones to ring. It’s like an instant flow of leads by flipping a switch.

Voicemail missed call - Mailninjas

 

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY:

Every rose has its thorn, and no marketing effort is without the possible downsides, so we’ve outlined some things you may experience below. None of them are “deal-breakers” in our opinion, as many of them can be covered easily with the proper preparation.

Different mobile carriers have different settings on when Ringless Voicemails get delivered. This means that some people may see “missed call” before the actual voicemail gets delivered.  This might cause them to quickly call the number back to see who called them and why.

So, you’ll need to be ready with a script that is specific to the voicemail offer for your staff to use.

Because of different carriers and carrier settings some people may get a double missed call before the Voicemail hits or their phone may actually ring for a spilt-second and then stop.

 

A good script in the hands of all people who man the phones can take care of all of this.

Your phones WILL ring.  As with any other marketing campaign there will be interested people you can make appointments with or do business with, as well as people that just want to tell you they don’t like the color of your building. Or, that you forgot to replace their windshield wipers, or extra French fries the last time they were in. This is just the nature of advertising.  It happens. Acknowledge. Move on.

But, your phones WILL ring.

Ringless Voicemail Drops work. When we hit “send”, your phones will ring. We try to ensure the Drops go out in short bursts so that you don’t get too many calls at once. You will need to to connect with us if it’s too many so that we can or slow it down or even pause it so you can catch up.

Legality

Ringless Voicemail is legal. However, some states seem to be “cracking down” on it. Because of this, some people think it’s illegal in certain states. This is not true.  As with any other forms of marketing, there are guidelines that have to be followed.  With Ringless Voicemail Drops, the phone numbers need to be run through the National Do Not Call List.  When done properly there is no legal issue with sending the Ringless Voicemails to the rest of the numbers on the list from your own database.

Interested in using Ringless Voicemail Drops?  Connect with us today.

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10 Common Direct Mail Fails

As industry leaders in automotive direct mail marketing, we want to educate car dealerships, service managers and anyone with an interest in selling more cars and services about what goes into making a successful direct mail marketing campaign. Just as important as what works, is what to avoid.

There are so many land-mines out there to avoid as a dealership. With an endless supply of competition pushing margins razor thin, it’s of the highest importance to
maximize every marketing dollar you spend EFFECTIVELY.

Direct mail is hands-down one of the most effective ways to get more qualified and motivated buyers into your dealership… when it’s done correctly. The problem is direct mail, more often than not, is done haphazardly and can become ineffective.

Avoid these 10 major mistakes and you will see your direct mail results improve dramatically

  1. CHANGING TOO MUCH.

    THERE’S NO NEED TO REINVENT THE WHEEL WHEN SOMETHING HAS A SOLID TRACK RECORD.

    When consulting with a new client, It only pays to show campaigns that have a proven track-record of producing results for their marketing needs. Many direct mail programs have copy, artwork and hooks that compliment each other to effectively engage your potential customers in a way that nudges them to respond. It can be psychological words, color schemes or maybe even just the flow of the copy, or layout of the mail piece.

    Changing too much on these proven campaigns can drastically reduce their effectiveness. If we say it consistently works – trust us, it works. Which brings me to Fail #2…

  2. ASKING WRONG OPINIONS.

    YOUR SALESPEOPLE AREN’T MARKETING PROFESSIONALS. THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT WORKS. LEAVE THE MARKETING TO US.

    We realize that getting your staffs’ “buy-in” is important. If everyone is on board with the campaign, then it increases the chances of the leads being handled effectively by them. However, basing your decision on whether or not your salespeople “like” it, needs to stop. It doesn’t matter if they like or dislike the artwork – or even if YOU like it for that matter – We show artwork and copy for campaigns that consistently produce results – across markets and across brands.

    Those results being increased traffic, which result in exactly what you want – VEHICLE SALES, and SERVICE RETENTION. Trust us, when you don’t do well, we don’t get re-hired.

  3. PRICE BASED DECISIONS.

    PRICE IS ONLY WHAT YOU PAY FOR SOMETHING – VALUE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE BUYING.

    This mistake goes hand in hand with the last two. You should be basing your decisions purely on what program is going to be the most effective for your dealership. The old adage “you get what you pay for” couldn’t possibly be more applicable. Quality also matters in direct mail. Quality of lists, quality of the message, unique components that further engage your customers – we utilize custom video messages on each mail piece & smartphone integration – and the quality of trackable results.

    “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” – Red Adair

  4. NOT MATCHING SALES.

    IF CUSTOMERS WERE GOING TO COME IN ANYWAY, THEN ALL YOUR MARKETING DOLLARS ARE A WASTE.

    More often than not, the only answer a manager can give you as to the success of a campaign was, “We had a busy weekend.” This just doesn’t cut it. You need to know exactly what a campaign has done for you. Did 29 people from your list buy on that busy weekend? Or did 2 people buy from that list on a coincidentally busy weekend? If you aren’t properly tracking, you don’t know. If you don’t know, you could be wasting money on a bad program because of your generalized assumptions.

    Direct marketing gives you the power to directly match the people you mailed to with your sales for the month. Be sure to include the co-signers name also when doing this.
    Also- don’t fool yourself, you may have already been working a few of those deals, but not ALL of those people were going to come and buy from you anyway. Are we looking for evidence that it worked, or evidence that it didn’t?

  5. NO TEAM CONTINUITY.

    MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT CAMPAIGNS ARE GOING ON EXACTLY WHAT TO DO.

    Sometimes a prospect will take a while to act on the mail they received. Many salespeople make the massive mistake of turning away customers simply by saying, “That’s a mailing from last month” or “I don’t know what this is…” In what world does it make sense to turn away business because a motivated buyer didn’t act by some arbitrary date, or because a salesperson missed the meeting and had no clue about it?

    I know what you’re thinking, “My salesmen would never turn anyone away.” Wrong, yours too. It happens more than you think. You wouldn’t believe how many callbacks our call center gets from customers that were turned away once they arrived at the dealership. I wouldn’t care if a customer came in with a Dairy Queen coupon, I’d show them a car. Make sure your staff & management understand this concept thoroughly.

  6. PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS.

    A GOOD COMPANY ANALYZES THE DATA AND LEARNS FROM IT. JUMPING FROM COMPANY TO COMPANY KILLS THIS.

    As you become more and more familiar with your customer, you understand their needs and wants more clearly, which allows you to do a better job at matching them with the car that best suits them, correct? Sticking with a good direct mail company works the same way. This allows them to better understand your dealership as well as your market, and eventually allows them to see opportunities that you may be missing – and give creative suggestions.

    It also goes without saying that good marketing is something that changes over time. Tweaks can be made with each campaign leading to the development of the most effective campaigns possible. By jumping around and looking for the next best thing, you’re shortchanging yourself of these benefits – and these benefits are in fact – some of the most profitable for a dealership.

    “Successful people make decisions quickly and change their minds slowly.
    Unsuccessful people make decisions slowly and change their minds quickly.”
    – Andy Andrews

  7. FAILING TO PLAN.

    IMAGINE ALL THE OTHER THINGS YOU’LL BE ABLE TO FOCUS ENERGY ON WHEN YOU PLAN AHEAD.

    Let’s face it, there probably isn’t a more “reactive” industry than the car business. Just imagine the success you could leverage if you were proactive. Sure, you’re busy with your day to day, but what happens when you stop planning your marketing for the future? Business will taper off. Then you go into all out marketing panic mode to get more business. This doesn’t leave you with much time or a clear head to vet out a company or campaign. The cycle then repeats the very next month. Stop doing that to yourself.

    Using a proven and professional marketing company, takes the planning and execution off your plate. At Pulse, we make it a breeze and put an end to the stress and emotional roller coaster.

    Since there aren’t enough hours in the day for you to field all the sales calls, pitches, and telemarketers – having a go-to that you know and trust makes planning for the future easy – and priceless.

  8. NOT GETTING POSTALS.

    POSTAL RECEIPTS ARE PROVIDED TO THE THE PRINT HOUSE FROM THE POST OFFICE SOON AFTER MAILING.

    Once your direct mail campaign has dropped, it behooves you to request postage receipts. Your not going to like this, but if these receipts aren’t produced immediately (48 hours max) upon request, it’s likely that something suspicious is going on. Unfortunately, now that most postals are online and purely digital, they are even easier to forge.

    It’s a sad state of affairs, but there are businesses out there that will sell you a bill of goods and not fulfill their obligations. After all, if no results are seen, it’s
    easy to write it off as a “failed campaign.” Make sure to do your part and demand postage receipts.

    A lot of that anxiety can be alleviated as long as you don’t make this next Fail …

  9. NOT CHECKING REFERENCES.

    NOT TOO MANY WANT TO BE ON CAMERA, SO IF SOMEONE TAKES THE TIME TO FILM A TESTIMONIAL, IT’S LEGIT.

    There are a lot of wannabes and charlatans out there that want nothing more than to take your money and run. Many are full of slick-pitches and empty promises. They also know the industry well enough to know that you are most likely going to be too busy to check back up to see if they delivered what they said. These types don’t care about you, your long term growth or business success. But you can easily separate the sheep from the wolves, if you make the time.

    It’s so important to take a few minutes to check up on a company, Look at their website. Look for length of time in business and in the industry. Look for testimonials – and in this age, it should definitely be video testimonials. At Mail Ninjas we pride ourselves on our many video testimonials from people just like you in the auto industry. You can see them at: https://mailninjas.com/about-us/

  10. OVER ANALYSIS PARALYSIS.

    MANY TIMES, INDECISION IS THE WORST DECISION.

    You’ve probably been there hundreds of times – you see a really great marketing program, it has great art, compelling copy & consistent trackable results. It has everything you want – yet, you end up not pulling the trigger.

    You may not even know why you didn’t. Indecision is a business growth-killer. Even though something excites them, many get cold feet at the point of making a decision. Some of it is not wanting to be “closed” and some of it is fear of missing out on something better. You’ve conditioned yourself to say “no” or “I need to think about it,” even though you really love it. Then life and business happen at a fast & furious pace and focus goes to other things.

    Many times that program is but a memory when the pressure to make a move is on. A snap decision is made on something that has been researched far less, or worse not at all. I bet there were times you forget to implement something you learned from a Dealer 20 group because things were hectic when you got back.

    If you like something, check references and take just a few minutes to research it. If it checks out, do it. I promise you, dealers that are running their markets, take action on the things they’ve researched – and take action often.

GO NINJA. GO.

With so much competition in the marketing world, Automotive Direct Mail companies are often times looked at as nothing more than a commodity. To some, Direct Mail is even a “bad word”. Frequent calls filled with empty promises, has facilitated wasted money and thus bad blood. We are, however, not all the same.

Mail Ninjas has over 20 years of combined automotive-specific marketing experience. We use the freshest laser-targeted lists to connect to the right customer, unique packaging, sharp graphics and creative to get our mail noticed. Psychological copywriting for the message moves customers into action. Our proprietary technology creates greater response, ROI and tracks all of our campaigns in real-time, to show the success of our programs. Our use of data & technology to sharpen the campaigns for our clients has dubbed us “Mail Ninjas”.

Besides consistent results and 90+% retention with our clients, what really sets us apart is PassChecks®. Many of our programs now utilize PassChecks to seamlessly integrate with your customers smartphone. Geo-location and automatic push notifications, keep your message fresh on the customers mind long after you’ve connected with them, stretching your marketing dollars much farther than other companies.

Another Giant Falls – Could Dealerships Suffer Next?

 

Sears recently announced the closure of thousands of it’s stores becoming the latest casualty of failing to see ahead of the curve, and evolve accordingly with the fast-paced changes of our time.

Could dealerships suffer too?

Sears now joins the ranks of fallen-giants like:

-Blockbuster Video

-Circuit City

-Radio Shack

-Toys R Us

Netflix should have been “BlockFlix”. Redbox should have been “BlueBox”. They missed the boat big time. Blockbuster should have been paying close attention to the changes that were happening. They didn’t. Instead of having their finger on the waves of technological change, they sat on their high throne all fat and happy, thinking they had made it to the top and would rule there forever. I remember making it a Blockbuster night, maybe they underestimated how lazy people are or how fun convenience would be for us all. They were wrong – and they paid dearly.

Circuit city made a huge mistake by thinking people didn’t care about value and great customer service. They decided that being the lowest price was the key to more business and profit. Sound familiar? They got rid of all their knowledgeable staff in exchange for lower cost employees – which Best Buy subsequently snatched up for their Geek Squad – and decided to be the low price leader and cater to “lowest price” seeking customers.

Half of the plan worked, they attracted a ton of shoppers looking for the lowest price. There was only one problem, they didn’t actually have the lowest prices. Walmart and others still had them beat. So what happens when you are using the “lowest price” method to attract customers but you aren’t actually the lowest price?

Customers browse you, and then buy elsewhere. And they did. A lot. Down went another giant.

The mistakes Toys R Us made sharply contrasts what could happen to dealerships if they don’t tune-in quick.

Around 2008 Toy’s R Us didn’t see what was so special about the internet and didn’t foresee online shopping being as huge as it has become.

They offloaded all of their online toy sales to Amazon. Oops. This move basically trained people to go to Amazon for their online toy purchasing. When Toys R Us finally woke up and launched their website, they were already way behind on marketshare because people were already accustomed to going to Amazon.com for the same products. Such was the death of Toy R Us, and along with it, a piece of our childhood.

Sears was once a staple of America. It shaped America and transformed the way we shopped. Their mail order catalog broke the mold and was something people waited at the mailbox for. Many Americans didn’t live close enough to a big city and because of the lack of stores, still made their own clothing. The Sears catalog became the first time they could easily buy clothes.

They originally only sold watches, but soon the catalog grew and people purchased everything from buggys to houses from it,
earning Sears over 2 billion in sales by 1946.

They even invested to help build modern day malls. They were untouchable. For a while, anyway.

Failure to evolve with the times, modernize their stores & online presence as well as big box rivals beating them on price and convenience brought about their demise. They fought back by cutting back on advertising – bad move.

You can not SAVE your way into a profit. It just doesn’t work.

Sears learned that the hard way. They’ve lost nearly 12 billion since 2010.  This time, Goliath himself has fallen.

Many dealerships also thought that the internet was just a fad, and now most have large internet sales departments. Large parts of the ad budget are now going towards internet leads and digital marketing.

Lots of dealerships also cut back on spending when things are slow, or try to save into a profit.

And many miss getting on board with the technology changes that are shaping the future.

As Mail Ninjas, we pride ourselves on product development to ensure YOU don’t miss the boat.

 

In 2012 we launched Echo Video® which embeds a custom video message into our Direct Mail campaigns. That evolved into full on high-quality 30 second video spots for our clients – at a fraction of the price.

As 2013 hit we created PassChecks®, Smartphone integration of your direct mail offers. I know it sounds crazy, but at the time, most dealerships didn’t grasp how important getting on customers phones would be or how massive of a competitive-edge it would be to have push-notifications reminding customers of your dealership whenever they were nearby.

By 2015 PassChecks® put us on the map as one of the highest responding and revenue generating service products in the automotive industry.

Then came Ringless Voicemail Drops in 2017. We were all over it.

Early 2018 we developed Ninja Text® which is variable text response for your customers. Very cool. See it in action here.

You may notice a trend here. All of these features perfectly integrate with a customers smartphone.

There are now ways to purchase a car completely on your cell phone in a fraction of the time. If dealerships don’t get people used to interacting with them on their smartphones, they will interact with someone ELSE, from their smartphones.

Smartphones. You are glued to yours, I am glued to mine. We are all glued. This is the future. Engagement & interaction with customers on their smartphones.

The future is now, and our products embody it – and our products are at your disposal. Let our hard work and product development benefit you.

Times always change. They are changing faster now than ever. If you don’t jump on these changes you may get run over.

We know you have your hands full running dealerships and selling cars, but don’t worry, we are on the cutting-edge with all of these advances.

So if you want the latest and greatest and have a desire to keep your marketing and dealership relevant, we make it easy.

Connect with us today.

If 20-30 additional units per month or $10 back in new service revenue for every $1 invested sounds good to you, take a quick moment to drop us your info below and we will show you exactly how we can do that for you, too.

Fill out my online form.

Stop the Jedi Mind Tricks

 
With the recent releases of Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens as well as Rogue One, I’m reminded of the many similarities that take place on the big screen as well as in the business world. Including the battle between light & dark, good & evil.

Every business decision, especially marketing, certainly needs to be weighed carefully. That being said, I’ve never seen that decision making process – or the lack thereof -paralyze so many businesses as in the automotive industry.

It seems that the excitement of a new and great marketing product/campaign/strategy can be easily derailed by the “Jedi Mind Tricks” that auto dealers tend to pull on themselves.

Here are a few you may have encountered and what to do about them:

Indecision.

No matter what the reason, indecision is the worst decision. In Rogue One, the Rebels didn’t know if they would be able to find the blueprints that contained the way to destroy the Death Star, but they knew they couldn’t just sit around and wait for eminent-death.  They went on the offensive and attacked. You have to be moving forward, making moves and that may include making changes. Specifically – in what, how & when you market to customers.

For years I’ve been very close with two Chevy dealers that are about 60 miles apart. “Dealer-A” is in a smaller market, but makes moves all the time. Constantly trying new and different things, carefully measuring the success and getting rid of what’s not producing the desired results. He’s running his market and literally can’t be touched.

“Dealer-B” is constantly thinking about it. They make 1 decision to every six or seven “Dealer-A” makes. They take so long to make a marketing decision, that they need each decision to be a Grand Slam to make up for the entire market share they lost while sitting around thinking about making that decision. They are in a larger market and struggle to hit their goals and gain customers. Constantly. Indecision keeps them stuck in this vicious cycle.

I promise you, making moves is one of the main differences between dealerships that are crushing it, and ones that aren’t.

“Successful people make their decisions quickly and change their minds slowly. Failures make their decisions slowly and change their minds quickly.” -Andy Andrews

I Love it! But I’m Also Worried It Won’t Work.

Luke Skywalker saw Jedi’s use the Force, he saw amazing things from Obi-Wan, Yoda and others but still didn’t believe it was real or for him. We see this all the time.

Recently, we had a long time client refer us to someone in his dealer 20 group. This new dealer loved the program and the results that his colleague was getting with us, but just wouldn’t pull the trigger because he was simultaneously worried that it may NOT work as well for him as it had for others. Our client then made him this offer:

“I am so confident that it will work for you, that I will pay for your campaign. You just have to cut me in on X percentage of the profit generated from it.”

His buddy still hesitated. Why? Because now he was concerned that the campaign would do so well that he would have to cut a huge check to the other dealer!

You can’t simultaneously believe it won’t work and also that it will work too well. No wonder you are in over-analysis paralysis. This stops the decision-making process and growth dead in its tracks.

Is This Salesperson/Company Full of B.S.?

Great question. The automotive industry can be a fast-paced, high-energy, go-go-go, never-done, always-behind-the-eight-ball, world. It has a lot of moving parts and many decisions to be made daily to keep numbers up, retention increasing and profitability high. It’s this environment, often coupled with much larger marketing budgets than other industries, that has drawn a lot of “Sith Lords” out from hiding to prey upon it and by extension, upon you.

Marketing companies that have given themselves over to the “Dark Side” still use the power of the Force. They know the lingo and how the industry works. They know just what to say to get your attention and your business. They also make empty promises. They know you will most likely be way too busy fighting along side the Rebellion – ie: busy with customers and planning next month – to see if they actually delivered what they promised.

But sometimes you need the Dark to recognize the Light.

Recognizing the Light Side from the Dark is becoming increasingly more difficult. They both use the power of the Force, (experience and know-how) they have similar weapons in their arsenals (products, lists, gifts, add-ons, call centers, etc.) they even wear the same clothes and use similar words.

Are they selling or consulting?

A salesperson wants you to buy their product. A consultant actually wants to listen to what you have to say, has interest in the specific challenges you face and the goals you are trying to accomplish.

You want to know why?

They actually care about solving your problem. #JediForTheWin

What’s your greatest need? Does their product meet up with that? At Pulse we always come from the consultant standpoint. We get everyone on the same page with a set goal and put an action plan in place. We also offer a performance guarantee, because we want to make sure that everyone is happy at the beginning and the end. This not only creates an easy decision with zero-risk up front, but a successful campaign and customer loyalty.

Around here, we set our clients up for success from the get go – so we can continue to build on a solid foundation – cause that’s the way of the Marketing Jedi.

A dealer I was speaking with recently told me that “Direct Mail companies are a dime a dozen…”

I agree. But so are Stormtroopers…..and like Stormtroopers, most of them aren’t very adept at what they do, don’t think out-of-the-box, and have terrible aim. Not a great combo when you are talking about something you are about to spend a portion of your marketing budget on.

So how do you know who to form an alliance with? How do you know if the company you are about to partner with has left a wake of destroyed planets behind them? Or worse, what if they destroy you?

As Master Yoda says: “You will know when you are calm, at peace, passive…”

Which brings me to the next Jedi Mind Trick:

Being Too “Busy” OR Too “Busy” to Call References.

What Yoda means is, you need to slow down and focus. When you slow down for a moment and become calm, you will realize that you do actually have time and it’s greatly beneficial to take just a few minutes to research who you are partnering with.

Here are some things to look for and when you find them, they should carry a lot of weight with you.

Length in industry. If a good company has been around for a while they should have testimonials. It’s 2017, you should now be looking for video testimonials to make it easy for you – especially if you wear so many helmets that you really are too busy to call another dealership to try to have someone tracked down like you are a damn Bounty-Hunter or something.

When the ambassador from a neighboring Star System sends you video testimonials embedded in a droid (like we have all over our website) you know you are working with a marketing Jedi.

As far as testimonials go, we’re not just talking about someone saying: “yes I like them” or “they’re great” or “they have the fastest Starship in the galaxy.”

I’m talking about a legit video testimonial with real results and honest opinions of why they like the company and what exactly it was they liked.

No one wants to be on video, so if someone is willing to do it AND goes into detail of why…this is a great sign. 

Think about it. What would it take for you to jump in front of a video camera and record yourself saying great things about a Direct Mail company for the entire galaxy to see? Far more than one successful campaign, I bet. How many times in your career have you done it? Exactly. You wouldn’t do it unless you had some pretty strong and consistent results.

Video testimonials are legit. Hands down. Search your feelings; you know it to be true.

Bottom line: Put an end to the Jedi Mind Tricks you play on yourself and form an alliance with proven Jedi Masters. If we can get enough to follow suit, we can rid the galaxy of the Sith once and for all.

And as always, may the Force be with you.

If 20-30 additional units per month or $10 back in new service revenue for every $1 invested sounds good to you, take a quick moment to drop us your info below and we will show you exactly how we can do that for you, too.

Fill out my online form.

Not interested?

Not interested?

Last week I made a follow-up call to a service manager at a Ford Dealership who had shown interest in our PassChecks® service retention solution. After being connected with the service department, one of the owners told me that the person I was asking for was no longer working there. He asked me what I was calling about, so I proceeded to tell him the main selling points that I had previously been discussing with the service manager. About a minute in, he cuts me off and says “Is this Ford marketing you’re talking about”? I explained that it wasn’t. “Then I’m not interested!” He said. “I want manufacturer marketing only.”

Manufacturer Marketing Only? That’s all you have interest in?

This blows my mind. Truth is, it’s not an uncommon thing to hear. While I realize there are certainly blow off’s in this industry – and trust me, I know the difference – this guy was serious.

This tells me that he is only interested in cookie-cutter, run of the mill, same-is-lame, marketing, that every other dealership around him is doing.

Why? Why would any business who is looking to increase sales, retention and dominate their market only be interested in something that doesn’t make them stand out?

All markets are a little different, but it’s pretty safe to say that the top dealerships that are kicking ass and taking names, aren’t sticking with cookie-cutter marketing from the manufacturer, or anyone else for that matter.

When you’re saying “no” to something, it’s important to know what you are actually saying “yes” to.

Why is this type of marketing so bad for your dealership?

Lots of reasons. For one, cookie cutter or templated marketing does not give the customer a buying preference. No reason to choose your dealership over another. It especially doesn’t give you the edge over another dealerships that sells the same make.

There are a few other major reasons why this type of marketing is killing your service department. You can read the full article originally published in Fixed Ops Magazine,  right HERE.

 

Manufacturer Marketing is Killing Your Service Department

Manufacturer marketing

Manufacturer marketing or any cookie-cutter, templated, marketing, like manufacturer marketing is really bad at getting customers into your service department. Unfortunately, it IS great at another thing, making your dealership blend in with every dealership in your area. Which as you may know, is the kiss of death when it comes to effective marketing.

So Why is Manufacturer Marketing so Bad?

• Much of manufacturer marketing is untrackable. Not being able to track how a marketing effort is performing is almost as bad as not marketing at all. For all you know, you could just be blindly throwing money out the window and getting no real results. It’s shocking this still exists in a “what have you done for me lately” industry.

How can you improve next month if you have no idea of what’s working and what isn’t?  OP codes are only as accurate as the person entering them in. Which is how manufacturer marketing is tracked many times.

• Manufacturer marketing doesn’t differentiate your dealership. A huge problem with manufacturer’s marketing is that it’s cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all, boiler plate, or however you want to put it. The point is, your dealership’s marketing is going to look exactly like every single other dealership that sells your make of car. How is a customer supposed to notice you when you’re offering the exact same thing every other dealership is offering?

• Manufacturer marketing looks like junk mail. Quality with marketing is key; unfortunately most, if not all, of manufacturer’s marketing looks and feels like junk mail. This point dovetails in with the last one: if it looks and feels like junk mail, it’s going to blend in with the junk mail and most likely not even be noticed. By producing quality marketing, not only will it stick out to your customers, but it’s going to stick around.

What’s the Alternative to Manufacturer’s Marketing?

Sticking with the status quo, cookie cutter or manufacturer marketing is harming your service department’s performance – there’s no question about that. It’s for this reason that many dealerships are seeking out alternative methods for handling their marketing. Where are they finding these alternative methods and how do they know they will work? Independent automotive direct marketing companies (like us) can only survive if they effectively make their client’s dealership stand out from the rest of the market. Unlike the manufacturer marketing, their whole business model revolves around marketing successfully. To be frank, manufacturer’s bank on you taking the easy route and opting into their manufacturer marketing programs simply because it’s profitable for them.

Think about it, they’re force-feeding their entire distribution network the same canned crap over and over. It has to make them a mint, all while leaving you twisting in the wind.

Think I’m Blowing Smoke? Read This:

“In the past, we were using Ford’s manufacturer marketing and we actually paid quite a bit for it. It didn’t work for us, at best we’d see a 2% return. Their mail looked like junk mail and was very cookie cutter. There are 6 other Ford dealerships in our zone and our manufacturer marketing looked exactly like theirs, but the biggest problem was we couldn’t track the marketing. We switched to Pulse and from the first mail drop it was a huge success. We’re seeing anywhere from 8-15% response rate depending on the zip code. We see checks from their service checkbook program in here every day and our customers absolutely love them. From the moment I saw their checkbooks I knew it was a way to differentiate ourselves, the quality is incredible. I couldn’t be any happier with Pulse Mail Ninjas.” – Sharon Walker Greenway Ford, Orlando Florida.

You can hear it straight from her on video.

What is the True Cost of Not Creating a Buying Preference with Manufacturer Marketing?

The answer to this question can vary greatly dealership to dealership. The answer that holds true for every dealership though is that the cost of missing the mark with marketing and losing out on potential service customers in today’s market far outweighs the investment costs of unique marketing from a company like Pulse. Is there risk stepping outside of your comfort zone and ditching the cookie cutter manufacturer’s marketing? You bet there is, but there’s always risk involved with change. Ask yourself this? What’s riskier? Taking a chance on setting yourself apart from your competition in an effort to dominate your market… or continuing to do the same stuff your competition is doing and praying that fate will smile upon your dealership and deliver greater profitability? The answer to that question should be clear.

How The Pulse Mail Ninjas Faciliate Market Domination Using Checkbooks with PassChecks Technology

• 100% Trackable – It’s important that you’re able to track the success of any marketing campaign. With our barcode system, not only is tracking 100% accurate & pure it’s extremely simplified.

• High Quality Checkbooks – When a customer receives our checkbooks, it feels substantial, it feels like something worth keeping. It’s a lot more than a throwaway postcard. Not only that, but they’re durable and for good reason. You want your customers using these all year long… they need to be durable for that to happen.

• Digital & Physical Coupons – People forget things all the time, even substantial high-quality checkbooks for car service. It’s for this reason that our PassChecks® Technology allows for your customers to have all their checks in digital format on their smartphone. As people rarely forget their phone, this eliminates most situations in which your customer might skip an intended service because they left their checkbook at home. As with our physical checks, the digital checks are also 100% trackable.

• Automatic Push Notifications with PassChecks® – This is hands-down the coolest feature of our service retention program. Not only will your customer have their service offers loaded on their smartphone, but theres more.  Whenever they’re near your dealership, they’ll receive a Push Notification reminding them that they have VIP service offers to use with your service department. You really can’t market any more directly than that.

Successful Dealerships are Proactive, not Reactive

In this industry, your run-of-the-mill dealership is going to be very reactive. Late to the game on sales trends and what their competition is doing. That’s exactly what makes them run-of-the-mill and not a market leader. Where true success and market domination occurs is when dealerships decide to lead and not follow. Whether it’s with sales tactics, strategies, or most importantly, marketing.

If you only plan on just doing whatever it takes to keep up with your competition, follow is all you’ll ever be able to do.

However, if you have the desire to not use your competition as a frame of reference for your success, you’ll find that thinking outside the box and implementing unique marketing, will help you lead the pack. The second you have your competition reacting to what you’re doing, that’s the second you know you’ve become a leader in your market.

And isn’t that the goal of every dealership? I don’t know when the last time you jumped in front of a video camera to film a testimonial for a marketing company, but our clients do. You can see the testimonial videos sent to us from dealers just like you.

If you’d like to have a serious conversation about partnering with a company that is dedicated to your sales & service retention success, as well as making you stand out in your market without manufacturer marketing, simply fill out the form below.

Fill out my online form.