According to Internet marketing experts, non-response to emails is one of the biggest problems automobile Internet Managers face in their efforts to market on the Internet. Similar to walk-in traffic, each email provides a potential opportunity to sell a unit. As such, it is important that the individual in charge of responding to emails at your dealership follow acceptable netiquette and common sense procedures.

The primary objective of each email you send should be crystal clear. Your goal is to gather information from the prospect. At that point he/she wants something from you. Information. A price quote? Specific model availability? Directions? Lease numbers? What you say and how you say it will determine if you get a response from that prospect. The following tips do not focus on content, instead they can be considered basic operating procedures for any professional Internet Department. Employ them and improve your effectiveness.

1. DO set up your email system so that each email you send contains a six line Signature Block that has the name, address, phone and fax number of your dealership. If you do not know how this is done with your mail browser, explore or ask your web master how to create a sig. box.

2. DO NOT use the sender's subject heading to respond to an email. Instead take the opportunity to be creative and include a catchy heading. The subject is the first thing the sender will see in your response. Make them jump right into your content.

3. DO NOT respond to an email without reading everything. Do not assume that because you read the first line or it looks like the others it has the same content. Look for buying signs, phrases, anything that will help you to determine the right approach in responding to the request for information.

4. DO maintain and build a broiler plate of responses for frequently requested vehicles. Your first response should not be standardized. It should always include an introduction, a restatement of the requested information, responses to questions and a request from you for more information from the prospect. Your goal is to understand them and what they want to do. Your response only seeks to generate responses, NOT sell automobiles, not yet.

5. DO NOT begin an email without a salutation it is impolite. If you do not know the person's name at least start by saying "Hi" it is not too formal and still friendly. Remember this is business correspondence. Do not mirror the sender style or tone. NEVER RESPOND IN ALL CAPS it is considered shouting and very impolite. Use caps only for highlights and emphasis ONLY.

6. DO respond as soon as possible. Internet shoppers are shopping with the speed of light, blink and you may lose the opportunity. Some dealers are using web based pagers that instantly alert them to Internet inquiries. Quick response time makes you memorable, do it.

7. DO NOT send out emails that are not spell checked. This feature can be found on most email browsers and is not difficult to activate. It can save your face while giving your email a professional look. Re-read emails for grammatical errors words may be spelt correctly but the sentence construction may be awkward and grammatically faulty.

8. DO keep responses on a tread so that you can scroll to review your previous emails. You will receive emails where the prospect responded with a new message. It is therefore important that you file your leads into specific categories. Depending on the number of emails you receive each should be placed in a specific folder labeled into categories such as sources, model of vehicles or time frames. Action should be completed on each email in the in-box before it is placed in its respective folder.

9. DO activate your email browser's address function to capture each email address that either comes in or to which you have responded. By capturing these emails you will be able to build an email database that you can use to market to later.

10. DO NOT be evasive, cute, smart, abrupt, insulting, demeaning or commanding. You will not sell a vehicle that way. Your primary goal is to be helpful, nothing more. You will not sell a vehicle with an email. The purpose of your email is to *break the Ice* and open a line of communication. You will not get the potential customer to call unless they are ready to buy a vehicle.

It's All About First Impression

The preceding tips may not guarantee you a response but it will present a professional, no-nonsense image. What you are trying to do is increase the probability of you getting a response from a potential buyer who is ready to buy NOW. Emails are your handshakes. They are your prospect's first impression of you and your dealership. Make it good.

Tony Puck is a 14 year veteran of the retail automobile sales industry in the Metropolitan Boston market. Mr. Puck has been using the Internet for the last five years and is currently an Internet Consultant in Boston Ma. Get Mr Puck's free Customer Relationship Management Report for automobile dealers, tonypuck@smartreply.net. Visit his site at http://www.AutomobileNetMarketing.com