Recently I started looking for a used Jeep to have on hand for the rough Winter weather we so frequently experience in Cleveland, Ohio. In doing so, I’ve been dealing with a lot of used car dealerships and it has been interesting to see how each of them follows-up to my Internet correspondence. See, I’ve pretty much refused to drive around town looking for a a deal. Instead, I’ve been using the web and searching websites like AutoTrader, CraigsList and Yahoo! Motors. It’s been interesting to see how little people are leveraging the web to sell more. For example, the median time that most dealerships would take to respond to an email was roughly 5 hours. That is a lifetime for me. Others would post cars on CraigList or AutoTrader but leave off helpful pictures or pricing information – I don’t even bother with these folks.
Others are clearly “getting-it” when it comes to social media. The email below is a response I received from a dealership here in town just this morning:
I’m sorry it sold (Sold 2 Jeeps on Saturday.) you might consider “following” us on twitter as explained below where I can send to a text message when new vehicles arrive. Barry
PATRIOT AUTO
PS. GET A JUMP on our NEWEST offerings FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! http://twitter.com/PatriotTweets We often sell our BEST cars & SUV’s before they get on our website or Print Ads. Twitter gives you a “heads up” because once daily as needed I will “TWEET” a list of our cars, trucks & SUV’s as they or before they arrive at the lot!
Guess what? I’m following them on Twitter now. And I’ll probably generate a few other followers for them just by posting this blog post – and that is great. When a company does a good job embracing new technology, especially something as old and stodgy as used-car sales, I’ve got to give props.
Tags: Social Media, used cars
RT @jasonmmurphy: [New Post] This Car Dealership Gets It – http://jasonmatthewmurphy.com/social-med...
[New Post] This Car Dealership Gets It – http://jasonmatthewmurphy.com/social-med...