In a newsletter this morning there was an excerpt to an article that caught my attention. The headline read, “The future of CRM: email and text messaging.” The link went to the website homepage of the company that produced the article so I do not have a good reference for this, but the headline caught my eye because I think it is the wrong message.
The right message of course would have read, “The future of CRM…Blogs.” There is nothing futuristic about email and text messaging. In fact, I have found email to be a hideous communication tool that few dealers utilize effectively. Blogs on the other hand are futuristic, at least for automotive, and are far more beneficial as a CRM tool.
With blogs, dealers are able to converse with the masses and actually build relationships with two-way communication. Dealers can post information about anything going on inside the dealership, the local community, and the industry. Customers that visit the blog can write back, ask questions, get assistance, complain about things, etc. Anyone in the dealership could theoretically engage in conversation and anyone on the Web can theoretically interface with the blog. Readers are not be limited to only those who are in the dealers (very small) email database that managed to read or even receive the emails that were sent. Anyone with access to the Web searching for things discussed in the blogs could collide with the information.
Again, there are certainly uses and benefits to email and text messaging such as sending service coupons, sales promotions, newsletters, etc., but to say they are the “future of CRM” is not the right message for dealers.
This post is an
excerpt from my blog,
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