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MARKETING

Top Reasons to Avoid Buzz Words: aka

"Dear Valued Customer"

By Derrick Woolfson
Dear valued customer. Okay, let’s back-up
one step. For those that receive emails or While you might think this is a good thing. It As for the template(s), try and condense
letters that say “dear valued customer” do might not be. As you are asking the customer your content into one cohesive piece of
you ever sit back and wonder why you’d 3-4 times if they had a good experience. They correspondence. Where you can ask them
receive something like that? Where if you could probably write about their experience for a review and if their experience was less
were so valued why they could not bother on getting too many surveys, calls, texts & than pleasant the ability to speak with the
to use your first name? And no, it is not emails! manager. Less is more.
about ego or that “how dare they not know
my name,” but instead it's about being That said if your OEM sends out a text or Bottom line: asking for feedback is crucial,
transparent without being overly cliche. pre-survey survey than it is not necessary BUT chasing for feedback on what was an
for you to call those who have already otherwise good experience is not necessary.
In a recent post, I talked about over sending completed the OEM pre-survey and/or In fact, it is best to use the instances in which
emails, and part of the issue with using “dear have left feedback on social media. What case the customer did complain or have an
valued customer” aka buzz words is that it can you can do, however, is comment on their issue to better understand if the breakdown
turn the customer off. Especially (as mentioned feedback - with a personalized response - was a one-off or it was a personnel issue that
above) if you are over sending emails! thanking them for their review. And use needs to be addressed.
that saved time by calling customer who has
Think about it for a moment, here is a sample not submitted anything or those that have How do you handle the “after” service
workflow for after the service appointment: submitted an issue. correspondence? n
1. Dealer Thank You Email w/ Review
2. OEM Dealer Thank You Email
3. Dealer Email Asking for Review
4. OEM Dealer text/email pre-survey
survey
5. Dealer Phone Call/Text
6. OEM Email reminding them of survey
thanking them again
7. OEM Survey

Besides that being way, way too many emails,
calls, and texts for an appointment (which
when you sit back seems a bit silly) have you
ever taken a minute to look and see what the
content was in the email?

Here are some common examples of the text
and emails that go out in between the pre-
survey surveys.

Email: Dear Valued Customer, thank you
for servicing your vehicle here with us at
(dealer). We appreciate your business. If
there are any concerns, please feel free to
contact me? We look forward to seeing you
on your next visit.
Text: Thanks for servicing your vehicle
here with us at (dealer). We appreciate
your business. Please feel free to reach
out with any questions or concerns.
GIADA Independent Auto Dealer APRIL 2018 | 35