Welcome listeners and readers!
Speak Up—Effective Communication is THE show on the Aftermarket Radio Network, aimed at helping you communicate more effectively!
I’m your host Craig O’Neill and today’s topic is one of several episodes aimed at DIGITAL communication when things get SLOW.
Slow?
Yes. I know! Auto repair shops have been booming since late 2020.
Things have been good for long enough- some have forgotten, and some newcomers to the industry have never known- the REAL normal that some of us who have been in the industry for a long time are all too familiar with. The reality of “feast or famine.”
What do we mean by this?
IN busy times – it’s a feast.
IN slow times – it’s a famine.
It can sometimes creep in slowly – and it’s easy to be in denial until you’re confronted with it.
Let me paint a picture.
You’re the busy shop – normally a week, two weeks, or more out on your schedule – great reputation – great team.
Things slowed down a little – not too slow – it was even nice to catch your breath a little and organize the shop.
You notice your schedule for the next week looks rather light and you’ve nearly finished all the work presently in the shop. More will come in over the weekend, you figure, and as you head out the door, you assure yourself it always comes back around. At home – you feel preoccupied and you are aware of the struggle to be present with the family at times over the weekend. Your wife notices too and asks if everythings OK. Yeah – you say – shrugging it off – it’s just a little slow. You offer a reason like – It’s deer hunting season and you tell her not to worry about it. But you are – and you don’t sleep great.
Monday morning comes and you head out with optimism, after all, there are lots of cars on the road in your commute – they all break down eventually! Then you roll into the shop – and you see an empty parking lot, worried expressions on staff. What do you do? An empty parking lot is certainly a catalyst to revisit your marketing strategy.
And as we’ll explore here – it is also a catalyst to review our outgoing communications by our CRM. A common and arguably necessary tool in our digital communication tool box.
While I’ll never claim to be passionate about marketing – (I prefer to point to several friends and colleagues who are!) – I am passionate about relationships, communication, and technology and our Speak Up listeners certainly recognize that here in the aftermarket we are all in the relationship, communication and technology business.
When confronted with a slow spell –
There are two communication behaviors that I see most commonly when businesses are confronted with a slow spell like I described. This episode will focus on our digital communication.
One is to go online where their other shop friends in the area or other areas or in their Facebook or social media groups and asking them if they have seen similar trends.
(This is a questionable place to do research mind you – as many people online paint a prettier picture of their circumstances than reality would permit)
The second most common thing I see shops do is gravitate to their CRM platform and send out a slow day Text Blast.
The later item is our focus today.
Real quick – the former (speaking with other shops) is healthy, and sure to garner some form of sympathy, encouragement or suggestions…. don’t get caught in the trap of feeling like there is nothing you can do just because others are having the same problem – you should definitely hire a marketing professional and you definitely should seek advice from genuine experts or your coach.
While Slow day text blasts are often cited as effective – the actual impact is varied and is typically met with far more opt-outs than new appointments. Done frequently – you can even risk doing harm to your long term strategies- and in some cases expose your shop to the risk of lawsuits. That said – Opt outs ARE telling you something –and that is our focus for this episode.
OK – a slow day or week is upon you. (by the way – if you are still that shop that is always busy – keep listening – this topic has points you should pay attention to as well.) Go with me here.
A slow day or week is upon you – you haven’t seen it like this in awhile. You sit down and send a text blast. As you watch for the responses to trickle in – your heart sinks as you receive 1,2,3, dozens of OPT OUTS.
An out out is the term used for when a client types STOP. Let me take a second and explain what this means. After typing STOP Their number is now BLACKLISTED from receiving texts from your marketing number unless they type START… and to do that – you’d need to spend time talking to them… and it seems they are not interested in talking to you at this time.
A question I get is this: how can I opt someone back in… well you cant… this happens at the carrier or aggregator level and is a client’s only mechanism of control to block unwanted messages or solicitations.
Now:
If you’re like me an opt out of a message you’re sending – if your honest – hurts your feelings a little bit. Afterall – why wouldn’t this person want to hear from you? You’re awesome! Your team is awesome too. And I’m sure you would do an awesome job getting their car in for service right away this week!
I want you to understand – Opt Outs suck. But they are a good thing.
What?
Yes –
The client is telling you how they want to communicate with you. When you received an opt out – that IS the client telling you something very important. Opt outs are your clients telling you that you are not discussing what matters to them. This means you haven’t done the work to help them to understand the benefits of this particular method of communication and how it serves them.
In other words – they were never opted in in the first place – and this was an unwanted message. Speak Up Listeners will have heard this before but I’ll say it again: The thing people are most interested in talking about is what matters to them. Who is your slow day blast for? Really? That’s for you. And everyone on the receiving end knows it
Now hey- you’re thinking. I have a friend who swears these slow day blasts make bank and salvage a bad week. I just need to focus on the content of my message to get the same results. I’ve learned this over the years: No one cares about the content of your message until they know how much you care. Your friend who has an effective text campaign has likely cultivated a list and has done the work of communicating with some form of regularity on relevant topics for the individuals and has EARNED influence.
But instead of lingering on this question I see people make assumptions that the content of their message is the culprit – and conversations on what they should do to remedy the opt out problem tips towards comparing messages that purportedly work for others. Assumptions are a topic we’ve discussed on the program, along with Cecil Bullard (Check out Speak Up Episode 7) – and in this case we need to focus on the term in our digital communication too.
I highly recommend our listeners check out the book – How to Win Friends and Influence People IN THE DIGITAL AGE. You can purchase it here Amazon. On the topic of assumptions – In Chapter 5 – “DISCUSS WHAT MATTERS TO THEM” of the Carnegie associates book – I’m quoting here:
“When it comes to mattering to others, you must discuss what matters to them. Assume all else will fall on deaf, or in this case dull, ears…
This is an interesting principle to consider given the spirit in which the vast majority of people communicate today. Most messages are primarily meant to educate others about our lives or our products, to reveal compelling portions of ourselves we think others would be attracted to. While this appears to be an assertive strategy, it is actually a passive strategy in that it requires others to connect with us…
…The trouble is, that’s marketing monologue, not relational dialogue. It’s assumption, not assimilation. When assumption guides our efforts to befriend or influence others, the results end up on the wrong side of memorable.
Carnegie, Dale; Associates. How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age (Dale Carnegie Books) (p. 80). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.
The book is a gem as it will help you understand that your ability to influence is – NOT ABOUT YOU. Our goal on Speak Up! is to cultivate a community (people typically call these an audience in their CRM)
Marketing dialogue – not relational dialogue.
Did you catch that?
I often ask people what CRM stands for.
The answers I hear from our industry are most commonly this: Customer Retention Marketing.
CRM in most other industries is recognized as Customer Relationship Management. The distinction is clear – and if you’re with me on this – you’ll recognize that the hurt feelings behind an opt out are, perhaps – perfectly rational after all. As in this context – the customer is opting out of a relationship with you.
Quoting from the book again:
“Often forgotten is the long-term plan. Businesses call it a customer retention strategy, but it is best thought of as a lively, meaningful dialogue among a community of friends. If the foundation of all long-term success is the establishment of trust-based relationships, then the goal of all interactions should be to convey value as soon and as often as possible. There are common hurdles to overcome.”
Carnegie, Dale; Associates. How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age (Dale Carnegie Books) (p. 81). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.
I feel the Carnegie associates are correct. The question for the aftermarket then -are what types of hurdles in our shops must be overcome
Here are the top five hurdles I see.
1.) We’re not communicating to people on what matters to them. Most shops use a CRM to send out reminders about things the client declined on their previous visit – or attempt to entice clients back to the shop after they haven’t been in for awhile. In other cases – we see shops recognizing that a sales/marketing approach to text or emails is not working – and that perhaps educating the client about things related to vehicle maintenance may be more effective. WHile several people may appreciate this – once again – we’re falling into that trap of communicating things we feel are important and beneficial and projecting ourselves as a subject matter expert…. This is a passive approach once again – and the client is the one burdened now to connect with you.
2.) We’re not cultivating a community. I see shops create ‘audiences’ and ‘segments’ you can call lists of people those things – but that is merely a list of people we’re hoping our message will stick to. A community has members. Member of a community understand the value of being a member and there is regular interaction – not spontaneous outreach when the shop suddenly has the time because it became slow. I consider my friend Jeremy Glassco from App Fueled an expert on this topic and we’ll tackle better ways to communicate the value of membership in our community in a future episode with him. Check out my conversation with Jeremy in Speak Up! episode 6
3.) We’re not gaining an Opt In for the purpose we seek in the “slow day” scenario.
There is a very healthy conversation that must take place for this scenario. ANY business can see a slow day. You don’t need to call it that. You can call it the immediate opening list. You can then ask your clients if they would like to be added to that list.
Another suggestion – let them know when they add themselves to that list – vehicle pickup and delivery can be done for them for added convenience. (If you’re slow – you’ve got the time!)
The point is – the ASKED to be added to this type of message and you can BET they will be happy to receive the message. Don’t just send these types of messages to your ENTIRE client base… and there is good reason for that.
4.) Mass blasts without express written permission are against the law.
I am not a legal expert – but I can tell you this – every text that you send which encourages an action is considered a promotional text. This requires EXPRESS WRITTEN Consent.
- Sign a form / Check a box /
- I.e.. Doctors office
5.) We do not have our business oriented towards customer relationships.
And that is the topic of an upcoming episode. When we improve our client relationship capabilities we can and shops DO prevent the occasional slow spell from being a real famine. As far as Slow Day Blasts: Please consider NOT relying on these. It is my professional opinion that while they can work – they need to be done VERY tactfully and in a way that does NOT compromise your long term CRM strategies. Far better – on a slow day… pick up the phone and connect with people. Begin with a simple question that shows you genuinely care about them.
Let me again thank our sponsors who make topics like this available to you, our listeners – and let me encourage you to check out
For our listeners – if you have questions for me, any of my prior guests- go ahead and send them to speakup@craigoneill.net.
We appreciate hearing from you on anything that helps -or learn more about topics that you would like to hear more about – or speak up on yourself!
Remember to LISTEN UP to our other shows on the ARN –
Carm Capriotto’s – Remarkable Results Radio
Matt Fanslow’s – Diagnosing the Aftermarket A-Z
Hunt Demerest’s – Business by the Numbers
Brian and Kim Walker’s – The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast
Chris Cotton’s – Weekly Blitz
Once again thank you to our sponsors –
Thank you for joining us –
As always- listen up before you Speak up!
I also want to thanks to Tracy Capriotto our producer and the team at ARN who – help us cultivate great content from industry experts for all of you!
Thanks for reading and listening-up before you SPEAK Up!
Take care with your digital messages!
