We get asked a lot of questions about texting. We get asked about reviews, about collecting payments via texting, and everything in between. But perhaps the most overlooked question we get asked is this: what should I text?

In this blog post we’ll discuss the common things that dealers should text in a dealership service department.

1) Texting Updates to Customers

Dealers should overcommunicate constantly. That’s even more true in a service department. Dealers cannot and should not just wait for dealers to reach out about the status of their boat, or trailer, or tractor. Dealers need to overcommunicate to the customer and ensure they know exactly what’s going on.

There is nothing more frustrating for a customer than to drop a machine off at a dealership only to have complete silence on the status of the machine. Is it fixed? Is there a delay? Is there something else wrong? When will it be done?

Never ignore the customer.

I’ll even go so far as to say this: if a customer is having to text you to get an update, that’s probably a bad sign. It probably means your not communicating enough.

So, the first thing to text a customer is updates on units that are in your service department.

2) Upsell Requests

Once you tear into a boat or a tractor you will often figure out that something else is wrong. That is an opportunity for you.

You can reach out to the customer and see if they will allow you to fix something else.

This is the second thing you should text a customer: “It looks like the fuel pump/tire/etc. is broken as well. Would you like us to fix that too? “

Do this immediately, be honest, be transparent. If you’re all those things, you can easily and often upsell the customer.

3) Seasonal Service Reminders

Recently I was talking to a dealer GM and he lamented that a MAJOR problem for their dealership was low service demand in the winter—struggling to keep techs busy—and extreme busyness in the Spring, Summer and early Fall.

My response was simple: smooth out that demand.

Send text messages to customers asking them to come in January and February for seasonal service instead of waiting until May or June. Ask them to do winterizations during slow times of the year.

There are multiple ways to engage with customers in your service department to smooth out demand.

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