Can We Sell Cars On Twitter?

I was recently asked if it were possible to sell cars using twitter. When I said absolutely, you could see the wheels of doubt begin to spin out of control. I started to sell the idea when I realized I was in the midst of a non-believer at which point I stopped trying to convince the uneducated and changed the subject.

See, it isn’t my job to convince you. It’s my job to show you and the question you should be asking is, “How do I sell cars using twitter?” to which I would be more than happy to show you. Right now there are thousands of people tweeting about their potential purchase and very few people are listening and those that are listening aren’t paying attention, they are selling. They are using twitter like a cold call sheet and invading the space of a potential customer by saying things like, “We have the best deals in town, come see me at ABC Dealer” What they should be doing is treating as if they were trying to get a date with the prom queen. You have to strategize your approach and here are a few tips to keep you from looking like said dealer.

Use Twitter search
Retweet and favorite said potential
List potential customer
Wait

How To Sell Cars Using Twitter

The second part of this conversion only works if the first part is handled correctly. The first part is designed to open a line of communication and start the conversation moving towards the ZMOT or zero moment of truth. In this case I would say that would be when the customer walks through the door.

Initially you are essentially cold calling but you are handling the potential customer in a way that feels more like a warm lead. You are tuning into the conversation and offering assistance. This looks very different from trying to sell your car by posting prices or making the mistake of turning into a commercial and saying “come on down we will take care of you” this is a huge mistake that almost everyone makes.

To make the transition you have to understand that you are building a relationship from the ground up and if done properly you could build a career and never have to take customer on the lot so treat it with respect and it will take care of you.

Unsolicited support is a great way to offer potential customers a helping hand. If you can offer more support than the other guy, YOU WIN and most of all the customer wins. That is what social media is all about offering support with no way of knowing whether it will be received and reciprocated.

Selling in a digital age requires you to let go of your fear and just help people. Quid Pro Quo is over and the sooner you make a shift in the way you aggregate information the sooner you can reap the benefits of the information age.

How powerful is "Advanced Twitter Search"?

Check out the video how to sell cars on twitter Targeted Search

Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets".

By: Used Car Ricky

2013 #RockTheVisor

Automotive Zealot & Social Butterfly

Sell More Cars Manny Luna!~

Comment by Robert DeForge on April 17, 2013 at 5:24pm: Amazing...gave it a try as described....and had a nice twitter chat regarding pre-owned cars in our inventory, just based on a post like described in the YouTube video :)

Comment by Mathew Koenig on April 17, 2013 at 1:25pm: When speaking of using Twitter search, I have dealer clients that have had some (little but some) luck with advance search using phrases like this: car shopping near:"Kalamazoo" within:50mi

This helps them see if people are in the market "now" for a vehicle.

In Google's recent March presentation regarding mobile shoppers, they showed that over 50% convert (contact by phone, email, text, chat or walk into a business) within 1 hour - THIS IS HUGE!

In November, xAD/nielsen & telmetrics study showed that the mobile Auto shoppers 'intend' on buying within 24 hours!

All of this makes the ZMOT (that good 'ol zero moment of truth online) more important than ever so that the FMOT (First moment of truth - visiting the business in person) happens at our dealership right?

All that said...I agree with everything except the 'wait' part. If 50% will convert within an hour and 50% say they 'intend' on buying within 24 hours and btw, a large percentage of these shoppers are saying incentives and price are important to them in this phase of shopping....wouldn't it make more sense to take the shot in that moment of tweeting?

I know, it could come off cyber-stalkerish but there are two options here.

Option 1: Watch, wait, hope they pick you

Option 2: Send them a message saying something enticing, preferably with a link to some incentive offer that will encourage them to consider your store.

If they don't respond to your @message then what did you lose? Nothing. If they do respond, you may get an opportunity to sell a vehicle.

Twitter is a challenging bird (pun intended) but there are some opportunities to take the shot and as Wayne Gretzky said, we miss 100% of the shots we don't take :)

Comment by Randall Welsh on April 17, 2013 at 1:06pm: Integrating your email campaigns (special/coupons/promotions) with your dealerships Social Sites (i.e. Facebook, & Twitter) as well as popular sites (i.e. Groupons/Thrupons) to allow for a more wide spread marketing approach with little hassle to your dealership. By automatically posting specials/coupons/promotions to each of these sites it will allow your prospects/customers to view your promotions via each medium (emails, coupon sites, Facebook and Twitter.) When the special/coupon/promotion concludes, be sure to remove the offer off of each site as well. In the case of the posting of a special/coupons/promotions from sites (i.e. Groupon/Thrupons), each time a customer prints a coupon, some vendors have an API, that places their name on the coupon and when your prospect/customer prints your special/coupon/promotion, it will automatically post it to Facebook and Twitter and informs all of their family and friends that they just took advantage of your offer…..going viral immediately. rwelsh@cimasystems.NET

Comment by Robert DeForge on April 17, 2013 at 12:46pm: Follow parts of it...unsure why she would pick used car Rickey 4-1 over the other tweets for just saying 'fun' I agree with the hard sell being to much.....people do not like being hit up on their social sites.......is there a spot in between that would be more effective? Worth a try though....thanks for the info.

How To Sell Cars On Twitter Part 1 | Automotive Social Media Expert Advice

How To Sell Cars Using Twitter

2013 #RockTheVisor

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