How to use WhatsApp in a dealership business

In this article, we will show you how to use the now ubiquitous messaging app in your dealership, to sell cars and offer an after-sales service to your customers

The automotive industry was one of the sectors that the Covid-19 pandemic hit the hardest, and for this reason the entire sector had to respond to the changes brought about by the crisis and the need to minimize face-to-face sales by innovating and implementing new communication channels.

To support this series of changes, conversational marketing is increasingly finding its way into the sales and customer service contexts of multiple industries, of goods and services, including automobiles.

In a world where everything is just a smartphone-click away, the need for companies to explore new online marketing and communication channels is growing: among these, messaging apps are becoming increasingly important, including WhatsApp, which predominates in terms of number of users and usage metrics.

W will find out below how even car dealers can benefit enormously from the popular Zuckerberg app, since, thanks to it, they can reach their target audience anytime and anywhere.

Why use WhatsApp to sell cars?

WhatsApp can play a very important role in facilitating communication between seller and customers and making their relationship more lasting, hence building customer loyalty.

Here are some of the reasons why car dealers should use the world’s most popular messaging app:

1) Bridge the gap with the client: making yourself accessible via this channel means giving the customer the easiest possible method to get in touch, thus encouraging a relationship of trust that often turns into a friendly relationship between seller or buyer;

2) Clients are always reachable: the spread of the famous messaging app allows to have a channel through which sellers can get in touch with potential customers 24/7, going well beyond the opening and closing business hours;

3) You can share images and videos: it is possible to display the cars for sale in real time, through multimedia files that can be forwarded to the client, who has the chance to view the vehicles, without having to physically go to the dealership;

4) Optimize sales times: WhatsApp allows the sales team of a dealership to manage a significantly greater number of customers at the same time and to optimize the time required to close a sale;

Offer after-sales assistance via WhatsApp

In addition to being used during the sales phase (meaning during the purchase of a new or used car, or spare parts) the well-known messaging app can also be used for an effective after-sales assistance.

According to the Washington Post, customer support via messaging apps makes customers 25% more satisfied than telephone assistance, since the messaging channel makes the support experience faster, more innovative and easier for the client.

Several companies in the automotive sector have already chosen to integrate WhatsApp within their communication channels: for example, even BMW has already begun to offer support to their workshop customers via WhatsApp. Their clients can independently inquire about the technical inspection status of their car, and know when they will be able to pick it up, as well as make an appointment with a workshop agent.

There are many advantages to using WhatsApp for the after-sales service in a dealership business, here are some of them:

1) Book a service appointment: to allow your customers to book appointments for purchasing advice or for car repairs, and thus reduce waiting times and gatherings;

2) Send appointment reminders: to notify customers of the date and time of appointments to the dealership or workshop, and reduce the risk of any forgetfulness on their part;

3)Send updates on the progress of the repair: to notify customers about the status of the work or the completion of the repair of their vehicle, speeding up the vehicle pick up;

4) Share documents: WhatsApp can also be used to send payment requests, invoices and all documents relating to vehicle repairs or sales.

How your dealership can communicate with customers through Callbell

If your dealer wishes to start using WhatsApp to communicate with their target audience, you can choose to use a professional platform designed to manage the relationship between your business and its customers: to start, all you have to do is create an account with Callbell and integrate your WhatsApp number.

Once your WhatsApp has been added, you can take advantage of all of Callbell‘s features, here are some of them:

1) Multi-channel communication: in addition to WhatsApp, you can integrate the most famous messaging apps, such as Messenger, Telegram and Instagram Direct, so you can present on the channels that your customers prefer;

2) Automatic distribution of chats: you can invite your team to collaborate and the chats generated will be allocated in a totally automatic way among group members, in order to efficiently manage sales and customer support;

3) Analytics: monitor your interactions with clients through our analytics module, which collects all data relating to the conversations that are generated with your sales and service team;

4) Chat backup: you can download all the chat histories, in order to have a complete report of the interactions between the company and the users who contact you at any time.

In addition to those listed above, our platform will offer you many other features, and in order to access them, simply create a new account, using the form below: