By Colby Horton
Shop Site of the Month
Four Seasons Auto Repair Centers Inc. - Vancouver, Wash.
www.fourseasonsauto.com
This site's simple, yet effective, home page provides quick information including a customer referral system and a place to sign up for the shop's
e-newsletter. The site also incorporates cutting-edge technology, including an online appointment scheduler and an online employment application. Car care tips, coupons and a map to their locations make this site valuable to visitors.
Web Wise
E-Newsletters: A Few Simple Rules
E-newsletters are an excellent way for you to promote your shop to your customers. In fact, more and more automotive repair facilities are incorporating this feature into their Web sites to inform customers about specials, car care tips or shop news. However, like many organizations, including major media outlets, repair facilities are faced with the reality of contributing to Internet users' information overload factor.
Unfortunately, legitimate e-newsletters are competing with the influx of spam that inundates e-mail inboxes. There's a great chance your shop's e-newsletter is being deleted before being read. Here are a few tips to increase the readability of your shop's e-newsletter.
A good rule to keep in mind is to never send out your e-newsletter if there is nothing new to say. Sending e-newsletters with similar information each time creates a "cry-wolf" effect. This may prevent customers from paying attention to important information you are providing because they are used to reading the same thing every time. Also, try to send your newsletter on a regular schedule. Send it on the same day of the week or same time of day. Customers are more likely to read something they are expecting.
Provide simple, scannable information. Very few people read an e-newsletter in its entirety. They look for information that is pertinent to them. If you e-mail a long newsletter, bold your headlines. For longer articles, summarize the content and provide a link to your Web site where the full article can be found.
Get their attention with the subject line. Keep your subject lines less than 60 characters or it may get cut off in your customer's e-mail program. Try to avoid words like "free" or "deals too good to be true" in the subject line. These words will associate your e-newsletter with spam and cause your customers to delete the information quickly.
Always remind users that they requested the e-mail. And always give them a way to unsubscribe to the information.
Following these steps can help ensure your customers will read your shop's e-newsletter.
Net Numbers
In a recent study, only 23 percent of e-newsletters were read thoroughly, while 27 percent were not even opened.
Source: Nielsen Norman Group
ASA Web Ways
Online Registration Available for CARS 2003
Online registration for the Automotive Service Association's 2003 Congress of Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) is now available on the CARS Web site (www.CARSonline.org). Register using a secure Web site and alleviate the hassle of filling out forms by hand and returning them by mail. In addition to online registration, the new CARS Web site contains the latest information about this year's event, including a complete agenda, information about technical and management courses, and speakers.
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Net Worth is written by Colby Horton, ASA's electronic communications manager. He can be reached at (800) 272-7467, ext. 234, or by e-mail at colbyh@asashop.org.
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