We get the question alot ... how do I get a copy of both emails that my staff sends out and ones they receive?

If you are using our email system there is a solution!

Get with your team captain to learn more.  If you are feeling brave you can read more here.

The Facebook Like and Twitter Tweet buttons are now available on our dealer RV inventory and library pages.

We wanted to do this right so each of our dealers has the best possible chance of success.  We can't share all of our secrets on our public blog but here was our approach...

Get Shoppers coming to You
One of the best things both Facebook and Twitter ever did was provide the Like and Tweet buttons.  When your website visitors click them they are kept on your site but info about your RV and a link back to your website is sent out to all your website visitor's friends.

The Right Image
It was important that we could determine which photo was displayed on the Facebook wall.  Harder to accomplish than you might think, but we did.  The picture that gets displayed is the primary outside shot.

Comments Rule
Facebook itself says that a post with a comment will be considered more of a Top Story than a post that doesn't have a comment.  We were able to get commenting built into the Like button on the dealer sites in most browsers.  Some browser version are still learning to play well together with Facebook.

An example of the Facebook Like in action:

Step 1: A website shopper clicks the Like button on one of your inventory or library RV pages

 

Step 2: The website visitor is prompted to write their own comment.

 

Step 3:  The link and comment immediately display on the visitor's Facebook Wall AND all their friends' Wall.

 

Need convincing that Facebook is a realistic method to reach out to over 600,000 shoppers?  Check out Facebook current statistics here. Twitter has their own 200,000 plus following as well.

It's not about whether to use tools like these, it's a matter of using them in a way that makes sense for your dealership and the goals you are working hard to achieve.

New RV listing slideshows!

• Can be used with Featured RVs, or Specials, or even sorted by unique tags.
• Completely customizable and themed to fit the style of your site.

Click here to try out some examples.

 

No one likes spam. A few weeks ago, our email server ended up on a few different blacklists from large amounts of spam being sent from our server. In case you don't know, when a server gets on a blacklist it's like a patient in ER. Critical Emergency, get the defibrillator kind of thing.

It didn't take long to locate the issue ... a spam script was guessing user names and commonly used passwords until it was able to login to the mail system. From there it began mailing the spam out, and several hours later the server was on a few blacklists. In order to correct the issue, we found the offending account and made some password changes. Then we began submitting removal requests for the different blacklists.

There's a couple important points to bring up with this situation. It's important to realize that this is fairly common for spammers. A bit of advice: try using more secure, strong passwords; you should stay away from most commonly used passwords, dictionary words, and number sequences. Try to mix lowercase and uppercase characters along with symbols and numbers. Your password length should be around 12 to 14 characters or longer if you can remember it. If you write your password down, put it in a secure place. Another good point to bring up in this situation is that managing email requires technical knowledge from someone that knows what they are doing.

Thankfully we were able to have the problem resolved in a short period of time, allowing us to keep emails going and business moving.

We get the question alot ... How can I sell my rv parts and accessories on our website?

Of course the answer is as simple or complex as you want to make it.  First, let's review the different current known methods of doing it along with the pros/cons.

Distributor Solution

This is the most common that you see online.  You put a link from your website out to your 'branded' online parts store provided from your distributor.  Anything you sell from that you make a %. The pro is that it's easy to setup and run; requires little to no effort or cost on your part.  The cons are that your margin may not be what you desire and you really can't change or modify the way it looks or behaves.

At a recent NTP show an anouncement was made that NTP and Systems 2000 had formed a partnership for passing part/accessory data back and forth.  A great idea and we'll see how it pans out and evolves in the future.

Built In Storefront

Some website provider companies offer a built in module for you to sell parts/accessories on your website.  There are some providers that advertise this as a viable solution, but I havn't seen any of these in action yet.  The pro might be that it is built into your website and should look/feel like your site.  The cons are that you still need to have someone responsible for inputting and keeping up with all the data and photos.  Before jumping into this option I would take the time and make sure the system has all the necessary tools and features to process orders efficiently and compliments the way you want to do business.

Stand Alone Storefront

This is the one you are thinking of if you are looking at campingworld.com, rvpartsoutlet.com, or rvwholesalers.com.  This allows you to control your own destiny.  It's really a hybrid of the first two. One pro is that it looks/feels like your current website and your customers won't feel a difference using your website or your accessories storefront.  Another pro is that you'll have tons of products in their to sell.  The con is that it will require a ton of effort at your dealership to upload/manage the information and photos as you are essentially building your entire parts/accessories catalog online.  Keeping up with the constantly changing prices, specials, etc.. can be a challenging job by itself.

There are many different stand alone storefronts to choose from online.  Doing a quick search will return hundreds of options.  One we've found success with is www.Volusion.com.  Just make sure any solution you choose has the right tools and features to run things the way you need them to.

First Things First

Before you start down the road on any of these solutions I encourage you to ask yourself the BIG question... What is my purpose for wanting to sell accessorries on my website?  We all know the answer right?  You want to make more money.  Sell more stuff.

The next logical questions are...

• What will it take for you to actually make money (be profitable) at selling online? Consider up-front/ongoing cost, resources (people), profit margins, etc..
• Can you offer a competitive price? Comparison shopping is as easy as click, click on the Internet. Not having competitive pricing not only loses you a sale, but even worse can hurt your credibility online.
• How will you advertise you have an online storefront or are you thinking of just 'cherry picking' the folks who are currently coming to your website?

What to do ... What to do...

So, you've answered the questions and now you've figured out that you can make money at this.  The next step is to start thinking like your customers.  Think about things that interest them.  Think about the sales process and at what point can you upsell?  Put yourself in their shoes.  Here are some proven ideas to get you started selling products through your website and make money doing it!

Get Started

Sounds simple doesn't it? Yet, why do so many folks ask questions and get educated only to think that somehow knowledge by itself puts more money in the bank.  Knowlege only ads value when you put your knowlege to work.  So..

• Get a simple stand-alone store on your website or ask your website provider if they have a comparable module you can use.
• Start off with 10, 20, or 30 of your best selling/margin products.
• Get good photos, maybe a how-to video, some testimonials on each product, and tell folks how each product can help them.
• Advertise with simple ads on your website.
• Watch it work ...you'll get results if you follow the steps.
  

Pakcage Your Products

One competitive pricing strategy is to make up your own special product packages.  Maybe each package has 3 to 5 different accessories.  Much like the manfucturer has option packages.  Do the same on a simpler more cost effective scale with your accessories and see what happens.  Offering product packages changes the way shoppers compare you to others allowing you to hold better margins all because you cared enough to put together a total solution for your customers.

Email Responsibly

Email your current customers with new products and special offer, but don't spam them.  Make it a timely valid offer with info on how this particular product will help them in some way.  Solve a problem for them?  Make life easier for them? You can even keep your email copy simple and link back to your website for the special offer.  It allows you to reuse the web page offer on your site and email plus it gets them back to your website.

Accessorize Your RV

I remember back in 2007 when I purchased my first RV.  I even purchased from a dealership who was using our RV website design service doing my best to support our clients.  Believe it or not at the time of sale I wasn't even offered any accessories.  I had spent time looking online and knew of at least 5 different goodies that I wanted.  Now, they probably had their reasons for not offering, but I can't imagine I'm the only one who wants goodies with their RV.  What if when you listed your inventory on your website you could also list a few popular accessories to add-on or accessorize their RV.  What if you could even allow your website shopper to choose from those accessories and get a complete quote on the RV and accessories?  Be it a solar panel, step rugs, assist handle, hitch, bug screen, or slide toppers.  I've seen this in action on a dealer's site and it works.  It's simple ... just give folks the opportunity and you'll be surprised.

Let me know how you progress by adding your comments below.  Have you found something that works or doesn't work?  Let me know...

If you are interested in how we might be able to help your dealership be successful with selling accessories online or if you have questions about being more successful with your website itself just let us know by emailing us through our contact link.  We are here to help.

These additions, changes, and fixes are now available for InteractRV Dealer clients.

• NEW FEATURE: VMail -Right from your control panel you can easily create and send video email to your future and current customers.
• NEW FEATURE: ClickToCall - Get your future customers calling you from your website.  All leads get put right into the Simple CRM making it super simple to keep track of them all.
• NEW FEATURE: SendToFriend - Your site visitors now have the ability to tell their friends about a page or RV on your website with just a few clicks.
• CHANGED: Inventory Detail Pages - display video, 360 tours, photos, and floorplans now all in one viewer area on the page.

These additions, changes, and fixes are now available for InteractRV Dealer clients.

• CHANGED: Made Testimonial feedback field larger for longer testimonials.
• ADDED: You Save now calculates on Thumbnail view for RV listing pages
• NEW FEATURE: Testimonial/Feedback report so you can easily find/list all your testimonials and turn them on/off and even add a photo.
• NEW FEATURE: Website Survey report so you can easily get a quick summary of what folks are saying about your website ... what they like and wish you'd improve.
• CHANGED: Moved call tracking reporting around a bit so it loads more quickly.
• CHANGED: Made call to action text links to buttons for better visibilty on the pages.
• NEW FEATURE: Buyers Order PDF automatically created after the Build Your RV is completed by your website shopper.
• FIX: Make by Type List - search results now display automatically without having to click again.

If you have questions about any of these additions or new features please call your IRV Team Member to learn more at 800-515-9672.