As you may have gathered by now, my life is intrinsically intertwined with social media.  Facebook, Twitter, blog, Digg, StumbleUpon, and more – I’m into it.  When came time to get a new car, I decided to test the social market in Northern New Jersey where I live, to see which dealerships “get” it when it comes time to not only attract, but transact via social media.

I followed five local dealerships on Twitter, Facebook or both: Chevrolet, Mini, Cadillac, Audi, and Smythe Volvo.  I’m in a Volvo now, so assumed the Volvo dealer might work less hard to get my business since I’m familiar with its product, but I was wrong.

I initially Facebooked Smythe Volvo to get a sense for what it was doing via this social channel.  Nice job with a combination of leasing/financing offers, soapboxing the release of the new S60, promoting of service offers and, what I find most important, socializing with customers.  Once I found myself “liking” the company, I decided to email the Internet sales department to let them know I was looking for three things:

1. A better sales experience than the one I’d gotten at Prestige Volvo when I bought my current car.
2. To transact via social and web means as much as possible.
3. To get within my allotted budget with as many upgrades as possible.

I waited a couple days after sending the email and not hearing back, to post a message on Smythe’s Facebook wall saying that as a current Volvo customer, that I would have expected at least a reply back from them to show interest in my business.  Within 30 minutes, I got a Facebook post back to say that Steve Bergamo, the Director of Business Development at Smythe Volvo, had already sent me two emails back and that I should white list his email address.  I quickly did this, then immediately got Steve’s sent emails offering assistance.  What I really was impressed by was that the social media person at Smythe followed up with me via Facebook to ensure I’d been helped and was completely satisfied.  Without the excellent follow up provided by Smythe’s social team, the transaction (or lack of one) would have ended there.

Steve and I began exchanging emails about the car I wanted, the various features and the financing options available to loyal Volvo owners.  I selected the exterior and interior colors and features via Smythe’s website and could have completed the financing of the car via emails with Steve, but wanted to take a quick test drive, so physically went to the dealership once for a 30 minute visit.  When I arrived at Smythe, Steve had the car ready for a test drive, insisted on letting us experience the car on our own and told us he understood my need for an online transaction and we’d exchange emails again in a couple days.  What, no haggling, making me feel pressured to buy that day or insulting my intelligence with cheesy sales tactics???  What was this, my dream car-buying experience!?

I pick up my new Volvo next week and have nothing but good things to say about Smythe, Steve and the rest of the social staff for understanding social media AND social selling.  It’s not just about posting a $399/month lease offer on Facebook but understanding the needs of busy customers who transact via web frequently and aren’t afraid to walk away if typical, offline tactics are used during social selling.

Well done Smythe!

Veronique