Has anyone used myshopmanager.com?

[prestigeeuropean]

I spoke to a rep from Myshopmanager.com today. It sounds interesting. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks

[AndersonAuto]

I use it and it's wildly successful.

But.... 

Much of what they do is text message based, and no one ignores a text message. This is obviously a good thing, but people also don't like their text messages ignored. A lot of the text responses we get don't need an answer because it's a "how the car doing?" type message that gets a "Doing great, Thanks!" type of response. However, some of the messages will need to be responded to, which means that you have to read them all, and you have to do it in a timely manner.

For me, that means reading through 5-600 text messages a month. It's a lot to keep up with.  It's a fantastic system, but be ready.

[xrac]

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[AndersonAuto]

10 hours ago, xrac said:

What does it cost?

I spend about $400 a month with them. There's a flat fee, then a "points" scheme for the text messages. I do a lot of volume, so I spend a fair amount, your mileage may vary.

I should also mention that they'll hound you for a while about using their full program. I only do the text messages and follow up emails with them. They do postcards and letters and gift cards as well. I have that handled through other services, so I stick with just their texts and emails.

While their text system works fantastic, I've noticed a huge uptick in out google review generation from their follow up emails. We've added about 50 new positive reviews in the last 3 months with them. I couldn't be happier about that aspect.

[prestigeeuropean]

Thanks for your input. I went through their preliminary phone call this morning. It does sound interesting. I will let you know how it works out.

[Andre R]

We have used them for over year now. Customers love the text part and I have been using the reminders for about a month , We also use some of their remade ads and they work well. The cost is $197 a month plus the points. I usually buy the 100,000 points for $950 and it lasts me about 3 to 4 months. You choose who you send too and what they get.

Great marketing tool.

[J.P. GLENN]

We've used My Shop Manager for almost a year. I can tell you that most or our customers LOVE to be texted. Up to this point we have only used their automatic "campaign" for after service Thank-You's and we use it manually for appointment reminders. It has also been good for when you can't reach a customer and some customers are texting for appointments. They do have a lot of other retention campaigns for texting and emailing as well. 

So far My Shop Manager has been good to deal with and overall a decent experience. However, we had an issue last week with the program sending someincorrect messages and were NOT impressed with the way they handled it. We still have no idea if it is fixed or not or what caused it.  To be completely transparent, we us RO Writer and recently upgraded to version 2.0 and it is likely that has something to do with it.  No matter what, no one really seemed to be concerned with customers receiving texts about vehicles they don't own. It completely takes the personal touch out of what texting can offer and we are very concerned about the negative impact it could have caused on our customer base. 

In regards to texting customers, I'd say absolutely do it. My Shop Manager is reasonably priced and at least worth looking at. There are many services out there, so shop around and pick who suits you best.  

[John Fabrega]

Two questions if I may:

1. Do the texts that go in/out of ShopManager.com use your existing shop telephone number, some other number or an email address?
2. If not, does somebody have a good contact there that they could introduce me to that might be willing to discuss an integration?

Thanks!

[AndersonAuto]

The text messages use a unique phone number. You're then sent an email notifying you of the text message. All of your text interaction is then done through your web browser.

I think you can contact anyone there. The salesman who first contacted me is not the same person who handles my account, so I think you can just call them and get a demo from whoever. 

[gandgautorepair]

We've used MyShopManager for a year or more and really like it. Up until recently I answered all the texts myself using my cell phone, anywhere I was even on trips. Pretty simple to do since each text response comes as an email. I now have trained my CR person to do it and made them responsible. I use a combination of texts, emails, and direct mail as follow up, all to our existing customers, and it works well. The text responses after the RO closes is a great way to interact with your customers. The price is very reasonable to me, compared with other things we spend marketing money on.

One thing I especially like is the system of contacts to get a first time customer to make a 2nd and 3rd visit. Works very well.