Customized mailings help a New England car dealership nudge sales higher

When customers walk into a Prime Motor Group auto dealership to check out its vehicles, they may not drive off with a new car — but they haven’t heard the last of the dealership’s pitch either.

Rather, as part of an aggressive follow-up campaign, Prime Motor dealerships get their messages back in front of customers within days, this time in the form of a cutting-edge and highly personalized mailing that is winning rave reviews for its immediacy and detail — and winning the dealership business with its savvy.

Indeed, at a time when many companies are slashing their marketing due to economic uncertainty, Prime Motor franchises are raising the ante on their direct mail investment. Along the way, the Massachusetts dealership group is proving that smart and consistent customer communications, not fewer, can offer businesses distinct advantages over competitors too skittish to maintain vigorous marketing efforts.

Dubbed the “Thank You for Visiting” campaign, the Prime Motor effort centers on a 5 1/2-by-8-inch postcard that the franchise mails to prospective customers within days of their visit to one of the import dealership’s showrooms or its Web site. Made of heavy, high-gloss stock, the card naturally features the prospect’s name, a minimum for customized mailings. But in an even deeper dive into the personalization pool, the card also provides the names, contact information and photos of the specific salesperson who pitched the prospect and of the sales manager who assisted. Further, the card includes a photo of the exact model, color included, that the mail recipient test drove (or showed interest in online) and a savings coupons for that particular auto.

The card bears a message from a Prime Motor Group general manager: “Thank you for your recent visit to our dealership. I hope you found your sales consultant to be helpful and informative. I want you to know that we are committed to providing you with a buying and ownership experience truly ‘like no other.’” The message concludes with direct contact info and an invitation for the customer to call or e-mail with any questions, comments or suggestions.

When the franchise implemented the campaign, the idea was to make deeper inroads into the finicky Boston luxury car market and to reinforce brand perception of Prime Motor as an industry leader. “We’re trying to give that customer some enticement to return to the dealership and make a purchase,” says Anthony Monteiro, former director of business development at Prime Motor Group and the brains behind the “Thank You” campaign. “It’s absolutely an attempt to establish a relationship and trust, but it’s also an attempt to wow the customer, to receive this postcard and basically run in the house and say, ‘Holy mackerel! Look at this!’”