The numbers told a stark story to Helmi Felfel. How many unread emails were in his inbox? More than 5,000. How many unread texts were on his phone? Zero.
In the midst of rethinking his marketing and advertising plans, Felfel, president of Planet Automotive Group, realized he needed to move beyond traditional outreach and include texting in his efforts to better engage customers across his three Charlotte, N.C.-area dealerships.
"You can call them, and they'll put you on 'ignore,' " Felfel said. "You can leave them a voicemail, and they won't listen to it. You can send an email, and they won't open it. People are busy. I know I am. So to ask people to dedicate a certain amount of time to read an email or talk to somebody? Doesn't happen. But on a text — on their own terms — they seem to want to make it happen."