In this PowerSports Business article, Fran O’Hagan of Pied Piper Management Co tackles the question “Respond by e-mail or telephone?” in regards to customers that email in for the first time.

He comes to the conclusion that the most effective way to respond to a customer’s email is to do both, and to do both in a timely manner.

He explains “first treat the lead as if no telephone number was provided and send an e-mail answering any questions. But also immediately follow-up with a phone call, not to obviously sell, but simply to let the customer know that you sent a response to him and you want to be sure that your message made it through the customer’s spam filter. The result is a positive first impression even if the customer doesn’t have time to talk.“

According to this WebProNews article, 58 percent of Americans conduct online research about a product or service before they purchase. That equates to more than half of all purchasing decisions being researched online. Additionally, almost a quarter of all Americans have posted a review about a product or service online. These staggering numbers really outline the power that the internet has on the purchasing decisions of American consumers.

Here are some other great bullet points from the article:

Kelly Blue Book has recently announced its seller toolkit, a product aimed at helping people sell their vehicles online through social networks. Check out the video below for details, or view the WebProNews article here.