9:27 pm, March 28, 2012
A SEAT dealer has harnessed the power of social media to transact almost an entire new car deal exclusively on Twitter.
Car buyer Jemma Rowberry bypassed more than a dozen dealers closer to her home in Crawley, West Sussex, to buy her new Leon SE Copa from Essex retailer Grants Seat, after the firm made contact with her through Twitter.
The entire sales process was completed online through a series of tweets, with Jemma only making the two-hour drive to Grants’ modern showroom in Braintree twice – once to sign the paperwork on a PCP deal and once to collect her shiny new car.
Now the delighted 29-year-old IT Test Analyst is full of praise for Grants’ 21st Century approach to car sales and customer service, and is keen to recommend Twitter and Facebook to others in the market for a new runaround.
Rowberry said: ‘If Grants hadn’t contacted me online and put in so much effort to finding me the right deal, I wouldn’t be driving around in my brilliant new car today.
‘The dealership may be nearly 100 miles away but they made the whole thing so effortless for me from beginning to end and they’ll definitely be the first people I contact when I’m in the market for another car.’
Rowberry first fell in love with the Leon SE Copa last November, but was unable to find a suitable finance package and ‘tweeted’ how disappointed she was. Grants Seat managing director Darren Williams – who had set up a keyword search for ‘Seat’ on Twitter – spotted Jemma’s message and replied offering his assistance.
The conversation continued online through the dealership’s lively Twitter page – @grantsseat – as Williams and his team found Rowberry the perfect PCP deal.
Williams said: ‘We were very happy to be able to help Jemma get behind the wheel of her dream car and have really enjoyed getting to know her online.
‘This goes to prove the power of social media to all the sceptics in the motor industry. By putting in a bit of effort and striking up a real friendship online we’ve sold a car and gained a valuable customer who will use us again and recommend us to her friends and family.’
Seat UK head of marketing, Chris Stevens, said: ‘I’m really pleased that our dealers are engaging so effectively in the new world of social media.
‘This example of best practice by Grants SEAT in Essex only goes to show how effective social media can be if used really well.’
