What this helps you do
Sending a Blast delivers your message to the phones and computers of everyone in the audience you pick who is on Blasts, and by email to the customers on your list who are not on Blasts yet. You can send now, schedule for later, or repeat weekly. The composer supports formatting, links and images (a photograph of the unit that just landed or the worn part), up to three attached files (the clinic schedule, the seasonal checklist or a campaign bulletin as a PDF), a YES or NO reply the Hub counts, and Send a test to me so you see exactly what customers will receive.
When to use it
Use it for the messages a customer is glad to get because they asked for that kind of thing: the unit somebody asked you to watch for, new models on the ground, the season's parts and accessories, getting ready for the season ahead, a manufacturer campaign courtesy note, a service closure or a change of hours by department, a demo day, an owner clinic, and, once a season at most, an honest note about trading up. The one-to-one notes, the ready note and the part that is in, go from Conversations to one person.
How to do it
- Open Send, or start from one of the starter templates your Hub seeds for the ready note, a status update, the part that is in, an appointment change, a seasonal note, a campaign courtesy note, a closure, the unit somebody asked about, an owner event and the occasional trade-up note.
- Pick the audience the message is relevant to: Shopping & Availability, Service, Parts & Accessories, Owner Updates, Events, a product line, one store. Pick All Customers only when it genuinely concerns everyone.
- Type the message and add a photograph if it helps. Attach the checklist or the bulletin (up to three files, 5 MB each).
- For the unit somebody asked about, an offered service slot or a clinic, ask for a YES or NO reply and the Hub counts the answers. A YES tells you who is interested; a person follows up.
- Read the Delivery panel: one Blasts credit per customer on Blasts, one email credit per customer still on email.
- Click Send a test to me, then choose Send now, Schedule for later, or Repeat weekly for a what-is-arriving note.
- If you are sending to All Customers, confirm with your passkey or on your phone when asked.
Example
A cold front is forecast for the weekend. On the Tuesday the service manager picks Owner Updates, writes what to check before the first freeze and how to book, attaches the checklist, and clicks Send now; the owners who ticked it hear before the weather does. On Thursday a snow warning means the shop cannot open before ten, so at six in the morning she picks Service, says so, and adds that anyone with an early slot will be worked in. The read count tells the team which of the morning's customers still need a call.
Good to know
- A person sends every message. The Hub does not know that a unit arrived, that a job closed, that a part is in or that a campaign applies to anyone. Your dealer management system, your parts counter or the manufacturer's bulletin tells you; you tell your customers.
- A campaign or recall Blast is a courtesy message beside the manufacturer's and the regulator's required notification, never instead of it. Say so in the message, and point at the official notice for the authoritative detail.
- An immediate send is held for about a minute so you can cancel it from Sent & Scheduled; nothing is charged for a cancelled Blast.
- Delivery counts come from the Blasts app, not from tracking pixels; read counts appear where your account's sending lane reports them. Neither is a confirmation: ask for a YES or NO reply when you need an answer.
- A YES reply is a customer's own answer, which the Hub counts. It does not put a unit aside, book a slot or take a deposit; someone on the team does whatever comes next, wherever that lives.
- Recurring Blasts, such as a weekly what-is-arriving note, are managed under Sent & Scheduled: pause, resume or delete them there.
- If a manager's Blasts require approval (Settings; off for a new dealership), their send waits under Sent & Scheduled until an administrator approves it.
- Write the holiday hours for every department in one message and schedule it for the week before. A scheduled send costs the same as one you type on the day.