I often hear from clients that they don’t understand why their network isn’t taking advantage of the dealer extranet and training courses on a regular basis. After the initial launch or update of the dealer site and training courses, let’s face it, the honeymoon may be over, especially if you are not regularly pinging the entire network to encourage additional visits to the site and measuring and reporting their progress. If these things aren’t happening, it’s not uncommon for the network to become unintentionally disconnected; after all, they are busy with the day-to-day and hopefully selling your product or service.
Keep in mind that once your dealer site launches, the work has just begun, and you are now ready for phase two, which may include ongoing updates, promotions and communication that will continue to remind and push dealers to the site. The path to achieving this is different for every company, but it should always start with a strategic plan that outlines who, what, where, when, why and how to promote your site, training, tools and resources to your audience. This plan is critical in order to continue to drive traffic and motivate your network.
It is equally important for your network to have a reason to go to the site; perhaps it is because you are offering advanced functionality that will help with their daily responsibilities, incentives or updated courses and content. Whatever the answer may be, ask yourself what steps you are taking to continually engage your dealers and if the messages and content you’re delivering are compelling. If not, it may be time to re-evaluate.
