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I think at this point, everyone on the planet has either heard of, or experienced the Microsoft Blue Screen of Death. It’s the one where Windows (pick your version) crashes, and all you have is this blue error screen that means you have to reboot and have likely lost whatever you were working on. It’ll drive you nuts.

There’s another screen of death though that is frustrating, and difficult to deal with. I‘m calling it the White Screen of Death. 

This occurs when you need to write an email to your customers, so you sit down in front of your computer and are faced with a blank, white screen. More often than not, it’s an accurate representation of what is in your head as far as the content of that email you need to write.

So what happens? Often times, we fall back to the kinds of emails we’ve seen others send. Most of the time, that’s not a good idea. What often ends up happening, is that an email gets composed that screams some kind of awful sales only message – many times in all caps, offering “Low, Low” interest rates or rebates. Basically, a message that will appeal to maybe 2% of your list who are looking to buy today. Not to mention the fact that a headline like that shouts an invitation to the least attractive part of the entire buying experience… financing and negotiation. Good times.

Another worst practice that we engage in is taking the lazy way out. After all, we’re in a hurry, got lot’s to do, and need to get something thrown together quickly. So we take a bunch of OEM banner ads and string them together – and call it done. We may (or may not) actually go the extra mile to link those images to a page somewhere, but it’s still a worst practice.

The problem with composing emails like these is that almost nobody wants to see them. They ALWAYS look “spammy” and if they get more than a passing glance it’s a miracle.

It’s a major reason why we created the Firestorm Email platform. It’s a powersports-specific platform, designed by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, who hate starting off with a blank, white screen.

Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, and other platforms are designed for anyone to use them, so they have pre-designed templates that are generic, and more work has to be done to try and make them relevant to our industry than it’s worth.

Firestorm has HUNDREDS of templates that are pre-designed for every relevant, fun message imaginable – and they are powersports specific. You can’t beat that.

Unless, of course, you want to take into account that it can be integrated directly with your inventory if you are also a Firestorm Website client. 

If you want to have an actively engaged customer base, there are a lot of pieces that need to work together, but it all has to start with a foundation that gives you everything you need to build on. Firestorm Email does that by handling 95% of the look and feel for you. 

Firestorm Email has graphics designed so that you can feature every department in the dealership in a single email, and by doing so, engage the broadest number of your customers – not just the guy who is in the final stages of shopping for a unit. Every department in the dealership is (or should be) a profit center. They need to get promotional attention as well.

There are also ways to add content like “5 tips for winter storage” or “Top 5 safety checks before you hit the road” – which would also make WAY more compelling subject lines for the email and position you as the experts that you are.

If you haven’t seen Firestorm Email, reach out and let us show you how crazy simple it is to use. We’ve got folks here who can walk you through the email creation process.