How do ITR menus work for automotive dealerships?

An ITR menu routes every inbound text to the right department automatically. When a customer texts in (via QR code, SmartLink, or campaign reply), OTTO presents a numbered menu — Reply 1 for Sales, 2 for Service, 3 for Parts. The customer's reply routes them into a department-specific intake conversation. Sales captures vehicle interest and trade-in. Service captures vehicle info, issue, and urgency. Parts captures part lookup and order status.

How does TextingOnly integrate with dealership websites?

A SmartLink button on the dealership website opens the SMS app on mobile with a pre-filled opt-in message. On desktop, the SmartLink displays a QR code to scan with a phone. Either path opens the ITR menu and feeds OTTO. Attribution is preserved across the desktop-to-mobile bridge — the same campaign source ID tracks regardless of which device the customer used to enter.

What outbound SMS campaigns can automotive dealerships run?

Service reminders, trade-in offers, sales events, aged lead reactivation, recall notifications, finance promotions, certified pre-owned listings, and end-of-month inventory pushes. Each campaign uses dynamic keywords to insert customer name, vehicle year/make/model, and last service date. Reply automations route every response into the OTTO qualification flow.

How does TextingOnly help with appointment scheduling at dealerships?

The Service branch of the ITR menu captures preferred appointment window, vehicle info, issue type, and urgency level. The structured lead arrives at the service advisor with all the information needed to book the appointment in one call — typically eliminating the back-and-forth of traditional service scheduling.

What customer journey data does TextingOnly track for dealerships?

Every interaction is linked: scan timestamp, QR code or SmartLink source, ITR menu selection, department-specific intake answers, OTTO engagement events, Prepare Caller delivery, rep call disposition, and downstream appointment or sale. Per-rooftop, per-campaign, per-vehicle, per-department attribution all roll up to dealership-wide and group-wide views.

Can TextingOnly be used for both new and used vehicle sales?

Yes. Each lot QR code can carry its own stock number tag, so scans attribute to the specific vehicle. The Sales branch of the ITR menu can offer different paths for new vs used vs CPO vehicles, and dynamic keywords personalize the conversation based on the source vehicle. Trade-in campaigns specifically use the customer's existing vehicle data to make personalized offers.

Automotive SMS Marketing: Lead Capture, Service Reminders & Re-Engagement

Beyond one-way SMS

Most automotive dealership SMS is one-way blasting. Service reminders. Trade-in offers. Sales-event invites. The message goes out; replies land in an unmanaged inbox or get lost entirely. Customers who do reply often wait hours for a human response, by which point the moment has passed.

Interactive Text Response (ITR) menus convert that one-way channel into a structured two-way conversation. The dealership keeps sending campaigns; the replies route automatically to the right department; OTTO captures intent and contact details before a rep ever picks up the phone.

The ITR menu flow for dealerships

Automotive ITR flow

Customer enters via any channel — website Text Us button, direct mail QR, service reminder reply, trade-in offer reply, lot signage QR.

OTTO presents the menu in <3 seconds: “Reply 1 for Sales, 2 for Service, 3 for Parts, 4 for Finance.” Mobile number, consent, and source captured at first send.

Department-specific intake fires. Sales: vehicle interest, trade-in, budget, timeline. Service: vehicle year/model, issue, urgency, last service date. Parts: part lookup, vehicle info, order status.

Prepare Caller fires to the rep: “Mike will call you from (410) 555-0182 today” — the customer is expecting the call. Rep gets a structured lead with full context, not a transcript.

Core use cases across the dealership

Service reminders

Bulk outbound to customers due for service. Reply triggers OTTO: confirm appointment, reschedule, get pricing — all captured as structured intake.

Trade-in offers

Personalized SMS with dynamic vehicle info: “Your 2019 F-150 may be worth $X today.” Reply 1 = scheduling appointment with the appraiser, Reply 2 = more info.

Aged lead reactivation

Past test-drive attendees, expired financing offers, lapsed service customers. SMS re-qualifies the contact at 9-12¢ per touch — vs $5+ on cold calls.

Lot signage QR codes

QR on every vehicle on the lot. Customer scans, ITR captures vehicle interest by stock number, sales rep gets a prepped lead with the exact vehicle in mind.

Direct mail attribution

Each mailer carries its own QR. Scan tracking links every opt-in to the specific mailer batch — per zip, per neighborhood, per campaign.

Multi-rooftop dealer groups

One agency dashboard manages every rooftop. Each location gets its own 10DLC-registered number, OTTO flows, attribution — with rolled-up reporting across the group.

50%+

Callback answer rates lift 50% or more when Prepare Caller fires before the sales call. The customer saves the dealership’s number, expects the call, and answers because the conversation already started in text.

Customer journey tracking and reporting

Every touchpoint links to every other touchpoint. The dashboard answers operational questions that previously required cross-referencing spreadsheets:

Which direct mail batch produced the most service appointments? Per-batch QR attribution rolls up to per-batch lead counts and per-batch appointments scheduled.

Which lot vehicle is generating the most scans? Vehicle-specific QR codes tie scans to stock numbers — revealing which inventory is moving and which is sitting.

What’s the service-reminder-to-appointment conversion rate? Outbound send count vs ITR engagement vs scheduling completion, broken out per rooftop and per advisor.

Which sales campaign is driving the most trade-in appraisals? Campaign-source attribution links opt-in to appraisal scheduling to actual trade-in transactions.

Why this matters for dealer groups

The agency-style dashboard is where multi-rooftop dealer groups see the biggest operational lift. One login. Every rooftop’s campaigns, leads, and reporting in one place. Sub-account isolation per rooftop (each store sees only its own data), but rolled-up reporting at the group level. No per-rooftop platform sprawl.

This matters because most multi-rooftop dealer groups currently run separate SMS tools per store — or worse, no SMS tool at all. Consolidating to one platform with structured ITR routing changes both the operational cost and the data clarity.

TextingOnly is built for automotive dealerships running structured outbound + inbound SMS at scale — one platform across every rooftop, OTTO running every reply.

Transform automotive customer engagement with ITR menus

Entry point captures identity

OTTO runs the play

Prepped contact, rep closes