Lead follow-up guide
RV show lead follow-up: from the show list to the walkthrough.
An RV dealer should message each show lead soon after the show, name the unit or floor plan they walked through, and offer a walkthrough at a time the whole family can make. Then keep following up by text, with their consent, for up to 8 months, because an RV is a big family purchase and families plan for months. Dealer Ad Solutions' AI assistant follows up show leads like any other lead, and towing, weight, price and trade questions go to your team.
Quick questions, no call needed.
Updated 6 min readBy the Dealer Ad Solutions team
The short answer
- An RV dealer should message each show lead soon after the show, name the unit or floor plan they walked through, and offer a walkthrough at a time the whole family can make.
- An RV is a big family purchase and families plan for months, so keep following up by text, with their consent, for up to 8 months, with a new reason to reply each time.
- At the show, write down the floor plan, how many need to sleep, what they tow with, who decides and a clear yes to being texted. Consent stays the dealership's job. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
- Towing, weight, price and trade questions go to your team with the details the family gave; the assistant answers from what your inventory listing says and is built never to quote payments, rates, approvals or trade values.
- Dealer Ad Solutions' AI assistant follows up show leads like any other lead, keeps one memory per family across channels, and books walkthroughs onto your calendar with reminders.
After the show
The show brings a wave, and a list.
RV shopping peaks before camping season. Winter and early spring RV shows bring a wave of leads, families plan through the spring, and many want to be ready for summer trips. The wave ends up as a list: names, and not much else.
Families also research together, at night and on weekends. A message that waits until Monday may get answered by another dealer first. So the work after a show is two jobs at once: reach every name on the list, and answer fast when the replies start to come in.
At the show
Five things to have ready at the show.
Each one ends with the question to ask or the check to make.
The unit or floor plan
Write down the one they stood in. A message that names the floor plan reads like a person wrote it.
Ask: Which floor plan did you spend the most time in?
How many need to sleep
It narrows the floor plans fast, and it is one of the first things a family tells you.
Ask: How many people will you be sleeping?
What they tow with
Towing questions go to your team, so have the truck written down when they do.
Ask: What will you tow it with?
Who decides
Ask early who will help decide, so you can offer a time everyone can make.
Ask: Who else will want to see it before you decide?
A clear yes to being texted
Texting a show lead needs their consent, and getting it stays your dealership's job. Put it on the sign-up sheet in words your own compliance advisor has checked, and keep a record. Texting also goes live only once your dealership's texting registration is approved by the carriers, so check that early. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Ask: Is it OK if we text you about this unit?
The first message
Name the unit, offer a time for everyone.
Message each show lead soon after the show. Use their name and the unit, ask one easy question and offer two specific times. Leave payments, rates and approvals to a person. Say who you are and how to stop in the first text; the example in the plan below shows one way.
The ask
The walkthrough is the ask.
A family that walks through a floor plan together can decide together. So offer times when everyone can come, such as a weekend morning, and send a reminder the day before.
The assistant books walkthroughs and visits onto your calendar with reminders, and moves them on request, so the family arrives when your team is ready to show the unit. Your team gets a briefing on who is coming in and why.
A sample plan
Months of follow-up while the family plans.
A sample to adapt, not a script to copy. The one rule that never changes: every message gives the family a new reason to reply.
Soon after the show
Name the unit, offer a time for everyone
Their name, the unit or floor plan, one easy question and two specific times that suit the whole family.
Example message: Hi Maria, this is Summit Motors. You walked through the bunkhouse travel trailer with us at the show. Would your family like to walk through it again this weekend? I have Saturday at 10 or at 2. Reply STOP to opt out.
A few days later
Something useful
Not "just following up." Send more photos of the floor plan they walked through, or a link to its page.
Week 2
One easy question
Ask about the trip they are planning. One question, one word to answer.
Month 1
Ask where things stand
Make "not yet" an easy answer. Not yet is still a family that is planning.
Months 2 to 8
Follow camping season
One message every few weeks, built around camping season, since families plan through the spring.
One record
One family, one record.
The assistant remembers what the family told it, across text, Facebook, Instagram, website chat and TikTok lead forms. What they said about floor plans, how many they need to sleep and what they tow with stays with the conversation, and your salesperson gets it in the briefing. When a family comes back in the spring, the assistant picks up where things left off. It all sits in your own CRM.
What stays with your team
Towing, weight and trade questions go to a person.
Towing and weight
The assistant answers from what your inventory listing says and sends the listing link. A question the listing does not answer, like whether a family's truck can tow a unit, goes to your team with the details the family gave.
Photos, VINs and voice notes
Customers can send a photo of their trade, a VIN, a screenshot of a floor plan, or a voice note in any language, and the assistant reads it and answers what they sent.
Payments, rates and trade value
Payment, rate, approval and trade-value questions go to your team. The assistant is built never to quote them.
The rush
The rush after the show.
Show weekends and the start of camping season bring a flood of leads at once. Our assistant answers every message within a minute, day or night, and a new lead gets its first text within minutes between 8 AM and 8 PM. Your team stays with the families who are ready to walk through a unit.
The short version
The show list on one page.
- At the show: the floor plan, how many sleep, what they tow with, who decides and a clear yes to texting.
- Soon after: a message to every show lead, naming the unit, with two walkthrough times that suit the whole family.
- Every reply answered fast, day or night.
- Towing, weight, price and trade questions handed to your team with the details the family gave.
- A new reason to reply every few weeks, through camping season.
- Stop the moment they book, buy or ask to stop.
For RV dealers
The show is one lead source. Your whole season is the plan.
See how the assistant, the CRM and the ad team are set up for RVs on AI lead follow-up for RV dealers. Selling boats? Read the boat show lead follow-up guide, or browse every dealer we serve.
On AI follow-up: 5 qualified appointments in your first 90 days, or we keep working your leads free until you have them, for up to 90 more days. Every condition is on the guarantee page.
The store in the examples, Summit Motors, is made up.
Quick answers about RV show leads.
Can the AI assistant follow up on leads from RV shows?
The assistant can follow up on RV show leads. It answers every message within a minute when the rush hits, and follow-up by text for up to 8 months keeps families in touch after the show, as long as you have their consent to be texted.
How can an RV dealer get the whole family to a walkthrough?
Ask early who will help decide, and offer times when everyone can come, such as a weekend morning. Send a reminder the day before. A family that walks through a floor plan together can decide together.
Does the AI assistant answer towing questions?
The assistant answers from what your inventory listing says. A question the listing does not answer, like whether a family's truck can tow a unit, goes to your team with the details the family gave.
What should the first message to an RV show lead say?
Use their name and the unit or floor plan they walked through, ask one easy question and offer two specific times for a walkthrough that suit the whole family. Leave payments, rates and approvals to a person.
Do RV show leads have to agree to be texted?
A dealership can generally text its leads when the lead agreed to be texted, the texting is registered with the carriers, and anyone who asks to stop gets no more automated texts. Getting a show lead's consent stays your dealership's job, so put it on the sign-up sheet and keep a record. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
When does texting go live?
Texting goes live once your dealership's texting registration is approved by the carriers. Registration needs your dealership's legal name and tax ID. Facebook, Instagram and web chat can run while texting registration is in progress.
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