By Carol Marshall VP of Operations, ActivEngage, Inc.
According to a recent survey, 59% of auto buyers said dealership reputation was the most important factor in selecting where to visit. Understanding that car buyers visit less than two dealerships before making a purchase, it’s imperative to make your dealership their first choice — especially in a slowing market.
So, how do we leverage powerful reputation management to put ourselves in a position to win?
Customer Experience & the Pressure to Perform
Every manufacturer has customer experience standards that need to be supported at the dealership level. We understand from the manufacturer perspective what boxes should be checked in the buying process and delivery. Millions of marketing dollars are spent demonstrating what that buying experience should be like and setting high expectations in consumers’ minds. Dealers then pay even more money to train, manage and support every way possible to meet those expectations and increase customer satisfaction scores. These scores can mean additional money from the manufacturer, better vehicle allotment and other incentives for dealers.
All of these consumer experience requirements then trickle down to our associates who are delivering on the front lines. As strong as our processes and support are for those customer-facing employees, bad reviews will happen. The tone is off, a word is left out of an email, there was a long wait for F&I, or the shopper simply had expectations that could not be met. Whatever the reason, let’s explore how to manage through the reality that exists, to achieve the online reputation you need in order to thrive in this slowing market.
Reputation Management: Know Your Audience
First, we need to understand how today’s consumers view reviews and the importance of responding. The biggest pitfall of perfection is this: your customers don’t trust it; a long list of five stars will be seen as fabricated. It’s actually better to have a combination of stellar reviews and less than stellar.
As for responding to feedback, take time to respond to all reviews while understanding that the true audience is the one who hasn’t done business with you yet. Clearly, you want to assist anyone who genuinely experienced poor service with you. However, the real audience, and who you should keep top of mind, are those customers you hope will choose to visit you in the future. In your response, you can let them know what your standards are, as well as how you view your customers and business. This is how you can win more hearts and minds.
Getting more Reviews is Easier Than You Think
As for the scoring, it’s simple math. In order to mitigate the effect of a poor score, you need to increase the volume of ratings you receive. This is especially true now that Google has dropped its requirement that there be at least five reviews before they publish any. Today, if only one review has been made, it’s published. So, how do you get more online feedback?
Beyond offering “rate your experience” surveys to buyers and service customers, consider what else you can do. Think about all of the interactions between your dealership and shoppers during their buying journey. Where else might you want to get feedback on the quality of the customer experience?
Google suggests integrating a link for reviews in your email marketing. Think of all the consumers you are touching through email. What a great way to get feedback and possibly help craft more effective messages in the future. Remember also to give simple instructions on how to go through the review process.
The Untapped Potential of Customer Feedback
Another area to look at is online. I’m sure many of us have been hit with the ask to rate sites we’ve visited. What about the conversations provided on those sites? Your dealership staff is included in the reviews you collect now. What about the staff you have representing you online? Given that over 90% of buyers begin the process online, why wouldn’t we want to ensure that part of the consumer experience is up to expectations?
These online conversations typically should be the meet and greet and needs analysis stages of the buying journey. How is that going? With often more consumer interactions on your site than deliveries each month—imagine the untapped potential. This provides an entirely new area of your process in which you can and should survey shoppers.
Asking your shoppers to quickly rate the interaction with your online team at this step allows for confirmation that you are on the right track to meeting expectations and winning that valuable visit in store. If you have a skilled, well-managed team handling online conversations, it should be a sure way to get high scores and increase the overall volume of reviews.
5 Key Takeaways
In summary, here are the five key takeaways from this article that will help you to enhance your dealership’s reputation:
1: Ask for reviews and accept that they won’t all be five stars
2: Respond to all customer feedback and remember your audience
3: Include a link to
review in your email
marketing
4: Include instructions on how to leave a review
5: Offer the chance to leave a review immediately after online conversations
Don’t miss Carol Marshall’s upcoming session at DD26 Orlando on Wednesday, April 10, 2019: 2:25 PM – 3:15 PM. After this presentation, you will be equipped with actionable ways to leverage online reviews to impact SEO, CSI, and sales.
About the Author
Carol Marshall, VP of operations at ActivEngage, has 20+ years of automotive experience. She’s held positions with national organizations including Mazda N.A. and AutoNation as national manager of eCommerce field operations. EMAIL: [email protected]
