Dealer Reputation Management

A Step-by-Step Approach to Managing Online Reviews

1. Get Top Management Buy-in

a. Must change entire mindset & culture of store

2. Motivate Sales Teams, Service Writers, Parts & Body Shop personnel

a. Salespeople work their pay plans
b. Remove all spiffs & replace with $25/review for 3.5 / 5 rating or better.

Facebook reviews count only if accompanied with photo of customer with car

c. Must have 5 or more reviews per month
d. Pay out weekly in store meeting with whole store

i. All reviews (good & bad) are read
ii. Discuss what was done / learned
iii. Spiffs distributed like awards ceremony

Deal with the Negatives

Managers are responsible for all bad reviews because no one should leave the dealership unhappy

1. GM calls every unhappy customer
2. If satisfied / resolved, ask customer for revised review
3. If no phone contact, GM responds via email with the tone “Customer is always right.”

How to Get Started

Establish the right to solicit a review, and then inform the customer you’ll send an email follow up

• Ask in person at time of delivery – NOT BEFORE
• Train Staff on the Following Script:

Would you folks do me a favor? We mainly promote our dealership from within and it would mean the world to me and my family if you would share your experience here at <Dealership Name> online. If I send you a quick link would you do that for me?

• Do not have customers submit reviews from dealership computers – review sites track IP addresses and may blacklist you.

Get a Jump Start

Sales

1. Go back 1 – 3 months and pull all “5’s” and “Y’s” – (New car smell worn off after 3 months)
2. Have people call with review-gather script
3. If yes, follow-up with email template

Consider additional employee / management contests

Service

• Service review email template sent to satisfied customers after follow-up calls
• Customers that submit reviews are sent $5 Starbucks card incentive
• Every good & bad review is read every week
• Spiffing is ‘pool’ system, distributed evenly across service team

• 4-star-plus review = $10
• 3-3.99 star review = $5
• < 3-star review = pool docked $5

Joe Orr from Dick Hanna Honda presented First Impressions Now Happen Online at the 8th Digital Dealer Conference in Orlando resulting in this step-by-step approach to Reputation Management. *With permission; joe@dickhannah.com.