Word of mouth referrals have always the best way to sell cars. Friends, family and networks are the go-to source for finding trusted sellers and online sites make it so easy now. As a dealer, if you’re not paying attention to what’s happening on these sites, things can go very wrong, very quickly.

Online ratings are what brought me to social media marketing. It was 2008 and after 25 years of managing dealerships, I foresaw the direct correlation between online ratings, social networking and business operations. I discovered customers were talking to one another instead of listening to advertisements.

Social media now fuels conversations and online ratings are one of the first places people go when they’re looking for solid, trustworthy advice.

Building and managing your online reputation is no easy task. I’ve seen a couple of dealerships that enjoy over 200 reviews but suffer from an overall 2-star rating. This constitutes a 911 call (if there was such a thing).

When you’ve got a large amount of reviews and your overall rating is very negative, that represents a consensus, not just the few opinions of your disgruntled customers.

It’s impossible to know how many sales are lost due to negative online ratings, but taking action now to prevent disaster will certainly keep you out of hot water.

What you CAN do is take these 7 Right-Now Actions that top independent dealers are doing to secure their online reputation.

1. Make sure your company culture is ready for prime time.

There’s a local dealer here in Southern California who reached out to me to help them with their “Yelp problem.” A look behind the curtain showed me it’s not the online part of their reputation that’s gone wrong. It’s their culture that’s causing the negative reviews, and it affects their actual real life reputation as well.

Their processes are “old school” and it reflects in the customer experience. That fact is reflected in their 100-plus 1-star Yelp reviews.

2. Establish and maintain an internal process for capturing happy, loyal customer reviews.

This starts from the top and must be managed effectively with solid leadership and accountability. An effective process would include clear objectives, training, development, pay plan changes, and a marketing plan to build customer reviews. Your salespeople are your biggest advocates. Leverage their networks and past clients.

3. Recruit reviews honestly, openly and with enthusiasm.

The last employee your customer deals with in their transaction can have the most impact. Train front line personnel to ask for referrals! This works: have your employee look your customer square in the eye and say, “Our business is based on referrals. Would you please share your experience with others online here.” and then offer them a printed reminder with your profile’s URL.

4. Recognize that online reviews are a company asset.

You’re already focused on keeping customers happy, right? Then why not maximize the payoff of those efforts by recognizing that happiness is a valuable online asset. A flock of glowing reviews greases the gears of search engines to greatly increase your exposure in regionally-based searches. Combine that with the powerful effect of word-of-mouth, and online reviews deserve a place under “assets” on your company’s balance sheet.

5. Acknowledge that software can help but it’s not a replacement for hard work.

There are providers out there claiming to “manage your online reputation.” No one manages your business’ reputation but YOU and your staff. Software can certainly automate some of the tasks but a solid internal process to capture happy, loyal customer reviews and referrals is what makes or breaks your success.

6. Convey the importance of online reputation to your front line personnel by motivating them. (i.e.: WIIFM – ‘what’s in it for me’).

When employees see their names in online reviews, it can be very powerful. Many people buy cars after Googling the salesperson. More and more, you’re seeing sales personnel show up in search results for a business. When you incorporate online review building with their compensation, you’ve got an avenue into getting employee buy in.

7. Handle negative reviews quickly, sincerely and with social finesse.

There is a very special way to approach replying to negative reviews. This is where an online reputation coach can really help. It takes finesse and years of online social experience to know how to respond.

Here’s how not to do it: (This is from an actual dealership’s profile). The customer wrote seven paragraphs on why not to buy a car from this dealer and ended the review using all caps, “DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM xxxx”. This was the dealership’s response:

“Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to write your review of our dealership. We do appreciate any and all feedback. It certainly sounds like you had a very frustrating experience with our sales department and we are deeply saddened that your experience with us was less than perfect. We would definitely like to hear about your visit in further detail, so if you have a free moment, please give our Sales Department Customer Service Representative xxxx a call directly at (xxx)xxx-xxxx.”

Three things went wrong with this response:

1.    It could not sound more corporate. In fact, the same canned response is given for every one of their negative reviews.
2.    They refer to her experience as “less than perfect”. Really? I would say it’s a lot worse than that in her opinion. Don’t minimize your customers’ feelings.
3.    The general manager doesn’t even take the time to respond. He pawns it off on someone else.

If I’d been that customer, the store’s response would’ve enraged me even more. Here’s a much better response:

“Wow, how sorry I am that your experience with us was this negative, xxx (customer’s first name). We have failed. I’m xxxx, the General Manager of xxxx and I’d like to talk with you personally about how we can do better. Please call my cell at (xxx)xxx-xxxx. I truly want to make every customer’s experience a positive one and I hope you give me the chance to rectify things with you. Thank you so much for your feedback. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Building, managing and sometimes improving your online reputation will be one of the hardest tasks you’ll ever take on. Take these right-now actions, secure your presence online and become the trusted resource that everyone is looking for.

For more info on the strategies of independent dealers, see Auto Remarketing's Jun 15 issue: "Top 100 Used-Car Dealers: Independents Edition." This issue highlights some of the top independent dealers in the nation in pre-owned performance, plus much more.