PART 1: A LEADING VENDOR’S PERSPECTIVE
What others say about you is more important than what you say about yourself. Think about that statement for a minute. If you’re a business, reputation counts. And if those who’ve done business with you have good things to say, why not encourage them to spread the word? That’s something successful dealerships have been doing online, via sites like DealerRater. In fact, a recent study conducted by DealerRater, in conjunction with Dataium also discovered that those stores that boast more positive, genuine reviews online are also those that experience higher lead conversions. And yet the idea of “reputation management” still seems a bit of a myth in some quarters.
To help get a handle on what it really is about and how to use it effectively, Canadian auto dealer conducted a two-part investigation. In this, our first instalment, we interviewed Heather MacKinnon, Vice-President of National Accounts for DealerRater and asked her what dealers need to understand and adopt when it comes to successful reputation management.
Check back with us on July 2, where we see how one Canadian dealership has really leveraged the power of online reviews to drive growth.
Heather MacKinnon, Vice-President of National Accounts, DealerRater
HE: As a recognized pioneer in the field of reputation management for dealers, do you feel that perhaps the concept is still misunderstood by many?
HM: I would agree that this is still a problem. Many dealers don’t have a strategy and look at reputation management in a negative light, as something they just have to do. There is a perception that those posting reviews are ticked-off, high maintenance customers and this is probably the biggest misconception, that reputation management is a defensive strategy. At DealerRater, we’ve always advocated that dealers should reach out to their happy customers and ask them to write and post a review. If you ask them to share their experience they are often happy to do it. The result gives the dealer powerful third party testimonials that support that process.
HE: We’ve seen a trend that among those dealers who understand reputation management, the tendency is for them to perform really, really well. What do you think are some of the key factors that help drive that success?
HM: I think it’s down to employee engagement at the dealership level, 100 per cent. Dealers that struggle with their online reputation tend to do so because they don’t communicate the process with their staff, about the individual role each employee plays in the customer experience. By contrast, the stores that do really well, are the ones that have their employees completely dialed-in. Individual employees can look and see a whole list of positive comments related specifically to them and can place them in front of a consumer. It’s a great way for them to earn business. For those dealerships where the staff has complete buy-in, it almost becomes a competitive project. And the more recent the reviews, the more powerful they are.
HE: There seems to be a growing trend in the number of companies claiming to offer “reputation management” services but also a consensus that real reputation management can truly only be handled by a particular business or dealership itself. Would you agree?
HM: I think it’s important for dealerships to be able to effectively manage their staff and their customers and use education and review sites to really communicate the types of experience customers are having. Using a third-party provider that provides cookie-cutter responses and that doesn’t really understand your business or the experience it offers, can often serve to only infuriate your customers. People can tell when a response isn’t genuine and there is nothing worse than such a response to a negative review — it only serves to add fuel to the fire. At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of every dealer to be aware of negative reviews and respond to them accordingly.
HE: A recent DealerRater/Dataium study showed a correlation between positive online reviews and higher conversion rates. What do you think drives this?
HM: I think what happens, is that a DealerRater audience tends to be very transactional. Generally it’s a low funnel audience that is using our resource to determine where they are going to buy a service. As a result, when that audience comes across dealerships that have negative reviews, that only serves to highlight the stereotypical experience they want to avoid. Even when a dealership has zero reviews, the audience doesn’t tend to want to interact because they’re venturing into the unknown. By contrast, when a dealership has a high score and recent content, they tend to be drawn toward it. For example, let’s say you’re searching for a hotel on TripAdvisor. Naturally you’re going to be drawn to the hotel that has the highest ratings and the best reviews, because you’re more inclined to believe what others are saying about it. There’s a perception of trust and it’s the same for dealerships. Positive reviews are that verification that consumers are having a good experience and we’ve seen that higher reviews lead to higher conversions because of it.
HE: There’s been a growing trend of dealerships asking customers to write reviews on individual staff members. Do you think that’s something we’re likely to see continue and evolve?
HM: We’ve definitely seen this as an emerging trend among progressive dealers and employees are starting to really understand it. These reviews help differentiate the employee and the dealership and stores are starting to leverage that. Some dealers are placing pictures of each staff member with links to reviews about them on vehicle detail pages. For a dealership’s pre-owned business this is particularly significant because consumers tend to be more sceptical about used vehicles than new ones. By having reviews on individual employees, consumers can see how each staff member is rated and when they come into the store, they will ask for that specific person, based on the reviews they’ve read about them as part of their online research when shopping for a vehicle.
HE: What do you think are some of the main reasons why Certified dealers on DealerRater appear to have significantly higher engagement with online audiences than those that aren’t?
HM: I think it really boils down to a couple of things. Dealers that are Certified tend to be those who are on the offensive. These are stores that are utilizing review content to market themselves, they are posting content on their websites, Facebook pages and their employees have bought in to the process. The other factor is training. The training that DealerRater can provide offers all kinds of strategies to introduce real reputation management into the sales process, whether it’s via email, over the phone, or physically in the showroom. The combination of using the right tools, undergoing that reputation training and the strategy behind leveraging online reviews is what helps you stand out. I think that is a major factor in why Certified dealers tend to score higher when it comes to audience engagement, compared with those that are not.
HE: What would you suggest are some of the key aspects dealers need to consider when developing an effective reputation management strategy?
HM: When it comes to reputation management, perhaps the most important consideration, is to never put your eggs in one basket. Don’t restrict reviews to a single site and also, make sure you’re aware of Google’s page one reputation. Stores can do their own homework by typing in the name of their dealership and being mindful of the sites that show up on a page one search. In Canada, both DealerRater and Google tend to really pop up on page one searches, so it pays to have a nice balance between two sites like these.
HE: Looking towards the future, what are some of the trends you see emerging when it comes to reputation management and how will this likely impact the auto retailing industry?
HM: Based on our observations, one thing you’re likely to see is more and more dealers surveying a customer after every experience, whether its the vehicle delivery or each service visit for example. Additionally, you’re likely to see them use sites like DealerRater and Google to truly monitor that experience with their customers, and not just trying to capture the positive experiences. I think this is also going to result in greater integration between the OEM and the dealer. A lot of the OEMs are surveying customers after their dealership experience on sites like DealerRater, so we see opportunities for combining efforts to make it easier for the consumer but also providing greater third-party benefit for the dealership by integrating with DealerRater on that particular survey. Additionally you’re also going to see more reviews focused on fixed operations. Consumers tend to be more excited about buying a car than bringing it in for service. Dealers are starting to focus a lot more on their service business to drive revenue so you’re going to see an emphasis on customer reviews relating specifically to the vehicle servicing experience.
For more information about DealerRater, visit: dealerrater.ca
