I was surfing the web recently as I often do, searching for car dealer reviews and the other new auto industry buzzwords. I visited a number of different sites and read a few of the reviews for the local car dealers in certain cities and rural areas. Some sites actually had dealer location data I know was over 7 years old front and center.
I decided to check in different regions of the country to see all the differences in what was really out there. Some of the posts, including one from an upset customer of mine, were over 6 years old. I have seen the same post before but I noticed it was titled a bit differently and the information in the source data on it was different again. I realized that I had been away from the dealership sales floor for over 4 years and consulting for other dealers for 3 more years. I had taken screenshots over time because of curiosity. Hey, the customer had every reason to be angry and the sales manager that misled him while I was speaking at Digital Dealer was relieved of duty later. Funny, in speaking with the customer, he informed me that he was so angry; and the only name he could remember was mine. Nobody else ever contacted him to even say thank you, so why would he remember anything good?  Here is the thing though;

It was me who really dropped the ball by relying on others to do my job for me. I remember now, that I was just ready to get out of town so I settled for it. I remember the little voice saying, cover your customers before you go. Anyway, the store still has a review from one of those post at will sites that was not relevant for the last 6 years. There was no moderation and I was never notified that I had been reviewed nor was anyone at the dealership aware of it. One day some time later, a mechanic found it on Google and it changed me forever. That single incident in 16 years was what set my course for dealer training and learning about relationships. Learning more about the consumer - car dealer life cycle, and what most shortens it. After all this time, it is still word of mouth.
The problem with word of mouth now is, it gets frozen in time for everyone to see, forever.

We started building Dealer Report Cards so all of this madness can stop. Dealer Report Cards site is built so that a car dealer and the professional staff can get credit for doing things right and admit when mistakes are made.  They get an opportunity to take ownership of problems as they arise, and if they are wrong, fix them.
They can also explain the situation when the customers  that we all know take advantage and rear their ugly head. Funny how that curve turns down when both sides of the story are presented.
All reviews on Dealer Report Cards.com  are customers verified in the dealership database and have done business there recently. What good is a year old review to a dealer or prospective customer if the employee is no longer there or the customer was having a bad day? None!

If your employee leaves for a different field or they get promoted, had to be terminated to correct unsatisfactory results, car dealers need to watch constantly in case of  reviews out of their control. Do you think it would be helpful if you and all of your department heads were copied on daily customer reviews?
Wouldn’t it be better if your actual customers were invited to review their experience so any problem would be discovered earlier?
You could handle it sooner, have it moderated and be proactive? What? I know reactive right? You would rather find it out in your detailed OEM CSI report wouldn’t you?  (If they were not too mad to do another survey)
Do you think it would also help to have current, more relevant, automatically generated user content available to be indexed ? I think that is what I am reading from all of these SEO Experts and Reputation Managers. I wonder, as search engine logic changes and social media evolves further, if it wouldn’t be better to adapt to both? Social Media experts, (another - created by necessity title) are pondering the demise of SEO. But, what if I want to see something in a full screen?  My handheld is charging, but my great wireless network just will not outperform Wild Blue at the cabin. And another thing I just revealed to you that you did not hear.

REPUTATION MANAGERS.
Yes, that would be reactive to situations that are already bad or problematic and REPUTATION MANAGERS will assist you with crisis control, at a very high price. You would be willing to actually allow someone to select what your reputation should appear like? Shouldn’t you, as a car dealer, insist that your employees follow your lead and show everyone that reputation has been earned and built? Can you do that without good management over time? No, you are already managing your reputation. You need assistance and maintenance after your management.

Listen, Car Dealers!

Use dealerreportcards  for car dealer reviews, proactive automotive reputation management, maintenance and programmable, automated social media. Send your inventory, dealer reviews, and current incentives while staying out of the social conversations and personal streams. Or, jump in and enjoy too! There is no  other solution available that can out perform Dealer Report Cards.  Pricing is available now and we are ready.
Are you?

Visit http://www.dealerreportcards.com and havea look. For more info click on the contact link or call me.

Cheers,

Kim Clouse
Dealer Report Cards
A Dealer Dimensions Company
205-300-8246