Reviews and Raves

Making Customers’ Web ReviewsWork for You

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About Me

Jack Simmons• Dealer Training Manager, Cars.com• Over 35 years of automotive retail

experience

Connect with Me:

dealers.cars.com/facebook

dealers.cars.com/twitter

jasimmons@cars.com

What We’ll Cover

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Promote your great reputation to level the playing field and differentiate your store

Understand how reviews have changed the game – completely

Integrate reviews into your processes to identify your fans and get them talking

Establish a response process, including how to turn detractors into advocates

United Breaks Guitars

Source: Dave Carroll, YouTube

“You deserved better – a lot better – from us last week, and we let you down. Nothing is more

important than regaining your trust.”– David G. Neeleman, founder and chief executive of JetBlue .

How JetBlue Made it Better

Banks Listen to Avoid Disaster

Source: Javelin Strategy & Research

Tweet Volume

HBS: Reviews Level the Playing Field for Local Restaurants

What researchers found:

+15-9% increase in revenue per one-star increase

Source: Harvard Business School: Reviews, Reputation and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com. Michael Luca.

No preferential treatment for bigger brands

Higher-quality consumer feedback for indys vs. chains

Tip: Fish Where the Fish Are

Yelp is a great place to find a restaurant – are you focusing your

efforts on the sites consumers use to shop for a vehicle?

Visitors to Cars.com who read reviews are 5x more likely to contact a dealer.

Consumers who read reviews on Cars.com are

more engaged: they spend twice as much time on site and view twice as many pages.2x

5x

Source: Cars.com Internal Reporting, DriverSide/Kelton Research Study, April 2011

91% Price isn’t everything – 91% of shoppers said they would use reviews when deciding on a dealership.

Reviews are Good For You!

Source: Cars.com Internal Reporting; DriverSide/Kelton Research Study, April 2011

Which Dealer Would You Choose?

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Turn Your Fans into Advocates

Monitor Listen to feedback across the Internet

Share feedback across the dealership

Respond Acknowledge and reply to feedback

Correct any underlying issues

at the store

AskDeliver a positive

customer experience

Ask satisfied customers to write a

positive review

PromoteShare positive reviews with

prospects

Reward sales, service staff for

success

Start With a Good Experience

• Top-down commitment

• Service-driven culture

• Recruit for success

• Process

The best way to manage risk is to start with an exceptional experience at your store.

Monitor What’s Being Said

Free: Paid:

Have a Response Plan

Assign and empower

responsibility

Develop policies and procedures

Involve and train managers to

support

Respond to Positive Feedback

Credible Reviews

The Number of Reviews

The Website

Itself

Balanced: Pros and

Cons

An Educated Review

Keep Negative Reviews in Context

What to do if you get a negative review:

• Address and fix problems

• Respond professionally

• Offset with more positives

Tip: a few negative reviews make you more credible.

I’m sorry you had a bad experience here at Simmons Automotive, and I’d like to try to make things right.

Please contact me to discuss at any time via e-mail at jasimmons@cars.com, or call 312-601-5000.

Take Control of Comments

Identify Areas for Improvement

It had rained the night before, and apparently they left the windows open in the

rain all night.

I emailed twice about a car and got no response. When I called and asked about the car, he said,

"oh we sold it," and didn't suggest another car or see how else he could

help me. 

First, the salesman tried to get me to sign a blank loan form...

Instead of telling me it was broken, they duct-

taped it back on and put the new tire on over it!

Use customer feedback to adjust process

• Take ownership of what went wrong

• Correct staff issues• Improve service quality• Address policy issues

Commit to Change

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Don’t Try to Fake Your Reputation

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Question:How do you get customers to

review your dealership?

You Just Have to Ask

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• Mine your CRM database for review prospects

• Target happy customers at the point of sale

• Create collateral directing to your review sites

Tip: Don’t recreate the wheel!

Some sites that have reviews, like Cars.com

have electronic and printed materials available

to you at no cost.

Dealer Spotlight: Greenway Dodge

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A Reviews Success Story

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Review Metrics• Cars.com: 4.7 stars/225+ reviews (since February 2011)• DealerRater: 4.7 stars/ 550+ reviews• Google+ Local: 4.6 stars/180+

Greenway Dodge Chrysler & Jeep9051 E. Colonial Dr.Orlando, FL 32817

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It’s Part of Their Culture

• Buy-in from top management• Integrated into recruiting and training programs• Tied to performance metrics and compensation• Process implementation in every department

Offering the Right Staff Incentives

How Greenway Rewards:

• Tied to compensation

• Spiffs & contests

• Recognition

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Tools That Help Drive Volume

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Campaign materials:

• Reviews landing page at ilovegreenwaydodge.com

• Point-of-sale cards

• E-mail template

• Strong social media presence

Making it Personal With Video

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In his videos, Ricky includes: • Thank-you for recent

purchase• Reminder to leave

feedback• Instructions for writing

a review• Contact information

Ricky also records reminders for upcoming sales and service appointments, all for free via EyeJot.com

Ricky Lopez, Internet Sales Director

On Negative Reviews…

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“We don't mind if we get a bad review. Nobody's 100% – if they are, people worry you're writing them yourself."

"We call the customer to see if we can make it right – they may either take it off or amend their review."

Closes 3x as many Cars.com-attributed leads

Internet vehicle sales up 1,000%10x

3x

Source: Greenway Dodge

Some Drive

90+ Minutes

Brings in out-of-market business

By the Numbers

Q & A

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