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Reputation Management: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

This post should really be titled: Reputation Management: Can't I Just Ignore It? It's amazing that another year, and some great social media presentations, has passed with dealers still not understanding that they live and die by their reputation. They know it, they don't understand it. Or else everyone would be tackling their Achilles' heel.

It wasn't too long ago that dealers knew their customers by name, would give up their own car if a client's died on the way home, attended the events they sponsored and generally made sure their name (and brand) was sterling. Then came the 'glut years' of the mid-80s to about two years ago. Dealers practically printed money for 20 years or so and then the dance ended.

Volume, massive profits, huge staffs and even traffic have mostly gone in the same direction as reputation: downhill. With the exception of some forward-thinking and consumer-focused retailers, it seems apparent that our industry is completely fine with negative reviews on top of the other diminishing returns already listed. If there is one thing you do around social media, please let it be reputation management.

You may not be ready to tweet, post, share this, stumble upon anything, digg or have a bunch of fans, but chances are you are concerned about something other than how many other dealers sold cars out of your PMA. About 3/4 of the public will now now shop you based on other consumer write ups!!!!!! That should be enough to make any business owner or manager go online
and start participating in something other than fantasy football
leagues (not saying that anything is wrong with that!).

Maybe you don't realize how simple (read: it may not be easy but it's painfully simple) it is to participate, get everyone on board at your store and improve your results, or how quickly fewer than a handful of poor reviews can absolutely kill your business. You do have a choice no matter which way you go.

If you haven't been to Google, DealerRater or Yelp lately, it's time you did. Most of the traffic to your online store has been or will be viewing the comments others have made about you. And do it now. I've been talking with a large dealer in Los Angeles for four months who still hasn't decided to invest time, resources or effort in one of the greatest opportunities for more traffic, greater customer confidence, referrals (remember those????) and just plain common sense. I don't know what's stopping them and I don't know what's stopping you.

Just remember that there are three things that never work in the car business: hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. It's time you got up to speed on your online reputation and got a little more social. Maybe then we can get back to minting money again…

Best practices: Professional Insight, Power Results

October 18, 2009 by Gary May 0
Social Media Is Just Like Sales: It’s What They Say And Think That Matters, Not You

It's been said that in business, it's not what you know but rather who you know. In social media it's not much different! It's not what you say, it's what everyone else thinks about what you say (and who repeats it that has a significant following). In today's auto industry social landscape, we're ruled by "buy here", "special of the day", "unbelievably cheap oil change", "home of the bla-dee-blah-blah-lease!" and more ranting and ravings about "me me me" than I'd care to acknowledge.

It seems that the opportunity for a bunch of folks to so-called "save" their dealership from "paid advertising" and more importantly "relevant advertising" by getting "free advertising" has horribly skewed the mindset of otherwise savvy people. I can see it now…just imagine with me….(fake clouds of dry ice are filling the stage in your mind)…

"Hey boss, you're not going to believe this! Me, your amazing but otherwise unknown Internet salesperson, just came up with the way to save $20,000 a month or more from your advertising budget! Guess who ran smack dab into Twitter and Facebook!? ME!! If you can manage, I'll take over our social stuff and you can get someone else to close all of the leads that I'll generate FOR FREE!! Ok, ok, ok, get this: I'll put all of our inventory on Facebook, post all of our specials on Twitter, upload videos to YouTube for vee-ess-ee-ohh or something like that, put photos of happy customers on Plaxo and get EVERYONE to do write ups on Yelp, Google and all the industry reputation sites! And guess what else?! I'll respond to every comment, squelch every heater and unwind and steal our competition's customers…all online!! Whatdayathink boss???!!"

Simply put, social media is not for advertisements. Ads do have their place in social media and some sites, but that's not the driver. Create conversations, share unique and exclusive information (being first still 'sells'), point to great videos, old commercials, one-of-a-kind events, validate both satisfied and unsatisfied customers, promote events that you donate or are somehow involved with and THEN take time to put up a special (and make it really special)…I hope this is getting through…

If all you post is "buy here, buy here, buy here", nobody will listen, care or interact. Imagine going to a number of parties over the summer, getting to know the regulars, and one person is promoting their business and trying to get you to buy incessantly. You'd avoid them, almost at any cost for sure.

Now think to yourself: "why would I want to be that person online"?

Kick the "sell, sell, sell" binge and start some great conversations that turn to great relationships that turn into a larger book of business than you'd otherwise have. Go be great in social media and leave the selling to the tweeps that don't get it.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

August 2, 2009 by Gary May 0
Week At IM@CS: Chats With The Industry

We typically address vendors here for best practices and today will be a little different. When trying to tackle social media, especially as a support for specific marketing online, it is important to be equipped. Some of the most frequent questions heard relate to getting started and how to be effective.

1. Where?
    Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, CarFolks, Google, Yelp, DealerRater, MyDealerReport for starters

2. Why?
    People go there, trust them, read them, listen to them more than they do with you, period.

3. How?
    Register, watch others, prepare and create a plan. Don't just set up a Facebook page and leave it. Support it with content, staff and purpose. There are now tools to measure your impact, for example on Twitter:
http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/twitter
http://twitter.grader.com/

4. When?
    Now, or as soon as you decide that your brand awareness and people connecting with you are important.

5. Remember
    Nothing, not even the best process, is a silver bullet. If you're planning on inviting more people to come to you, give them a reason. Not a price, not a car, not a showroom, not espresso. Give them a reason that the rest of the 'things' absolutely support.

Nothing can build or kill your business like reputation. What are you doing to ensure that the good outweighs the bad, no matter how accurate? Almost every resource listed above is free, but worth money. You've been spending $3,000-$50,000 per month to get one, two, three customers at a time (at a ridiculously low ROI). Why not spend $0-$3,000 a month using those tools to make sure every customer has a reason to use you, can find you, can read what others say about you and stay connected with you, something they never did with your $20,000 ad that used to run every Saturday.

Stay in front, it's more important than ever today. Stay relevant, your future depends on it. Stay tuned, that way your customers can.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 2, 2009 by Gary May 0