The Value of Responsiveness in Online Reputation Management
“You better take a look at this,” your Internet Advisor says gravely. He pulls up a review on your Google My Business profile: a 1-star rating from a customer who visited your dealership months ago and you haven’t heard from since. But maybe it’s not so bad; it’s just one review, right?
That’s when you find out the review’s also been posted on Yelp, Facebook, Cars.com…
The Cost of a Negative Review
One thing the Internet isn’t lacking is places for people to speak their minds about your dealership. You’ve no doubt heard the statistic that 80 percent of people will change their mind about a business after reading unmanaged negative reviews,1 but it bears repeating.
For a 28-store dealer group with 5,212 visits in one month, that means over 4,100 prospects potentially lost due to bad reviews—on a single site alone. When you do the math and multiply this number by what you pay for a third-party lead (or worse yet, your PVR), that is a lot of potential lost revenue.
That – as well as the fact that 85 percent of people trust an online review as much as a word-of-mouth recommendation2 – makes the consumer- and automotive-specific review sphere incredibly valuable territory for your dealership.
Why Your Response Matters
With these numbers in mind, it’s clear that you can’t afford to focus on only one or two sites. However, the other extreme is just as costly. We recommend first focusing on the 5-6 most-trafficked review sites (depending on region), including Yelp, Google My Business, Facebook, Edmunds, and Cars.com. You can see which pages are applicable to your dealership by viewing the “Reputation Management” page in the Digital 360 Dashboard.
We track Review Responses because responses are the best way to defuse a negative review and turn a poor experience into a potential value-add. By addressing the concerns of a current customer and showing prospects that you take negative feedback seriously, you can boost both your customer retention and your CSI. Additionally, responding in a timely manner (for the Nissan Digital Evaluation, we look for responses within 4 business days) you can ensure that you connect with the customer while they are still engaged, which provides a higher likelihood of resolution.
The benefits don't end there. In a survey of consumers who posted a negative review and received a response from the business, 33 percent followed up and reposted a positive review while 34 percent deleted their original negative review.3 Some social media sites (another important source of reviews) have even started showing typical response times for businesses, making effective monitoring and communication more important than ever.
All too often, businesses get so busy contending with negative online reviews that they fail to recognize the favorable ones. However, a positive review of your dealership can also help to attract new customers, increase brand loyalty and potentially increase revenue. Simply encouraging satisfied customers to write about their respective car buying experiences – and thanking them online when they do so – can greatly enhance your dealership’s credibility.
See real results from your online reputation
Continued attention to online reputation reaps big rewards. Dealers with an average star rating of 4 or higher experience a 21 percent higher year-over-year sales increase than dealers rated 2 or lower.4 In addition, stores participating in the Dealer Digital Evaluation who improved their online reputation the most saw an average increase in web traffic of 20 percent.5
As you might guess from the numbers above, it doesn’t take long to start seeing the results from investing in your online reputation management. Thoughtfully read and respond to each new review you receive and you’ll be safeguarding your dealership’s online reputation and avoid turning away potential buyers.
1 Cone, Inc. Online Influence Trend Tracker
2 BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey
3 RightNow Retail Consumer Report
4 Case Study: IHS Automotive Provides Proof That Positive Consumer Reviews Drive Business
53 Birds Marketing Dealer Digital Evaluation Cross Quadrant Analysis