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Responding to Online Reviews
Building a Winning Reputation




                            1
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
                                         2
What We’ll Cover


1. How to establish a review response process for your
   dealership, including who should respond to online
   reviews
2. What your response track record says to sales
   prospects
3. How to respond to negative feedback and turn
   detractors into promoters
4. Why responding to positive reviews is good business
5. Q & A


                                                         3
Why Reviews?


• Increasingly important to shoppers
• Differentiates your store online and builds
  trust/confidence in making a purchase
• More reviews = higher average rating
• Boosts SEO



                                                4
Why Reviews are Important


    • 73% of car shoppers now consult online
      dealership reviews
    • 1 in 5 change their original dealership
      choice based on reviews they’ve read
    • Online reviews trump both dealer
      location and past dealer loyalty


Sources: Yahoo!/Cobalt Dealer E-Business Study         5
Monitor What’s Being Said

• Free tools
  • Cars.com
    DealerCenter
  • Google alerts
  • Notify.me
  • TweetBeep
• Paid tools
  •   Trackur.com
  •   Reputation Defender
  •   BrandsEye
  •   Radian6
What’s Being Said?

           • Cars.com Dealer Reviews are
             largely positive:
               • Average score since launch
                 4.6
               • 81% are 5 stars

           • Keller Fay Group also found
             online conversations about
             autos tend to be overwhelmingly
             positive

           • Some detractors can actually
             build credibility for your store
Keep Reviews in Context

             The
           Number
              of
           Reviews
                                                 Even negative reviews
                                                 have value:
                                                        Drive credibility*
   An      Credible                 The                 Drive review volume to
Educated                          Website
 Review    Reviews                 Itself                outweigh the negative
                                                        Take honest feedback to
                                                         heart to make stores even
                                                         better
           Balanced:                                    Build advocates through
           Pros and
             Cons                                        dealers’ responses




                Forrester, "User Ratings Top Consumers' Online Wish Lists," February 2008
Tip: Have a Response Plan

• Know which sites allow a store
  response
      Cars.com Dealer Reviews
      DealerRater.com
      Google Places
      Yelp.com
• If it is not you, assign someone in the
  store to monitor and respond to
  reviews
• Ensure people responding are alerted
  to new reviews and can access the
  review sites
Tip: Respond to Positive
Feedback
Tip: Always Respond to Less
Than Positive Reviews
         Publicly acknowledge
         feedback in a timely fashion

         Privately resolve issues
Tip: Take Control of Comments


 Directly address the customer’s       I’d like the opportunity to
  concern                               make things right. Please
 Take the conversation offline by
  inviting the customer to contact      contact me directly at any
  you                                   point to discuss. You can
 Save the discussion of “the facts”          reach by email at
  for when you and the customer
  are speaking privately               jsimmons@cars.com or by
 Remember that your response             phone at 312-601-5000.
  influences current and future
  customers
Tip: Avoid a Public Debate
Saving the Sale




                  14
You Can’t Put Lipstick on a Pig
Start With a Good Experience

• The best way to manage risk is
  to start with an exceptional
  experience I the store:
    Create a service-drive culture and
     be transparent with customers
    Don’t let problems walk away –
     ask customers about their
     experience before they leave the
     store
    Make meaningful changes at your
     store in response to consistent
     negative feedback
You Can’t Fake a Good
             Reputation
• Don’t “buy” or “bribe” reviews
• Be wary of companies who
  promise to “clean up”
  reputation
• Avoid having staff, friends
  and family contribute
• Shoppers evaluate
  authenticity
• You’ll get caught and it only
  makes it harder to recover
                                     17
Dealing With Detractors

            • Cars.com Dealer Reviews are
              largely positive:
               • Average score since launch 4.6
               • 81% are 5 stars


            • Keller Fay Group also found online
              conversations about autos tend to
              be overwhelmingly positive


            • Some detractors can actually build
              credibility for your store




                                               18
Responding to Detractors

It’s all about managing your
reputation:
 Directly address the            I’d like the opportunity to make
    customer’s concern            things right. Please contact me
 Take the conversation offline   directly at any point to discuss.
    by inviting the customer to      You can reach by email at
    contact you                      nhummer@cars.com or by
 Save the discussion of “the           phone at 312-601-5000.
    facts” for when you and the
    customer are speaking
    privately
 Remember that your
    response influences current
    and future customers


                                                                19
Saving the Sale




                  20
Identify Areas for Improvement

            I go to pick up the car, and
            when I get in, I noticed the
            passenger seat was wet. I
            check the floor mats, wet,
            the carpet is soaked in
            water front and back.

            It had rained the night
            before, and apparently
            they left the windows open
            in the rain all night.
Beyond Online Response
Taking Feedback to Heart
Tip: Put Customer Service First



 Create a customer focused
  culture at your store:
  Make a top-down commitment
        Owner, senior management team set
         the tone for the store
  Hire professionals with a record of
   service excellence
  Create customer service
   experience at every touch point
Tip: Don’t Let Problems Walk Away



 Ask customers about their
  experience before they
  leave the store
   How did we do today?
   Did you have a 5-star
    experience?
 Develop a post-sale and
  service outreach process
Tip: Hear Your Customers




 Don’t just track what is being
  said, LISTEN to what is said
Tip: Spotlight Feedback


Share reviews with the:
  • Management team
     • Identify trends
     • Review tactics and, where
       needed, refine processes
  • Sales and service teams
     • Reiterate goals
     • Re-enforce policies, tactics
Tip: Make Meaningful Change



 Use customer feedback to
  adjust process
  Take ownership of what went
   wrong
  Correct staff issues
  Improve service quality
  Address policy issues
How JetBlue Made it Better

 “We are sorry and
   embarrassed. But
   most of all, we are
  deeply sorry…You
  deserved better – a
  lot better – from us
 last week and we let
you down. Nothing is
more important than
    regaining your
         trust…
Tip: Be Genuine



Don’t fake your
 reputation
Access all sessions in the
        reputation management lab

• Promote what is available for on-demand
  content:
   Andy Beal
   Charlene Li
   Leading dealers




                                            30
Access All Sessions in the
               Reputation Management Lab

Access additional content at the
Reputation Management Lab
  • Insight from social media’s
    top experts
  • Tips from dealers that you
    can put into practice at your
    dealerships today

  dealers.cars.com/reviews




                                            31
Questions?
  Jack is joined by Dealer Reviews Product Team members Nick Hummer and
       Lauren Beaubien to answer your questions about Dealer Reviews.




     Jack Simmons                Nick Hummer                 Lauren Beaubien
 Dealer Training Manager   Director, Dealer Solutions   Associate Solutions Manager
                                                              Dealer Reviews

To submit a question, send a message to “Host” in the Chat
  window of the WebEx environment with your question.
                                                                                32
THANK YOU


            33

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Responding to Online Reviews: Building a Winning Reputation

  • 1. Responding to Online Reviews Building a Winning Reputation 1
  • 2. 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 2
  • 3. What We’ll Cover 1. How to establish a review response process for your dealership, including who should respond to online reviews 2. What your response track record says to sales prospects 3. How to respond to negative feedback and turn detractors into promoters 4. Why responding to positive reviews is good business 5. Q & A 3
  • 4. Why Reviews? • Increasingly important to shoppers • Differentiates your store online and builds trust/confidence in making a purchase • More reviews = higher average rating • Boosts SEO 4
  • 5. Why Reviews are Important • 73% of car shoppers now consult online dealership reviews • 1 in 5 change their original dealership choice based on reviews they’ve read • Online reviews trump both dealer location and past dealer loyalty Sources: Yahoo!/Cobalt Dealer E-Business Study 5
  • 6. Monitor What’s Being Said • Free tools • Cars.com DealerCenter • Google alerts • Notify.me • TweetBeep • Paid tools • Trackur.com • Reputation Defender • BrandsEye • Radian6
  • 7. What’s Being Said? • Cars.com Dealer Reviews are largely positive: • Average score since launch 4.6 • 81% are 5 stars • Keller Fay Group also found online conversations about autos tend to be overwhelmingly positive • Some detractors can actually build credibility for your store
  • 8. Keep Reviews in Context The Number of Reviews Even negative reviews have value: Drive credibility* An Credible The Drive review volume to Educated Website Review Reviews Itself outweigh the negative Take honest feedback to heart to make stores even better Balanced: Build advocates through Pros and Cons dealers’ responses Forrester, "User Ratings Top Consumers' Online Wish Lists," February 2008
  • 9. Tip: Have a Response Plan • Know which sites allow a store response  Cars.com Dealer Reviews  DealerRater.com  Google Places  Yelp.com • If it is not you, assign someone in the store to monitor and respond to reviews • Ensure people responding are alerted to new reviews and can access the review sites
  • 10. Tip: Respond to Positive Feedback
  • 11. Tip: Always Respond to Less Than Positive Reviews Publicly acknowledge feedback in a timely fashion Privately resolve issues
  • 12. Tip: Take Control of Comments  Directly address the customer’s I’d like the opportunity to concern make things right. Please  Take the conversation offline by inviting the customer to contact contact me directly at any you point to discuss. You can  Save the discussion of “the facts” reach by email at for when you and the customer are speaking privately jsimmons@cars.com or by  Remember that your response phone at 312-601-5000. influences current and future customers
  • 13. Tip: Avoid a Public Debate
  • 15. You Can’t Put Lipstick on a Pig
  • 16. Start With a Good Experience • The best way to manage risk is to start with an exceptional experience I the store:  Create a service-drive culture and be transparent with customers  Don’t let problems walk away – ask customers about their experience before they leave the store  Make meaningful changes at your store in response to consistent negative feedback
  • 17. You Can’t Fake a Good Reputation • Don’t “buy” or “bribe” reviews • Be wary of companies who promise to “clean up” reputation • Avoid having staff, friends and family contribute • Shoppers evaluate authenticity • You’ll get caught and it only makes it harder to recover 17
  • 18. Dealing With Detractors • Cars.com Dealer Reviews are largely positive: • Average score since launch 4.6 • 81% are 5 stars • Keller Fay Group also found online conversations about autos tend to be overwhelmingly positive • Some detractors can actually build credibility for your store 18
  • 19. Responding to Detractors It’s all about managing your reputation:  Directly address the I’d like the opportunity to make customer’s concern things right. Please contact me  Take the conversation offline directly at any point to discuss. by inviting the customer to You can reach by email at contact you nhummer@cars.com or by  Save the discussion of “the phone at 312-601-5000. facts” for when you and the customer are speaking privately  Remember that your response influences current and future customers 19
  • 21. Identify Areas for Improvement I go to pick up the car, and when I get in, I noticed the passenger seat was wet. I check the floor mats, wet, the carpet is soaked in water front and back. It had rained the night before, and apparently they left the windows open in the rain all night.
  • 22. Beyond Online Response Taking Feedback to Heart
  • 23. Tip: Put Customer Service First  Create a customer focused culture at your store: Make a top-down commitment  Owner, senior management team set the tone for the store Hire professionals with a record of service excellence Create customer service experience at every touch point
  • 24. Tip: Don’t Let Problems Walk Away  Ask customers about their experience before they leave the store  How did we do today?  Did you have a 5-star experience?  Develop a post-sale and service outreach process
  • 25. Tip: Hear Your Customers  Don’t just track what is being said, LISTEN to what is said
  • 26. Tip: Spotlight Feedback Share reviews with the: • Management team • Identify trends • Review tactics and, where needed, refine processes • Sales and service teams • Reiterate goals • Re-enforce policies, tactics
  • 27. Tip: Make Meaningful Change  Use customer feedback to adjust process Take ownership of what went wrong Correct staff issues Improve service quality Address policy issues
  • 28. How JetBlue Made it Better “We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry…You deserved better – a lot better – from us last week and we let you down. Nothing is more important than regaining your trust…
  • 29. Tip: Be Genuine Don’t fake your reputation
  • 30. Access all sessions in the reputation management lab • Promote what is available for on-demand content:  Andy Beal  Charlene Li  Leading dealers 30
  • 31. Access All Sessions in the Reputation Management Lab Access additional content at the Reputation Management Lab • Insight from social media’s top experts • Tips from dealers that you can put into practice at your dealerships today dealers.cars.com/reviews 31
  • 32. Questions? Jack is joined by Dealer Reviews Product Team members Nick Hummer and Lauren Beaubien to answer your questions about Dealer Reviews. Jack Simmons Nick Hummer Lauren Beaubien Dealer Training Manager Director, Dealer Solutions Associate Solutions Manager Dealer Reviews To submit a question, send a message to “Host” in the Chat window of the WebEx environment with your question. 32
  • 33. THANK YOU 33

Editor's Notes

  1. Also joining me today are Nick Hummer and Lauren Beaubien, members of our Dealer Solutions team, who will be joining me for the Q&A after my prepared remarks.
  2. I want you to walk away from this session today with three things and some actionable advice you can take back to your stores to drive more sales…
  3. Before we get into how to develop and execute your action plan for responding to reviews, I want to take a minute or two to provide a refresher on why it’s so important to incorporate reviews into the sales process. We went into further detail in our webinar last week on building review volume last week, but I think it’s important to keep in mind why reviews are so important. You can access the replay of last week’s webinar on Dealer Center.
  4. The following are just a few statistics explaining how crucial reviews have become in the car buying process.
  5. Before we get into tips for responding to feedback, I want to talk about the type of feedback that is being left online. A lot of people, particularly in automotive wrongly assume most online feedback generated by consumers is negative. Some of you may find this surprising. As you’ll see in this recent emarketer.com study, online conversations about autos tend to be overwhelmingly positive, with only 11% negative. And that number was backed up by our own analysis. On our recent review of the 139,000 reviews on DealerRater.com, 80 % were positive.So I’m sure you might be saying OK Jack, well what happens if it is my dealership that gets one of those negative reviews? How do Ihandle that? Well that brings us to our first tip….
  6. Instead I recommend that you put negative reviews in context. Do they have one bad review among 10? Well, than that is actually a positive. We know that negative review is actually going to help your store more than hurt. How could that be right? It’s simple… A negative review that is balanced by positive reviews actually lends to the credibility of reviews overall.We know that shoppers look at the overall volume of reviews, they weigh negative reviews in relation to the number of positive reviews, they look at the tone, attitude of the reviewer and they also are understanding that outdated reviews, older than 12 months, may no longer paint an accurate pictureSo what if your store only has a negative review? The first step is to focus on building up your review volume. What if youare consistently getting negative feedback? This is a great opportunity to take a step back and look at your service and your process? Is this an opportunity to train and coach staff? To actually improve your store?  What else can you do in light of a negative review? You can respond, and often times thatresponse to a negative situation can build a more loyal customer or convert others to your brand by seeing how youhandled a negative situation. So let’s get into some tips for how to respond.
  7. I’m going to get into the details of how to respond in just a moment, but before I do, let’s talk about the importance of having a plan for response in your store.Regardless of what type of feedback you find online (or off for that matter), you should have a plan for response.Joe Orr of Dick Hannah Honda does a great job with this and will actually be presenting his stores playbook in another session in our series, so I encourage you all to check that out.
  8. This may sound like a simple tip, but often times we get so focused on resolving less than positive feedback, we forget to acknowledge positive comments that are left. Take this opportunity to show customers you listen and that you appreciate their acknowledgement of the experience you delivered. This goes a long way toward showing shoppers you are engaged, responsive and customer centric dealership.
  9. It is equally important and almost goes without saying that we need to respond to negative feedback online. Don’t let the shopper be the only one telling the story…You can greatly reduce the impact of negative online reviews by respondingShows you listenAllows future readers to see you are engaged and proactively handle problems
  10. So how do you respond to negative comments?Directly address the customer’s concernTake the conversation offline by inviting the customer to contact youOn Cars.com, you won’t have a direct means to contact the reviewer, so this is critical. Leave your phone number, leave your email. Most consumers at this point are not looking for resolution, but it shows review readers that you extended an olive branch.Save the discussion of “the facts” for when you and the customer are speaking privatelyRemember that your response influences current and future customers
  11. Take negative reviews as an opportunity to save a sale…. I love this recent example from our site. The dealer actually sold a car, and the consumer is following up with a positive review.
  12. When we talk about online reputation management, many focus on fixing what you see online. What I’m here today to talk about is fixing problems offline, so you earn a good reputation online.
  13. I want to stress the importance of truly building your net of advocacy. You can’t just go out and buy it or bribe shoppers to contribute. Consumers sense what is real and fake. On one dealer site, a consumer sensed the feedback was too good to be true and noticed patterns in the content that led them to believe the dealership was padding reviews. They contacted the local media.
  14. So we’ve talked about how to build your brand advocates, but I also want to touch briefly on how to deal with detractorsA lot of people, particularly in automotive wrongly assume most online feedback generated by consumers is negative. Some of you may find this surprising. As you’ll see in this recent emarketer.com study, online conversations about autos tend to be overwhelmingly positive, with only 11% negative. And that number was backed up by our own analysis. On our recent review of the 139,000 reviews on DealerRater.com, 80 % were positive.That said, what do you have a negative?First, know that it can actually be a positive. We know that negative review is actually going to help your store more than hurt. How could that be right? It’s simple… A negative review that is balanced by positive reviews actually lends to the credibility of reviews overall.We know that shoppers look at the overall volume of reviews, they weigh negative reviews in relation to the number of positive reviews, they look at the tone, attitude of the reviewer and they also are understanding that outdated reviews, older than 12 months, may no longer paint an accurate pictureSo what if your store only has a negative review? The first step is to focus on building up your review volume. What if youare consistently getting negative feedback? This is a great opportunity to take a step back and look at your service and your process? Is this an opportunity to train and coach staff? To actually improve your store?  What else can you do in light of a negative review? You can respond, and often times thatresponse to a negative situation can build a more loyal customer or convert others to your brand by seeing how youhandled a negative situation. So let’s get into some tips for how to respond.
  15. Always respond, and do so in a timely mannerTake control of the conversationGet the dialogue offlineAvoid a public debate
  16. Take negative reviews as an opportunity to save a sale…. I love this recent example from our site. The dealer actually sold a car, and the consumer is following up with a positive review.
  17. Welcome to the Cars.com Reputation Management Lab! I’m Jack Simmons, Managerof Dealer Training at Cars.com. We are thrilled you’ve taken time out of your busy day to join us here. Our goal is to make it worth your time, giving you quick tips you can use to take charge of online reputation management for your store. This session will focus on a key aspect of reputation management – responding to online feedback. I talked earlier in our tips in 20 session about how to respond to feedback online. This session carries that a step further. We’ll discuss how to take the response one step further, using feedback to optimize your operations.Beforewe get started I just want to cover a few housekeeping items.
  18. Reputation Management is not retroactive. To drive a positive reputation, you’ve got to start in your store, making customer service job number one in all aspects of the dealership
  19. Tip 2. make it part of your processto ensure customers had a good experience. Ask before they leave the store. Follow-up after the sales
  20. We all have a lot of tracking tools and we see a lot of customer insights, but are you really listening to them and using them.
  21. Which brings me to our 4th tip… spotlight customer feedback. You want to give customer insights a megaphone in your store. This is really a way to drive change in your process is to give feedback visibility and importance.
  22. Again, we are not talking about putting lipstick on a pig. If you continually have issues, you’ve got to make fundamental changes to fix problems in the store.Take ownership of what went wrongCorrect staff issuesImprove service qualityAddress policy issues
  23. AfterJetBlue’s meltdown, David Neeleman stepped up to the plate and apologized – promptly.  This is incredibly rare for a CEO to do, and ever rarer for it to be timely. We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry…You deserved better – a lot better – from us last week and we let you down. Nothing is more important than regaining your trustNeeleman said he was “humiliated and mortified” and acknowledged that customers and staff (notice how he cares about his staff, not just his customers) had been through “hell”. Neeleman didn’t end there, he made appearances on the Today show and the “Late Show with David Letterman”, and introduced a “Customer Bill of Rights” that will go into effect.  He also said that each passenger who was on a grounded flight for over 3 hours will receive a free roundtrip ticket as well as a complete refund.The moral of the storyThe lesson here is apologies work, especially when they are sincere and backed up with “we’re going to make it up to you and we are making a plan to prevent this from ever happening again”…that is what regains trust.Neeleman turned this situation into a great opportunity for JetBlue to be a role model for other airlines – not in how they fell, but rather in how they dusted themselves off and rose again to lead in customer service.  Sometimes it takes a few mistakes to rededicate yourself to your goals. 
  24. Faking a solid reputation is not going to get you anywhere….Consumers can sense when something is too good to be true, when it is not real and when you are not being transparent.Don’t say things are fixedBMW San Antonio Store example
  25. For registering today, you also receive complimentary admission to our Reputation Management Lab Online Conference On-demand insight from social media’s top experts, including Charlene Li, Andy Beal and Jared HamiltonTips from dealers that you can put into practice at your dealerships todayincluding Joe Orr, Andrew DiFeo, Jeff Kershner, Tom White Jr., and John D. Hill,