Reputation Management Is Not Rocket Science

There are a number of good reasons for operating an ethical and legally compliant dealership, not the least of which is staying out of a courtroom. Perhaps the most important - and most often overlooked - reason is increased customer satisfaction. There are times when an employee may feel that he or she came out the winner by bending the rules a little, but what about the dealership’s reputation? What about the customers who were mislead? It seems like there might be some losers in the game.

Customers often make decisions during a vehicle sale transaction that they come to regret after the “ether has worn off”. Perhaps they read the contract more carefully after they got home or showed it to a relative, friend, neighbor, etc. The customer may notice some imperfections on the vehicle in the light of day and have it inspected by a mechanic or body shop or run a vehicle history report. If there is a concern, some customers will let the dealer know while others will just chalk it up to (bad) experience.

Now, if the dealer is lucky enough to get a chance to rectify the customer’s concern, how will the complaint be handled? Will it be “Sorry, all sales are final” or “You signed the contract”?

What about the customer that doesn’t bother to report the concern? You can be sure they’re telling somebody about the transaction. Or perhaps they’re telling thousands of people via social media?

Here are some examples of after-sale situations that can cause potential customer satisfaction nightmares:

The customer sees your advertisement for a price lower than was charged for the vehicle.
The customer discovers additional charges on the contract for items that he or she thought were included in the price of the vehicle.
The customer discovers that F&I products were sold at much-higher-than-market prices.
The customer discovers additional charges on the contract for items that he or she never agreed to purchase.
The customer gets a call from the lender who asks for verification that the vehicle has a sunroof – and it doesn’t.
The customer discovers that the price of the vehicle was raised to cover negative equity on the trade-in when after being told that the dealer agreed to purchase the trade-in for the full loan balance.
The customer gets a call from the lender asking for verification of an income amount which is much higher than what was written on the credit application.
The customer discovers that the vehicle purchased had undisclosed prior damage.
The customer runs a vehicle history report and discovers that the vehicle purchased was an undisclosed previous rental, a prior demo, flood damaged, etc.
The customer brings the vehicle in for repairs and discovers that the warranty or service contract coverage or term was misrepresented.

Sure, you made the deal. But is it really worth putting the reputation that you have worked years to build at risk? Take compliance and ethical behavior seriously. A commitment to honesty and fair dealing will protect your company, your employees, your customers and, most importantly, your good name.

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Comment by Jim Radogna on May 7, 2011 at 9:39pm: Just came across another perfect example of why it's so vitally important for dealers to ensure that their employees are doing the right thing: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/your-money/08haggler.html?_r=1

Everyone would like to be recognized by the NY Times, but not like this!

Comment by Keith Shetterly on May 7, 2011 at 7:05pm: Jim, the whole Google places with PR . . . is "wow".

Comment by Jim Radogna on May 7, 2011 at 6:54pm: That is powerful Keith. Now that's the kind of page one a dealer can be proud of.

Comment by Keith Shetterly on May 7, 2011 at 6:32pm: I've become very interested in www.PrestoReviews.com for one of my dealers. This example, NOT my dealer, is to Google search "Hawkinson KIA". Google places is rolling up the reviews from PR that come from customers at the dealership--very powerful.

Comment by Jim Radogna on May 6, 2011 at 1:23pm: Thanks guys! The onset of multiple business rating sites has really changed the game for dealerships. A bad CSI survey is confidential information between the dealer and the factory. A bad review on a site like Yelp is between the dealer and the whole world.

To illustrate, I googled a dealership yesterday and here's what I found:

The fifth item on page one was a review site with 50+ reviews and a rating of 2 1/2 stars out of 5

The seventh item on page one was a YouTube video from an unhappy customer trashing the dealership

The eighth item on page one was a review site with 250+ reviews and a rating of 4.9 stars

So, the dealer has done a good job of getting positive reviews on one site, but what are the chances that a customer will even get that far after seeing a 2 1/2 star review and a devastating video?

My point is that dealers can no longer hide from unhappy customers. The only solution, as I see it, is for dealers to insist upon outstanding customer treatment and complete transparency and forego the old school tactics. The "whatever it takes to make a deal" mentality is becoming very dangerous indeed.

Comment by NANCY SIMMONS on May 6, 2011 at 7:30am: Nice share, Jim...Right on Bobby! I know the CSI report in terms of the factory is extremely important; however, if I was a dealer, (private business owner), I would want ALL my prospective buyers, new and pre-owned alike, surveyed. Imagine if we could survey all those who entertained the possibility of purchasing a vehicle from our stores, but ultimately did not buy for one reason or another! How powerful would that information be? ...... to monitor, guage and manage reasons people do not buy from us!!!

With the introduction of Social Media, the exposure to spread a good or bad reputation is multiple times expanded over the traditional "word of mouth" method. Everyone has probably experienced that dissatisfied customer who drove around with a sign on their vehicle.."I bought this lemon from...... Don't buy from ........" Social Media and the internet gives private individuals the ability to spread the word to thousands of people in your community via fb , write bad reviews, make youtube videos proclaiming their dissatisfaction, build a web-site, post on a forum, tweet about bad experiences while in your store, and the list goes on!

On the other hand, turn this into positive feedback, and the rewards are endless!!!!

You decide!!!