What does your PRICING have to do with your REVIEWS?

[joe.pistell]

Joe & Marc,

Some of the worst reviewed dealers are the largest in their markets. Why is that?

Boat loads of Traditional Advertising.

Our industry marketplace is gigantic. Frickin everyone drives a car. If a dealer has the inventory SIZE, or the right franchise, then spending big big money in Traditional Advertising has excellent marketing ROI. This behemoth spending drives traffic right to the dealers site (bypassing the common shopping path: google >> AT & Cars, etc...)

When your the 800lb gorrilla in your market, your waste can be bigger than some of your competitors budgets. A monster dealer can take the 30-40 lost sales per month and not even see it or feel it. I know it because I see it everyday.

I am not saying it's right or wrong... it just is.

 

[ed.brooks]

My personal feeling is that online reviews hold very little value... they can be easily manipulated and most people know this and do not trust them much.

Obviously though it is important still to have some good ones...

If someone is already searching you out, chances are they already know of you and some random review from Ilovepoodleslady647 on Google will not sway them... if you still have what they want they will take their chances and trust they are smarter/better than the person who was not happy.

Bruce, I have to agree with you that a single review from "Ilovepoodleslady647" wouldn't sway me to shop or not shop a specific dealer. It's not the individual reviews that would concern me, it's the cumulative effect.

The larger the sample size, the more faith I have in reviews. A good example is Acton Toyota. They have about 1250 DealerRater reviews. The average score is 4.8 out 5.0. As a customer would I have confidence I would be treated fairly at Acton Toyota? Absolutely! I don't need to read the individual reviews to have that faith. And would I be more likely to shop or have service done at a dealer with over 1000 reviews and an almost perfect score than one with 8 reviews and a 2.5 average? Absolutely again!

If they are searching your dealership name, I think you're not in nearly as much danger. But if they are searching for "Boston Area Toyota Dealers" the dreaded "7 Pack" will show on Google - Complete with Star Ratings!

 

[joe.pistell]

I agree with Ed, Size matters for sure! #of stars and # of ratings are important.

I am a TripAdvisor junkie. In my case, if I have a "finalist", I always read the first bunch of reviews presented (regardless of the number of reviews). Then, if the review sample is small, and the reviews are great, I'm always still undecided, wishing it had more.

Ed nails it again!

 

[Bruce Novicky]

Bruce, I have to agree with you that a single review from "Ilovepoodleslady647" wouldn't sway me to shop or not shop a specific dealer. It's not the individual reviews that would concern me, it's the cumulative effect.

The larger the sample size, the more faith I have in reviews. A good example is Acton Toyota. They have about 1250 DealerRater reviews. The average score is 4.8 out 5.0. As a customer would I have confidence I would be treated fairly at Acton Toyota? Absolutely! I don't need to read the individual reviews to have that faith. And would I be more likely to shop or have service done at a dealer with over 1000 reviews and an almost perfect score than one with 8 reviews and a 2.5 average? Absolutely again!

If they are searching your dealership name, I think you're not in nearly as much danger. But if they are searching for "Boston Area Toyota Dealers" the dreaded "7 Pack" will show on Google - Complete with Star Ratings!

Very True

I certainly do not think reviews should be ignored, just maintained.

 

[Marc McGurren]

Joe & Marc,

Some of the worst reviewed dealers are the largest in their markets. Why is that?

I will agree with Uncle Joe as well and add on - people expect it. I am amazed at how some dealerships can treat customers yet they still sell the amount of vehicles they do. I think that is why when you treat a customer with dignity and respect - they are MORE than happy to leave a glowing review b/c they have never experienced it.

With that said - transparency is coming and those that are asleep at the wheel will be blindsided in the next year or two by ignoring their online reputation. Those dealers that embrace a transparent reviews and do so with the upmost integrity will be the real winners...not just with the positive reviews that will be posted, but the effects of such reviews. This is the new word of mouth. Everyone wants a friend in the car business. Everyone wants to be treated fair. Everyone wants someone they can trust. Why can't that be me? Hopefully it will...

 

[Alex Snyder]

When your the 800lb gorrilla in your market, your waste can be bigger than some of your competitors budgets. A monster dealer can take the 30-40 lost sales per month and not even see it or feel it. I know it because I see it everyday.

I am not saying it's right or wrong... it just is.

I will agree with Uncle Joe as well and add on - people expect it. I am amazed at how some dealerships can treat customers yet they still sell the amount of vehicles they do.

I just asked the question because I wanted to prove I was right ....about today. I think we all agree tomorrow is a different story.

 

[joe.pistell]

I just asked the question because I wanted to prove I was right ....about today. I think we all agree tomorrow is a different story.

I humbly disagree bro. The 800lb gorilla model by passes the Google Places/Internet Review system... Now or next year.

Carpet bombing a market drives internet traffic directly to the site. Also, while inside Cars/AT, the added brand awareness (from the carpet bombing) helps CTR. All of this is outside the Google Places/Internet Review system.

 

[ed.brooks]

I humbly disagree bro. The 800lb gorilla model by passes the Google Places/Internet Review system... Now or next year.

Carpet bombing a market drives internet traffic directly to the site. Also, while inside Cars/AT, the added brand awareness (from the carpet bombing) helps CTR. All of this is outside the Google Places/Internet Review system.

I'd never disagree with you Uncle Joe - I know I'd be wrong more often than not. While I agree the 800 pound gorilla in a market often gets to bypass the Google Places step of a shopper's process, I don't think they get to bypass the ATC/Cars.com step - at least not always. With retail customers spending 18 to 19 hours, on average, doing research before setting foot into a dealership, I think it's likely that they would compare pricing on one of the classified sites - even if only to keep the gorilla "honest".

With the classified sites integrating reviews, the 800 pound gorilla's free ride may be over. Seeing reviews used to be limited to the Google step. Now it's being integrated into the pricing comparison step.

 

[Alex Snyder]

I humbly disagree bro.

We're saying two different things Joe. I'm simply saying that reviews are not hurting or directly increasing profit enough TODAY to be taken as seriously as they should be tomorrow. If the 800lb gorilla were being hurt by the reviews they'd be paying attention to their reviews.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

We're saying two different things Joe. I'm simply saying that reviews are not hurting or directly increasing profit enough TODAY to be taken as seriously as they should be tomorrow. If the 800lb gorilla were being hurt by the reviews they'd be paying attention to their reviews.

The 800lb gorilla typically has a lot of ego and prefers traditional marketing. Their less likely to be watching nor caring much about reviews.