Managing Bad Dealership Reviews Online

Receiving a bad review of your auto dealership from time to time is almost unavoidable.  Given the volume of people your dealership staff interacts with on a daily basis (in-store, online, over the phone), one or two are bound to be unhappy with their experience.  Even with that information, the occasional bad review still strikes fear in almost every business person.  Here are some tips on how to deal with the bad reviews that may pop up online from time to time:

Respond with a neutral frame of mind.  If you give a passionate response right off the bat, you run the risk of further angering the bad reviewer.  Find out what the problem is first, and then respond appropriately.

Ask what you can do to fix the problem.  If possible, take care of this offline.  If it is an anonymous poster, give them your contact information.  If not, contact the poster and attempt to rectify the situation.

If the review is unreasonable and untrue, consider responding online.  Try not to defend your position or tell the poster they are wrong; simply express an alternative side of the story.  Be careful using this method, as it can easily spin out of control and be more damaging to your dealership’s reputation.

If the review is personal, completely unfounded, or illegal, consider taking action.  See what, if any, control the website gives your dealership, or in extreme cases, consult a lawyer.  However, these types of personal reviews are typically seen at face value by consumers, so doing nothing may be the best course of action.

Bad reviews will happen; it’s a part of doing business.  What will truly set your dealership apart from the rest is how you respond to these reviews.

Tags: reputation management

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 11:18 am and is filed under Auto Dealership ISM Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.