Reputation-management platform provider AutoHype helps dealers make the most of their happy customers
William Pawson
If your online reputation isn’t great, your dealership risks being passed over by consumers who increasingly rely on reviews to decide where they want to conduct their business.
It’s especially important in a world where walk-in traffic is down dramatically and the online showrooms are the new battleground. “Research shows that the average buyer will only visit 1.4 dealerships before making a purchasing decision,” says William Pawson, Director of AutoHype, a company that helps dealerships monitor, manage and improve their reputations.
AutoHype’s suite of tools helps dealerships boost the number of walk-in customers by leveraging reviews from happy customers — and managing the unhappy ones. “Happy customers are the most powerful, untapped marketing resource for any dealership,” says Pawson.
The Montreal-based company provides dealerships with software tools and in-store kiosks to help them proactively gather authentic reviews and feedback about their sales and service experience at their dealership. Their product is divided into three categories:
MANAGEMENT: The first monitors review websites by collecting data from key directories and social media platforms and showcases them on a single dashboard. Dealers can track individual reviews, respond to online comments, track staff progress towards set goals through bi-weekly reports and real-time statistics, and receive detailed ROI information, among other things.
SALES AND SERVICE: The second product helps simplify the process of generating new sales and building brand loyalty to appear in local search results, increase more walk-in customers, win back unhappy consumers and turn the happy ones into “raving fans,” collect and respond to private customer feedback, and track key sales metrics.
MARKETING: The third helps dealers “dominate” the review websites that potential car buyers are browsing.
“We wanted to address collecting real-time feedback in an easily accessible form that would allow management to make decisions faster, and identify potential strengths and weaknesses and fundamentally grow their business,” says Pawson, adding that their products are designed to seamlessly integrate with a dealership’s service department.
Our solution ensures that our customers have a positive online reputation on all major platforms, so that wherever buyers find our customers they can present them with a positive review right across the board
When dealers immediately spot feedback from consumers, it allows managers to deal with unhappy customers before they leave the dealership. This can help them save a sale or build long-term customer relationships, according to Pawson. AutoHype’s advanced reporting also ensures that managers can track negative reviews back to specific departments and individuals, which allows them to correct issues before they become a major problem.
“Our solution ensures that our customers have a positive online reputation on all major platforms, so that wherever buyers find our customers they can present them with a positive review right across the board,” says Pawson. “We integrate with sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, and all other key directories.”
Pawson says one of the things that sets AutoHype apart from other competitors is that they work to improve reviews across all platforms, not just their own proprietary review network. “We work with all existing directories to maximize the client’s exposure right across the Internet,” says Pawson.
AutoHype’s services also expand past the digital realm to include in-store kiosks that are meant to provide a secondary channel for dealerships to collect feedback and ensure the customer’s voice is heard. Their solutions often collect 10 to 15 times more online reviews than a traditional email request.
“Typically, when a dealership implements our solution, they see a significant increase in the overall online ratings and the total number of reviews they receive within a two-month period. Some of our clients can actually receive up to a 300 per cent increase in the number of positive online reviews within the same two-month period,” he says.
Approximately 85 per cent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, according to 2017 study by BrightLocal. Pawson equates this to having a friend or family member there, in-person, recommending a business with a
good online reputation. He also says that 56 per cent of car buyers cite reviews as the number one reason they chose a specific dealership.
“Having a positive online reputation in the auto industry cannot go understated. Unhappy customers are quick to voice their disapproval online, while happy customers usually take the steps to leave a positive review.”
