Nearly 80 percent of new-vehicle buyers use the Internet during their shopping process, and nearly one-third consult online ratings/review sites when selecting a dealer, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study.

To protect your online reputation, it's important to be aware of what's being said about your auto dealership across the web.  In a previous article, we discussed 4 Free Software Tools to Monitor Your Auto Dealership Reputation, but it's also important that you are aware of the various websites where consumers are writing reviews about auto dealerships.

7 Sites You Should Monitor to Protect Your Auto Dealership's Online Reputation

1. Google.com/+

Go to Google and search for your business name.

According to Google's Help/Support Area:

"Currently, you may see two types of pages on Google for a single business. These pages will either be business listings with scores and reviews, or they will be local Google+ pages with social features. You can distinguish the pages by the features available.

If below the cover photo you only see the tabs for About and Photos, along with scores and reviews, then it’s a business listing.  When business listings appear on Google Maps or in Google Search, clicking on more info or on Google reviews will take you to this type of page. Business owners can verify these pages from the Places for Business dashboard.

Some businesses may have also created pages in Google+. You can identify these pages if there are tabs for Posts, About, Photos, and Videos. If there isn’t the option to leave a review, the business owner hasn't verified this local Google+ page.

When a business owner verifies a local Google+ page, any existing listing for the business is merged with the local Google+ page to create a single page with a verified checkmark. Verified local Google+ pages have features of both pages described above–scores and reviews as well as posts from the business owner."

The important piece is that you claim your business listing by verifying your local Google+ page.  Once you have done this, you will have the ability to respond to any reviews that have been submitted, as well as flag inappropriate reviews.

 2. Yelp.com

Over 102 million people visited Yelp in Q1 2013 to make spending decisions. To help businesses get the most out of their online presence, Yelp Business Accounts offer a suite of FREE tools for businesses.

• Communicate with your customers-- privately and publicly

• Track how many people view your business page

• Add photos, a detailed business description, up-to-date information, history, and specialties

• Recommend other businesses

Go to Yelp.com and search for your business name to view reviews. You can create a free account with Yelp, which will then enable you to respond to reviews.

3. DealerRater.com

DealerRater established the first car dealer review website worldwide to help consumers find the right automotive dealer online when purchasing or servicing their cars. They enable consumers to search for car dealerships, read and write reviews, and find car deals through the site’s classified ads. The service is free for consumers. Dealers can create 4 levels of accounts with DealerRater. The cost varies.

4. Edmunds.com

Edmunds.com has a section for Auto Dealer Ratings & Reviews. Consumers can review a dealership in two areas: sales and service. Each review contains an area for the consumer to: write about their experiences, list the pros and cons, state whether they would recommend the dealership to other, and then score the dealership’s sales or service department in five areas on a scale of 1-5, or “not applicable”. Edmunds recommend that dealers become personally involved in their community. They allow you to comment on reviews and provide additional information. Dealer Ratings & Reviews

5. MyDealerReport.com

MyDealerReport.com allows consumers to write reviews on auto dealerships and rate how them for: Buying Process, Sales Associate, Vehicle Selection, Finance Dept., Trade-In Process, Service Dept. and Sales Press Level. As a dealer, you can request an account here:

http://www.mydealerreport.com/dealers/index.php

6. CarDealerCheck.com

Car Dealer Check  informs consumers which car dealers honor their promises, their online price quotes, treat their customers with respect and dignity and generally provide a quality service. Users must register to write a review or to respond to a review.

7. DealershipRatings.com

Much like the other sites listed here, DealershipRatings.com enables consumers to review auto dealerships across a variety of areas. DealershipRatings.com does not require the user to register before posting a review, however. There is no specific area for a dealer to create an account to respond to specific reviews as the dealer. Instead, you simply go to your listing (as the consumer would) and click on "Rate this Dealer".

Know What Consumers are Saying About Your Auto Dealership

It's important to take the time to monitor what people are saying about your auto dealership online. Be sure to check the sites above regularly for new reviews and use the 4 Free Software Tools to Monitor Your Auto Dealership Reputation discussed in our previous blog post to help protect your online reputation. Being an informed business owner is being an empowered business owner, and enables you to address reviews (good and bad) in a timely manner. In coming articles, we'll discuss how to respond to negative reviews and how to solicit positive reviews.

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry and is committed to helping auto dealerships and other businesses improve the bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee pricing model.

The Novera Advantange

• Novera’s consultative approach allows us to thoroughly educate our clients, equipping them to better understand this complicated industry.

• We take the mystery out of the credit card processing business.

• We work with all types of businesses across the country, and one our specialties is auto dealership credit card processing.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with small businesses, auto dealers and auto dealer associations to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today for credit card processing.

There are several misconceptions in our industry that lead to confusion about credit card processing rates and fees.

Here we highlight the reality of the top 3.

1. One Low Rate

Misconception: More often than not when a payment processing account executive presents their services they may only quote one rate that sounds something like 1.29% and 15 cents. This can lead the business owner to assume that this is the only rate that will ever be charged for all payment acceptance.

Reality: In most cases there are many different rates applied. These rates are applied depending upon the type of card and how that card is accepted for payment. For example, a corporate credit card has a higher cost than a personal debit card and a swiped  transaction generally is less than a non swpied transaction.

2. Free Equipment

Misconception - Account executives for payment services may tell business owners that they will give them card swiping equipment for “free” when they switch to their processing services. They may make this equipment appear to be worth much more than it actually is so it appears like they are giving the business owner a great deal.

Reality - Most things in this world are seldom free. That pricey piece of card swiping equipment most likely can be purchased elsewhere for significantly less than what most Account Executives will lead you to believe it is worth.  Usually the higher processing rates, and other fees, cause many small businesses to end up paying for their equipment many times over throughout the term of their contract.

3. Fees

Misconception - Fees such as statement fees, data security fees, batch header fees, monthly minimum fees, and a host of other fees are necessary administrative costs to keep payment processing services operating.

Reality - There are costs to maintain processing services. However, many fees are there to create additional margin and further cutting into the businessowners profit.

There's no doubt the credit card payment processing industry has become increasingly confusing, and many auto dealerships (and small business everywhere) are being unknowingly taken advantage of in this complexity. As a result, many business owners are paying more than necessary for this critical service by thousands of dollars per year. Novera’s transparent and innovative flat fee pricing is changing all of that

The Novera Advantange

• Novera’s consultative approach allows us to thoroughly educate our clients, equipping them to better understand this complicated industry.
• We take the mystery out of the credit card processing business.
• We work with all types of businesses across the country, and one our specialties is auto dealership credit card processing.

If you accept credit cards at your auto dealership, you've surely heard the buzz word, "PCI Compliance", but what exactly does it mean?

The basics of PCI Compliance are similar to the standard business practices you already use to safeguard your own business. You lock your doors as a matter of course, right? Well, to protect your customersʼ information, you also need the proper “locks” on your credit card processing system and network.

A recent study  of US and European businesses by Forrester Consulting, revealed activities that may put cardholder data at risk:

• 81% store payment card numbers
• 73% store payment card expiration dates
• 71% store payment card verification codes
• 57% store customer data from the payment card magnetic stripe
• 16% store other personal data

The Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards were established to help you safeguard customer information—and protect your business.

If you accept credit cards at your auto dealership (or any other business for that matter), you are required to be PCI compliant.

12 Key Requirements for PCI Compliance

Build and Maintain a Secure Network
1: Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data.
2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters

Protect Cardholder Data
3: Protect stored cardholder data
4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks

Maintain a Vulnerability Management Program
5: Use and regularly update anti-virus software
6: Develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement Strong Access Control Measures
7: Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know
8: Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access
9: Restrict physical access to cardholder data

Regularly Monitor and Test Networks
10: Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data
11: Regularly test security systems and processes

Maintain an Information Security Policy
12: Maintain a policy that addresses information security

As a merchant, you are at the center of credit card payment card transactions so it is imperative that you use standard security procedures and technologies to thwart theft of cardholder data.

If you need help navigating the PCI Compliance maze for your auto dealership, Novera Payment Solutions can help. We take the mystery out of the process and requirements, as well as help ensure that your business is fully compliant.

Credit card processing fees and rates can be confusing.

More often than not when we speak with a business owners, auto dealers, and associations they lack a certain understanding of why they pay what they do to accept credit cards. They often feel that the service providers are out to get them with their seemingly high rates and statement fees that appear to be written in some foreign language.

The truth is the majority of the money you pay to accept credit cards goes to a combination of the card issuing bank, the processor, and the card association.

How Credit Card Fees Typically Work

The majority of the cost/expense to accept credit and debit cards is the same for all merchants large and small, and is referred to as interchange which goes to the issuing bank. Whether it’s Novera Payment Solutions or your local bank we all pay the same interchange cost/expense. Whatever is leftover after paying interchange is the processors cost and the service providers profit. The volume you average on a monthly basis will usually determine the amount of actual margin left over.

Unfortunately most merchant service providers will take advantage of the lack of knowledge that business owners have on costs and line their pockets with margin, which is typically an unfair amount based on that businesses volume. There are fair options for pricing out there that disclose cost and margin but it is often not used.

Novera delivers a transparent flat fee credit card pricing model for auto dealers and associations. It benefits you because:

• The transparent flat fee credit card processing pricing model provides you with the fairest rates available anywhere.
• The pricing advantage passes through the exact underlying costs and adds a flat monthly fee which is based on YOUR average monthly credit card processing volume.

“Novera Payment Solutions was very helpful in explaining and saving our company significant monies in the area of credit card processing”
Ken Goldman
Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Paramus NJ

We save hundreds of auto dealers money on credit card processing fees.

Find out how much we can save you on credit card processing fees!