According to a study by Cone Communications, 80% of consumers say they have changed their mind about a purchase based solely on negative information they found online. It's no surprise that having negative reviews about your business online can significantly impact your bottom line.

So, what should you do if you find a negative online review about your auto dealership?

There 6 key steps you should considering taking when responsing, but before you attempt to respond be sure you've claimed your social media profiles. This enables you to respond to reviews directly as the owner of the business. "Claiming" your profiles varies by service, but generally it involves creating the account and verifying your ownership. Start with Google+, but also include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yelp, and FourSquare, at a minimum. Be sure to check out our recent blog post featuring "7 Sites to Monitor to Protect Your Auto Dealership Online Reputation" for others.

Once you have an account that allows you to respond as the owner of the business, considering taking these 6 steps when responding to a negative review.

1. Thank them for taking the time to provide feedback. The person writing the review has done business with you and presumably has spent some money. You should also understand your reviewer is likely vocal and opinionated (otherwise they would not be writing the review). They are taking their time to let you (and their friends) know about the experience. Right or wrong on their end, it's important to acknowledge and thank them. Remember, this doesn't mean you necessarily agree with the feedback ... you are simply thanking them taking the time to provide it.
2. Acknowledge their frustration. We've all been there as a consumer. Acknowledging the customer's feelings (again, right or wrong) shows empathy and can help diffuse those feelings. It can be a simple statement like, "I am sure this made you incredibly frustrated."
3. Apologize, if the review is true. If in fact the negative review is warranted based on an actual experience at your business, a simple apology can go a long way. A sincere "I am truly sorry you had this experience at our dealership," let's the reviewer know you acknowledge the problem actually occurred and that it matters to you.
   
4. Address any adjustments you've made as a result of the feedback. For example, if someone writes a negative review because they waited too long in the service area, perhaps you've added another mechanic during peak hours, or added free WiFi or beverages to your waiting area to help pass the time. Or maybe you've implemented a stronger communcation process so customers are better informed of the time it will take for the service.
5. Offer to discuss the issue further. You've thanked them for the feedback, you've ackowledged their frustrations, you've apologized, and you've let them know that a change has been made as a result of the feedback. Now, if they have any questions or concerns let them know that you would personally like to assist them offline and provide a good way to contact you (or you can contact them if you have their information).
6. Close with your commitment to excellence. Close the response with your committment to excellent customer service and thank them again for providing information to help your business improve.

Always, always, always take the high road.

Remember, many times when someone writes a negative review, they are doing so because they are at their wits end and don't think they will get satisfaction any other way. They may also be angry when they are writing it. No matter how inappropriate the commentary or the language, as the business owner, you should take the high road of complete professionalism. This will prevent things from spiraling into further online commentary.

Many businesses get negative reviews, some warranted and others not. People do read them. They also read the responses from the business owners, when they are available. It is your response to that negative review that they will judge. Refrain from attacking the reviewer or being condescending to the reviewer, no matter how tempting it may be. If you work through the sevensteps above, you have a great opportunity to turn the negative into a positive for your auto dealership.

For tips on generating more positive online reviews, see "4 Tips to Get Your Customers to Write Great Reviews."

Who is Novera Payment Solutions?

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

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.

According to a Bazaarvoice survery, 76% of consumers regularly or occasionally use online reviews to determine which local business to use. The same study found that a desire to help others was the reason 90 percent of consumers write reviews. This is great news for your auto dealership (as well as other business owners).

The question is, how can you capitalize on this and generate more positive reviews for your business?

1. Build your social presence.
   In order to get positive online reviews, your auto dealership needs to have a presence in the social landscape. Setup your Google+ page, create a Yelp account, make sure you have business Facebook page, as well as a business LinkedIn page. These accounts are essential, at a minimum. Other platforms are also important in different industries (FourSquare, Trip Advisor, etc).
    
2. Promote your social presence.
   Make your customers aware of your social presence and encourage regular engagement with your brand. Interact with your customers online. The more enagement you have, the more likely you are to receive unsolicited positive reviews and feedback.
   
   To promote your social presence consider using:
    

• Email signature block
• Signage in your auto dealership and service area
• Social icons in any marketing collateral
• Social icons in any print ads and billboard ads
• Social icons and widgets on your website
• Social media addresses on the back of your business cards
   

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.

• Transparency Is Hard To Find

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!