For dealers, it's about star power

Neighborhood word of mouth used to count a lot for dealerships. Now, as Volkswagen dealers are learning, it's much more about the stars.

Volkswagen of America this year looked at the star ratings achieved by its 600 dealers on Google reviews and other Web sites, said Charlie Taylor, VW's general manager of digital marketing.

The results were eye-opening, Taylor said. VW found that dealers who attained an average score of four stars or better (out of five) on consumer reviews received 32 percent more traffic to their Web sites from Google searches than those with two stars or fewer.

"Star ratings have a profound effect on traffic," Taylor said.

VW performed the study with Cobalt, a digital marketing and Web vendor.

Dealers are learning new steps to monitor and boost their ratings, such as actively asking customers for reviews within 48 hours of a vehicle sale or service. When customers are fresh from the experience, they are most likely to write a positive review.

Dealers are finding that true reputation management requires constant attention.

Bad consumer reviews posted on Google and elsewhere can turn off shoppers, who use the Web more than ever to research vehicle purchases and services, said Michael Sos, interactive media product manager at Dominion Dealer Solutions, another Web and digital marketing company.

Dominion has a tool that allows dealers to ask by e-mail for reviews from customers. If customers had a good experience, they are encouraged to go to the dealer's Web site and write a review on a public site such as Google.

If the experience was poor, the comments are routed to an internal process where dealer staffers contact the disenchanted customer to try to resolve the issues privately, Sos said. Most times the issue can be resolved behind the scenes without a poor review going public, he said. Customers who still want to post a bad review may do so.

VW also has developed with Cobalt an optional package of products that it will offer to dealers in September to help them manage the star ratings they get from consumers, Taylor said.

Taylor said auto dealers rate on average between two and three stars for their products and services.

While he declined to specify VW dealers' ratings, Taylor said the group as a whole had work to do to get closer to the four stars and above that attract more consumers to dealer Web sites.

Until a few weeks ago, Google, the search engine used most often by shoppers to find dealer Web sites, used a five-star rating system for consumer reviews.

Taylor said Google is the referring source for 80 percent of shopper visits to the Web sites of its 600 dealers. In other words, four of every five visitors to a VW dealer Web site get there directly from a Google search.

In recent weeks, Google has gone from rating businesses with stars to scoring customer reviews on a 30-point scale. The scoring now resembles that of Zagat, the restaurant review company that Google bought in September.

Within the last year, Google began accepting only internally generated reviews, not those forwarded from other Web sites. That's why it's important for dealerships to direct customers to Google through links on their Web sites.

Papa's Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in New Britain, Conn., has been bulking up on customer reviews and improving its overall scores since it got serious six months ago about seeking reviews, said digital marketing director A.J. Maida.

Papa's requires staffers to ask all customers for reviews, Maida said. As a result, Papa's has boosted the number of reviews it has on various sites from 30 to 220, he said.

So important are the results that Papa's broadcasts on the first page of its Web site a DealerRater aggregate score of 4.6 stars of 5 and 4.5 on Google. The scores are listed right above the store's motto: "Not perfect, but better than the other guys!"

What's more, Papa's has a button on its home page asking visitors to rate the store before showing any vehicle inventory on the page.

"We've made it more convenient for people to write reviews, and we're seeing they are more apt to do it," Maida said.

Maida said better reviews were one of several reasons contributing to more vehicle sales. The store has increased new- and used-vehicle sales by 15 per month since an Internet and process-improvement campaign took hold six months ago. Papa's today sells about 80 new and 100 used vehicles per month.

Maida said Papa's also has done a better job of displaying vehicle specials on its Web site, for instance. And its live chat and follow-up with those customers have improved, he said.

Reviews, though, are surely playing a part, Maida said.

"Consumers read reviews and they somehow feel they know the people here a little better."