Friendemic Helped This Porsche Dealer Put Up 50 Five-Star Google Reviews in 50 Days

When Porsche Austin General Manager Aldo Abad thought about his parts and service marketing strategy, he knew online reviews were very important, but didn’t yet see them as something he could directly impact. “I knew we’d do our best work everyday and I hoped that happy customers would leave positive reviews,” says Abad. But, he knows that hope isn’t a business strategy, so he started working with Friendemic to implement their Reputation Management solution. The strategy is working, not only generating more reviews, but also proactively creating social proof that the dealership understands the needs of the discerning Porsche customer.

In fact, the 5-star reviews are pouring in–50 reviews in 50 days for his service department, and Abad can already see the positive effect it’s having on the business.“For Austin Porsche owners looking for service, it’s a fantastic way for them to evaluate our performance. For in-market shoppers, they see our dealership as one who takes great care with our customers.”

Can Reputation Management Affect Sales?

All positive online reviews can help sales, just as negative reviews can hurt them. In today’s digital world, 97% of customers say reviews are a key factor in choosing a business and almost a third say they’re willing to spend more with businesses that have good reviews. The flip-side is that negative reviews have an impact too. Surveys say as many as 94% of consumers report an online review has convinced them to avoid a business.

As if more reviews, more searches and more consumer actions weren’t enough, Google also uses snippets of reviews in the Google My Business listing–a sort of best hits of customer comments–that give searchers a summary of customer sentiment. Those snippets not only help customers form a positive opinion about Porsche Austin right away, they too can positively influence search results. 

In essence, online reputation becomes a lead engine driving better search results, that drive more consumer actions that can drive new revenue. 

Friendemic Simplifies Reputation Management

Abad says he became a believer when customers started responding with reviews, but the reviews aren’t the only things up. Searches are up. Queries–discovery, direct and branded–are up, as are consumer actions–phone calls, direction requests and website visits.  

Still, you may be asking yourself if you need a reputation management solution, so are a few things to consider:

1. Your online reputation doesn’t have to just happen. You can, and should, proactively manage it, starting with asking for reviews. Friendemic’s Reputation Management allows you to gather reviews real-time with the customer, and automate review invitations through DMS integration. Porsche Austin has seen a strong response rate–5% of customers asked are giving reviews. Having a reputation management solution also makes staying on top of reviews much easier, especially across multiple review sites.  

1. Speaking of multiple review sites, you can also encourage customers to review you on the sites where you need more reviews. For instance, you may want to increase your Google ranking, or you want a bigger review presence on Cars.com. The software platform will let you monitor across sites, so you know where you need additional reviews and can target them there.

1. Reviews and responses to them. Responses should be timely (we do within 24 hours for our customers) and they should use key words and phrases that continually improve your search results. They should thank people who take the time to leave reviews and quickly address any customer issues–which leads us to another reason Friendemic can be helpful.

1. You’ll be able to proactively address issues, often before they become negative reviews. Abad says there have been a few customers who provided private feedback for the dealership when asked to leave a review and he was able to address their needs directly.

Would you like to learn more about Friendemic, reputation management and this dealership’s results? You can download the case study below, or just schedule an appointment to get a demo. Let us know how we can help you build and effectively manage your online reputation. 

DOWNLOAD THE CASE STUDY 

SPEAK WITH A TEAM MEMBER