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Google Alerts has worked well for me too. It will catch about 80% of stuff out there, but it depends on what the person types. I also check the main review sites once per week to ensure nothing has been posted.

 

You do need to be proactive. It is taking some time, but the staff at our dealership are finally starting to acknowledge that reputation management might be important. For quite some time, the management staff had the opinion that no one read these things and that is was the domain of internet trolls.

 

After we had a member of managent retaliate against a neg post online, we implemented a policy on how to combat any future negative remarks.

 

Getting a negative remark is inevitable. It is how you handle it that matters. I find the best way to handle a negative complaint is to throw yourself on your sword, apologize for the experience and offer to rectify the situation. It shows other potential customers that read it that your dealership is willing to help customers resolve their issues rather than just bullying them into a win-lose situation.

 

A response that challenges a negative review simply makes your own dealership seem petty to future potential clients.