"Reputation Management" is a junk-drawer!

[ryan.leslie]

I've been back from NADA for less than 24 hours and had the opportunity to talk with a few people about the show. I didn't venture far from our booth for long, but I didn't have to in order to realize that there are some terms in our industry that require clarification before they can really be discussed with meaning.

Did you know that the three letter word "run" has over 645 meanings? Astounding! A clock runs, but so does a jogger, yet the meaning is very different. You can run a fever, run amok, get a run in your hose, run your mouth, run for office, get the run around, run someone down verbally, or with your car for that matter, and have your nose run all in a single day and not repeat the meaning of the word run while doing it, sorry for the run-on sentence.

Just like the word "run" has developed multiple meanings, it appears that "Reputation Management" in the automotive industry has evolved into a catch-all junk-drawer of a term. Think of how many Vendors offer Reputation Management services. Do they all mean the same thing by that term? Clearly not.

I had a gentlemen approach me at the booth and ask, "do you do Reputation Management?" Three years ago my answer would have immediately been "Yes!" I took a quick glance at the company name on the handout he was carrying from another booth and answered, "what exactly do YOU mean when YOU say Reputation Management? My definition is not the same as what you may have heard and I want to make sure we are talking about the same concepts, not just saying the same words to each other."

Two quick thoughts:

1. Dealers need to be extremely sure of what they are buying under the heading "Reputation Management." Ask vendors to clarify their terms and really explain how and what their product does to Manage your Reputation. There are so many different products and services in this junk drawer that need to be clearly defined before a decision can be made about the effectiveness or duplication of efforts of any purchase in the category.
2. Vendors probably need to get away from the term "Reputation Management." Can you explain your unique selling proposition to a dealer without using that phrase?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and my other favorite inane term, "Social Media." Is it possible to adopt a universal definition of these terms for the automotive vertical?

Gotta Run

 

[kcar]

I agree Ryan. Dealers grouping it together, it shouldn't be.

Reputation management is three parts:

- Social reputation, covering all the negative PR on social sites.
- SERPs, the official term for "Reputation management", ranking other sites to push down bad websites under the brand name. (Includes removal, ie contacting webmaster asking them to remove the page on the site)
- 3rd party reputation, ie. Google Places, DealerR, Yelp, etc.

Bonus:

Review collection for your dealership, building positive PR on all channels and platforms. Ie. testimonials on YT, reviews on dealer site, etc.

 

[ddavis]

"what exactly do YOU mean when YOU say Reputation Management?

I think of a company that hires high skilled, low wage people, usually out of India, to write fake reviews for dealerships.

Three years ago my answer would have immediately been "Yes!"

I guess I'm the last to know. I used to get some extra spotlight ads from my AutoTrader rep, I didn't know that I might get some positive reviews from DealerRater.

 

[ryan.leslie]

I think of a company that hires high skilled, low wage people, usually out of India, to write fake reviews for dealerships.

Doug, You've illustrated my point beautifully. Thank You