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Ripoffreport.com and your Dealerships Online Reputation

When dealers start to truly care about their online reputation, they will begin devoting more time to sites such as Carfolks and DealerRater. People do not only comparison shop products online, but people. No matter where the Ripoffreport falls in the search engines, some customers will actively seek out advice from these two growing resources.
 
There is. It is called CarFolks.com. It is pretty cool.
CarFolks.com can help dealers. It is FREE for every sales person in
the country. This posting speaks about all the reasons a site like CarFolks is needed in this
industry.

CarFolks is a good idea whose time has come, and beneficial for the industry.The value CarFolks can provide is huge!
 
Alex and Joe, I thought the idea for this blog was to share tools and positive things dealers and salesmen can do to build their business. What Joey and Joe Webb shared is right on the money.

My question for you Alex and Joe, is why hasn't there been an article on Dealer Refresh about what Carfolks.com is doing for the hard working sales professionals in this industry? When I search for Dealer Rater in your search box they come up 8 times, a search on Carfolks has only two entries and one is just a sponsorship mention. So bottom line: Is an interview with Alex Synder more important than telling 200,000 auto sales people they have a FREE tool to protect and build their reputation online?
 
Mark,

I like what you're trying to do, but your approach to selling it is very spammy. You have calmed that approach down substantially in the past few months, but it doesn't take much to realize what was posted in this thread was some of the same. I think that's what Joe was calling "Joey" out on.

Neither CarFolks, Dealer Rater, or the Rip-off report have ever come up in my daily talks with various sales professionals around the Hampton Roads marketplace. Those things are only spoken about amongst people who frequent Dealer Refresh. Once customers start using those things they'll gain more weight.

I have noticed that Dealer Rater is gaining a lot of ground in the DC market. Maybe the market I work in is a little behind the times on these things?
 
Sorry if I disagree but it appears you are approaching this from the typical dealer reactive strategy. Did you wait for all of your customers to tell you they are on the Internet, or did your dealership build websites before all of your customers were online?

I don't think people should wait for consumers to jump on the Carfolks bandwagon, because if they do, by that time most of the reviews for dealers will be negative, just like those other rating sites. My point is, a service that is beneficial for the industry is worth discussing and exploring.

Jeff, when he started this blog highlighted best practices and talked about cutting edge technologies and processes. That attitude seems to have changed. It'd be nice to see a return to discussing new products, services and practices that will help our industry. We still need all the help we can get. You Alex are usually ahead of the curve in many areas and your perspective is always insightful. Please continue helping your peers. All the best.
 
@Joey, if you're going to make a comment like that you should really use your real name. It's not cool to tell someone to "shove it" unless they know who's saying it. Just a suggestion.

@Mark, Thanks for your comments. I'm not sure what I would have ever done to deserve your words of belittlement. What have I ever done to you other then NOT write an article about CarFolks. See, either way your getting your name on the site (maybe that is what you intended all along, I don't know).

"when he started this blog highlighted best practices and talked about cutting edge technologies and processes. That attitude seems to have changed."

I don't think that has changed at all. If you have followed the site for any length of time you would know that. I have worked my butt off on this site..AND yes there are times controversy on a few articles over shadows what I would like to have as the main focus here but that's OK. It gets people thinking. Not everyone will agree with everything, how boring would it be? You of all people should know that having a history in journalism.

Hey...I have an idea! You'll know if I move in it. :)

Thanks again for your feedback Mark.