Vendor Ratings Go Live!

Our Vendor Rating system is receiving some great attention even though they're not fully live yet.  We have received positive feedback from dealers, vendors and the media.  Here’s an update for everyone about the progress of the program and a review of how the DrivingSales Vendor Ratings system works.



We are currently allowing dealers to rate the vendors in four categories: Website Companies, Search Marketing Companies, 3rd Party Lead Providers (new cars) and Inventory Publishers (used cars).  Dealers can go to the Vendor Ratings section of DrivingSales.com and rate the products with which they have experience.



Each review includes a 1-5 star rating, a written review, and information on whether or not they recommend the product to others.  The ratings are semi-anonymous, meaning they only display the reviewer’s title (GSM, ISM, dealer, etc.)  We request reviewers to truthful and straightforward in your ratings and feedback.  We have been monitoring the participation levels and following the ratings and reviews behind the scenes and the results are groundbreaking.  As a dealer, I would have loved to have this level of information the last time I selected a third party lead provider or a website company.  It’s extremely valuable to know whom to talk to and what each company’s strengths and weaknesses are according to actual users, not just the vendors’ own messaging.



The "curtain" is planned to come down at the end of August, when the full reviews will be live. Until then - now is the time to get your ratings in. The catalog of companies and products is wiki, meaning any logged in member (dealer, vendor, OEM or other) can add new companies or products and edit their descriptions. But only dealers can rate and review products.  The Vendor Ratings system will help keep everyone up to date on the newest products and features that vendors bring to market.  These reviews will serve to give dealers additional, valuable information to make important purchasing and partnering decisions, while the vendors will get great feedback and insight to spur innovation and better meet dealers’ needs. We will continue to add more categories in the coming months.



I welcome members’ questions and feedback on the Vendor Ratings system. Please post comments below, and I’ll respond as quickly as I can. Let me know what you think, what questions you have, and other product and service categories you would you like to see next - trainers, inventory analysis tools, CRM – the field is wide open and we look forward to seeing this program evolve for the community!

Please start giving your feedback to vendors that are currently on our system at our Vendor Ratings Section.