We’ve all come across it, a negative review. It’s almost like a scarlet letter. You know it’s around but you really don’t want to address it. That’s probably the worse thing you could do, so the question remains--how do you respond to a negative review?


 

1. Find out their story
   1. Take the time to get to the bottom of the customer’s complaint or issue
2. Reply Promptly under the original review
   1. By doing this, you can also help minimize damage from other potential customers being swayed by the reviewer’s experience. Future customers will see that you care about your customers and actively work to improve your business.
3. Be sincere and not defensive
   1. Sometimes, “I’m sorry,” can go a long way, as well as thanking the customer for sharing and taking the time to share their concerns.
4. Have the Owner or Manager reply to the review
   1. Identify yourself and your position, include specifics of their complaints and any ways you’re going to fix the issue. Also give a good email address and/or phone number that customer can reach you directly.
5. What if the customer’s review is inaccurate?
   1. Carefully and factually respond to the customer with your dealership’s side of the story. However, don’t be defensive. You could only make the situation worse by defending your dealership’s actions too strongly.
6. What do I do with this information after everything is said and done?
   1. Determine if this issue is brought up often or if it is just a one time occurrence (which means you must be tracking customer complaints/issues).  If your business consistently receives feedback that your front desk staff is unfriendly, then you should take prompt action to fix the situation. However, if 99 percent of your reviews comment on your friendly staff and one customer who had a negative experience complains about it, then it may be an isolated issue.

Dealer Take Away
By noticing patterns and addressing the concerns to improve your guest’s experience, you will be on the right path to bringing new customers to your door and having previous customers return.

We’ve all come across it, a negative review. It’s almost like a scarlet letter. You know it’s around but you really don’t want to address it. That’s probably the worse thing you could do, so the question remains--how do you respond to a negative review?


 

1. Find out their story
   1. Take the time to get to the bottom of the customer’s complaint or issue
2. Reply Promptly under the original review
   1. By doing this, you can also help minimize damage from other potential customers being swayed by the reviewer’s experience. Future customers will see that you care about your customers and actively work to improve your business.
3. Be sincere and not defensive
   1. Sometimes, “I’m sorry,” can go a long way, as well as thanking the customer for sharing and taking the time to share their concerns.
4. Have the Owner or Manager reply to the review
   1. Identify yourself and your position, include specifics of their complaints and any ways you’re going to fix the issue. Also give a good email address and/or phone number that customer can reach you directly.
5. What if the customer’s review is inaccurate?
   1. Carefully and factually respond to the customer with your dealership’s side of the story. However, don’t be defensive. You could only make the situation worse by defending your dealership’s actions too strongly.
6. What do I do with this information after everything is said and done?
   1. Determine if this issue is brought up often or if it is just a one time occurrence (which means you must be tracking customer complaints/issues).  If your business consistently receives feedback that your front desk staff is unfriendly, then you should take prompt action to fix the situation. However, if 99 percent of your reviews comment on your friendly staff and one customer who had a negative experience complains about it, then it may be an isolated issue.

Dealer Take Away
By noticing patterns and addressing the concerns to improve your guest’s experience, you will be on the right path to bringing new customers to your door and having previous customers return.

Is your website tablet friendly? Well, it should be, A new forecast from eMarketer predicts the number of U.S. tablet users will more than double this year from 33.7 million to nearly 70 million. It seems like the desktop is going the way of the floppy disk and in order to stay within current trends, I've gathered some tips for you to make your dealership’s website tablet friendly.

1. Increase the size and margin for buttons and calls-to-action. The average width of the index finger for most adults translates to about 45-57 pixels. Why make your visitor work harder to find and tap the “Get Quote” button?

2. Ensure links and calls-to-action look tap-able without hover states. Hover states do not exist on a tablet. Style your text links to use a clear, contrasting color. And don’t be afraid to use underlines for the default link state.

3. Increase font sizes for legibility. Bumping up your font sizes by a couple pixels can make a difference. A little goes a long way.

4. Increase padding around navigation menu items. Padding is also known as the spacing around a specific item on your site. Padding keeps any text from bumping up directly next to menu items and thus the call-to-action will stick out more. Try increasing padding by 5-10 pixels to start—or more, if your design allows.

5. Increase margins on pages and content blocks. This improvement supports overall legibility and reduces visual complexity. Increased “white space” can result in the impression that your website’s content is easier to consume, as compared to a website with crowded content.

6. Increase form field size and spacing. Make it easier for your visitors to tap and enter information into form fields. Improvements to your forms may make the greatest impact to your conversion rate.

If you want to see examples of these tips in action, go here. The author does an amazing job of illustrating each and every step. I promise it’s easy! If you have additional tips you would like to share, feel free to do so in the comment section below!

Is your website tablet friendly? Well, it should be, A new forecast from eMarketer predicts the number of U.S. tablet users will more than double this year from 33.7 million to nearly 70 million. It seems like the desktop is going the way of the floppy disk and in order to stay within current trends, I've gathered some tips for you to make your dealership’s website tablet friendly.

1. Increase the size and margin for buttons and calls-to-action. The average width of the index finger for most adults translates to about 45-57 pixels. Why make your visitor work harder to find and tap the “Get Quote” button?

2. Ensure links and calls-to-action look tap-able without hover states. Hover states do not exist on a tablet. Style your text links to use a clear, contrasting color. And don’t be afraid to use underlines for the default link state.

3. Increase font sizes for legibility. Bumping up your font sizes by a couple pixels can make a difference. A little goes a long way.

4. Increase padding around navigation menu items. Padding is also known as the spacing around a specific item on your site. Padding keeps any text from bumping up directly next to menu items and thus the call-to-action will stick out more. Try increasing padding by 5-10 pixels to start—or more, if your design allows.

5. Increase margins on pages and content blocks. This improvement supports overall legibility and reduces visual complexity. Increased “white space” can result in the impression that your website’s content is easier to consume, as compared to a website with crowded content.

6. Increase form field size and spacing. Make it easier for your visitors to tap and enter information into form fields. Improvements to your forms may make the greatest impact to your conversion rate.

If you want to see examples of these tips in action, go here. The author does an amazing job of illustrating each and every step. I promise it’s easy! If you have additional tips you would like to share, feel free to do so in the comment section below!

If you are like me, you may not feel as refreshed as you should be in the new year. I know I’m not.  Holidays are exhausting from shopping for the perfect gift to visiting your family - it can all be a drag on your energy levels. I’m sure you’re feeling the same way and no doubt you also need to be recharged for 2013, so here are a couple of tips to “get back on the horse” as they say,  courtesy of Amex’s Open Forum:

1. Get your priorities in line. Time management is a year-round challenge for business owners. That’s why it’s more important than ever to know your priorities.

TIP: Set a stopwatch for 20 minutes and write down everything that needs to be done during the month. Then, give yourself another 10 minutes to assess which of those tasks are the most important to yourself, your dealership and your family. Keep that list in mind as you start each day—and make sure all your activities are centered around those core priorities.

2. Ditch the New Year’s resolutions. A FranklinCovey survey found that 80 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions will break them. And a third never make it to the end of January. If you’re one of the many people who have left a string of resolutions behind, it’s time for a new approach.

TIP: Rather than creating your resolutions for 2013, this time to reflect on your dealership and market. What were some of the best things that your dealership accomplished this year? What were some of the biggest mistakes? Don’t rush to begin planning the new year until you’ve celebrated your wins and acknowledged your mistakes.

3. Evaluate your year as a business leader. In addition to reflecting on your business, this is a good time to reflect on yourself. Be as objective as possible, write down your strongest characteristics as a leader—and your weakest. Then, think about how each of these characteristics impacted your dealership, team members and partners during the year. This type of objective self-assessment can help you pinpoint areas to improve in 2013.

4. Show the love.
Think about the most important people you've worked with throughout the year. Then, let them know just how much you appreciate them.

5. Unplug and recharge your batteries.
Downtime is the only real way to hit the reset button, both personally and professionally. And it will open the door to fresh perspectives and new inspiration.

TIP: Whenever I’m not feeling inspired, I grab someone and play ping-pong with them for 15 minutes. It recharges me and makes me feel awake! Grab someone and DO something to recharge your brain!

If that doesn’t recharge you for 2013, I don’t know what will! If you have any additional tips on recharging yourself, feel free to comment  below!

If you are like me, you may not feel as refreshed as you should be in the new year. I know I’m not.  Holidays are exhausting from shopping for the perfect gift to visiting your family - it can all be a drag on your energy levels. I’m sure you’re feeling the same way and no doubt you also need to be recharged for 2013, so here are a couple of tips to “get back on the horse” as they say,  courtesy of Amex’s Open Forum:

1. Get your priorities in line. Time management is a year-round challenge for business owners. That’s why it’s more important than ever to know your priorities.

TIP: Set a stopwatch for 20 minutes and write down everything that needs to be done during the month. Then, give yourself another 10 minutes to assess which of those tasks are the most important to yourself, your dealership and your family. Keep that list in mind as you start each day—and make sure all your activities are centered around those core priorities.

2. Ditch the New Year’s resolutions. A FranklinCovey survey found that 80 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions will break them. And a third never make it to the end of January. If you’re one of the many people who have left a string of resolutions behind, it’s time for a new approach.

TIP: Rather than creating your resolutions for 2013, this time to reflect on your dealership and market. What were some of the best things that your dealership accomplished this year? What were some of the biggest mistakes? Don’t rush to begin planning the new year until you’ve celebrated your wins and acknowledged your mistakes.

3. Evaluate your year as a business leader. In addition to reflecting on your business, this is a good time to reflect on yourself. Be as objective as possible, write down your strongest characteristics as a leader—and your weakest. Then, think about how each of these characteristics impacted your dealership, team members and partners during the year. This type of objective self-assessment can help you pinpoint areas to improve in 2013.

4. Show the love.
Think about the most important people you've worked with throughout the year. Then, let them know just how much you appreciate them.

5. Unplug and recharge your batteries.
Downtime is the only real way to hit the reset button, both personally and professionally. And it will open the door to fresh perspectives and new inspiration.

TIP: Whenever I’m not feeling inspired, I grab someone and play ping-pong with them for 15 minutes. It recharges me and makes me feel awake! Grab someone and DO something to recharge your brain!

If that doesn’t recharge you for 2013, I don’t know what will! If you have any additional tips on recharging yourself, feel free to comment  below!

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I feel that being imitated means the imitator lacks the creativity to come up with ideas on their own.

Virtual Sales Associates (VSA’s) has become a popular title in the chat industry lately. ActivEngage coined this term in 2007 and now other chat providers are using that same terminology to describe their chatting staff.

That’s okay though, because there’s something that ActivEngage’s Virtual Sales Associates have that no other chat provider can match - passion. Passion for the car industry, passion for the art of conversation, passion for creating that very special connection with YOUR customer. Passion that cannot be imitated no matter how hard others try.

Passion cannot be Imitated.
As many of you know, I was a VSA for six months before moving into our marketing department. I came here knowing not a single thing about cars, the automotive industry, or car lingo. I was hesitant in my first chat because everything was new to me. However, with training, encouragement, and a wonderful team structure that provided ongoing support, I made it through and I shined. I shined through the busiest chatting month of the year - December. In a single day, I took 70+ chats. I didn’t miss a detail and it was invigorating! During those days, I received recognition for taking on so many chats and having over 80% of my chats converting to leads for our dealers, over 75% phone numbers acquired, and over 10% appointments set. Passion.

Every Chat, Every Word, Every Time!
The environment I was in created passion. Our Virtual Sales Associates have a motto, Every Chat, Every Word...Every Time. It’s painted on a bright orange wall, to remind each and every VSA what we do and the passion with which we do it.

Although others are naming their chat staff VSA’s, we know who the real VSA’s are and you will too when you read our chats.

I’ll leave you all with a video to let this sink in just a little bit more:
Watch as our Virtual Sales Director, Carol Marshall, describe our Virtual Sales Associates, the training they receive, and what they provide YOUR dealership. No other chat provider does what our VSA’s can do.

What is your dealership passionate about? Let us know in the comments section below!

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I feel that being imitated means the imitator lacks the creativity to come up with ideas on their own.

Virtual Sales Associates (VSA’s) has become a popular title in the chat industry lately. ActivEngage coined this term in 2007 and now other chat providers are using that same terminology to describe their chatting staff.

That’s okay though, because there’s something that ActivEngage’s Virtual Sales Associates have that no other chat provider can match - passion. Passion for the car industry, passion for the art of conversation, passion for creating that very special connection with YOUR customer. Passion that cannot be imitated no matter how hard others try.

Passion cannot be Imitated.
As many of you know, I was a VSA for six months before moving into our marketing department. I came here knowing not a single thing about cars, the automotive industry, or car lingo. I was hesitant in my first chat because everything was new to me. However, with training, encouragement, and a wonderful team structure that provided ongoing support, I made it through and I shined. I shined through the busiest chatting month of the year - December. In a single day, I took 70+ chats. I didn’t miss a detail and it was invigorating! During those days, I received recognition for taking on so many chats and having over 80% of my chats converting to leads for our dealers, over 75% phone numbers acquired, and over 10% appointments set. Passion.

Every Chat, Every Word, Every Time!
The environment I was in created passion. Our Virtual Sales Associates have a motto, Every Chat, Every Word...Every Time. It’s painted on a bright orange wall, to remind each and every VSA what we do and the passion with which we do it.

Although others are naming their chat staff VSA’s, we know who the real VSA’s are and you will too when you read our chats.

I’ll leave you all with a video to let this sink in just a little bit more:
Watch as our Virtual Sales Director, Carol Marshall, describe our Virtual Sales Associates, the training they receive, and what they provide YOUR dealership. No other chat provider does what our VSA’s can do.

What is your dealership passionate about? Let us know in the comments section below!

Last night ActivEngage had it’s annual Holiday Party at Ceviche. We had an open bar, hand passed appetizers, and a great DJ. By 7PM employees created a break dancing circle and one later told me that he ripped his pants doing a whirlwind move!

Why am I telling you this? Because Holiday Parties are good for company morale. At this party there were no divisions because of positions or locations in the office, everyone was mingling like one big family. Some argue that a bonus would be better than a party, to those people I say BAH HUMBUG. Those bonuses remind me of the often quoted business-owner motto, “I don’t need to say thank you, that’s what I pay you for.” Throwing money in someone’s direction might be appreciated, but it feels a lot less personal and I’m not alone in my thinking, “A party at the end of the year is a good way for an employer to show its appreciation to employees,”  Bob Kelleher, CEO of The Employee Engagement Group

I won’t stop there either, here are some reasons why having a Holiday Party for your employees is great for your company.

Relationships

• Office parties affect morale in a positive way by helping to build relationships. Managers have the chance to spend time socially with people who work for them, which can help the employees see them more clearly as human beings rather than bosses. Employees are able to interact socially with people they may not know well, which can create bonds between members of different teams within the organization. Morale is positively affected by interacting socially because people need to feel that they are part of a team.

Builds Trust

• Trust is established when an organization follows through on its decision to keep social events in place, even during tough economic times. It shows employees that the company genuinely cares about the happiness of the people who work their, which can help build morale. People have a basic need for trust in relationships, which is satisfied when an employer shows good faith in its employees as well as concern for their happiness and well-being.

Motivation for Next Year

• Parties are a helpful way for employers to acknowledge the hard work their employees have done for them over the year. Whether giving out awards, making small speeches or simply buying everyone some food and beverages, the acknowledgment is happening. Employees need to feel that they are not expendable, and an office party is one way to help with this. Being acknowledged raises employees' self-esteem, which in turn raises morale because it makes them feel appreciated and happy.

Do you have an annual company party? If so, share the reasons why you have this party in the comments section below!

Last night ActivEngage had it’s annual Holiday Party at Ceviche. We had an open bar, hand passed appetizers, and a great DJ. By 7PM employees created a break dancing circle and one later told me that he ripped his pants doing a whirlwind move!

Why am I telling you this? Because Holiday Parties are good for company morale. At this party there were no divisions because of positions or locations in the office, everyone was mingling like one big family. Some argue that a bonus would be better than a party, to those people I say BAH HUMBUG. Those bonuses remind me of the often quoted business-owner motto, “I don’t need to say thank you, that’s what I pay you for.” Throwing money in someone’s direction might be appreciated, but it feels a lot less personal and I’m not alone in my thinking, “A party at the end of the year is a good way for an employer to show its appreciation to employees,”  Bob Kelleher, CEO of The Employee Engagement Group

I won’t stop there either, here are some reasons why having a Holiday Party for your employees is great for your company.

Relationships

• Office parties affect morale in a positive way by helping to build relationships. Managers have the chance to spend time socially with people who work for them, which can help the employees see them more clearly as human beings rather than bosses. Employees are able to interact socially with people they may not know well, which can create bonds between members of different teams within the organization. Morale is positively affected by interacting socially because people need to feel that they are part of a team.

Builds Trust

• Trust is established when an organization follows through on its decision to keep social events in place, even during tough economic times. It shows employees that the company genuinely cares about the happiness of the people who work their, which can help build morale. People have a basic need for trust in relationships, which is satisfied when an employer shows good faith in its employees as well as concern for their happiness and well-being.

Motivation for Next Year

• Parties are a helpful way for employers to acknowledge the hard work their employees have done for them over the year. Whether giving out awards, making small speeches or simply buying everyone some food and beverages, the acknowledgment is happening. Employees need to feel that they are not expendable, and an office party is one way to help with this. Being acknowledged raises employees' self-esteem, which in turn raises morale because it makes them feel appreciated and happy.

Do you have an annual company party? If so, share the reasons why you have this party in the comments section below!