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CARING FOR CUSTOMER’S purchase online. “The most important thing customer didn’t know the part was on order
COMMUNITIES is that you follow up quickly and show that or the vehicle was in transit. Usually, we can
Customers are drawn to how the dealership you care about them, want their business, handle the problem quickly and even get
cares for its community, Gach adds. The and want them to have a good experience,” the review upended.”
company always provides disaster relief Gach adds. “We are constantly training
when areas, where it has stores, get hit by our teams how to best use online tools and With plenty of positive reviews, it’s easy
natural disasters. provide a better customer experience.” to rest on your laurels. But Gach says
the company is not afraid of negative
“We have a robust system in place to He admits the shortage of new and used reviews because they help dealerships
provide water, diapers, baby food, etc. to cars has challenged the selling process. address another core value—continuous
teammates and communities affected by With 9,000 used cars available, the improvement.
natural disasters,” Gach says, noting the company can usually meet customer needs.
company helped areas of Texas affected by But if they cannot, they sell deeply into the “One of my lines is, ‘What did we learn
the severe winter storm and areas affected pipeline. But this process only works with here today?’” he says. “if we got a review,
by Hurricane Florence. transparency and open communication, how did it happen? How can we prevent it
according to Gach. from happening again? Sometimes it’s not
The Hendrick Cares initiative encourages something we can control. Those instances
employees to respond to community needs Hendrick Automotive Group communicates help us train our teams on how to message
and step up when they see an opportunity. regularly with teammates and customers to the consumer around that.”
The company supports local schools and ensure everyone understands where things
food banks and it’s Hendrick Get Set. Go! are. That also is the pinnacle upon which Negative reviews can drive down
Competition funds education projects they build their service centers. “We have Google rankings, so it’s also important
that increase student access to science, to make sure people have safe and reliable to encourage satisfied customers to leave
technology, engineering and math (STEM). transportation,” Gach says. “The key is to reviews. Provide technology that makes
To date, the company has provided 230,000 communicate with the customer, put them it easy for customers to leave reviews, he
holiday meals, $2 million to food banks, 5.5 in a loaner if we can, and do our best to says.
million pounds of food, and $100,000 for constantly touch that customer to tell them
STEM education needs. how we will do our best to take care of them.” Hendrick dealerships use Reputation’s
communications platform to gather
Hendrick Automotive Group strives to He adds teammates strive to communicate reviews. When customers finish their
always follow the philosophy of Rick with customers how they want to service work or sale, Hendrick teammates
Hendrick, who says, “It’s our civic duty to be communicated with, whether it’s push a link to the customer that they can
take care of the people in our community, messaging, texts, email or phone. “We click on to leave a review.
and a moral duty just for mankind.” teach teammates how to communicate
and answer customer questions quickly Targeted top-level training further
PUSHING A POSITIVE CUSTOMER no matter what platform they are on,” he elevates the customer experience, adds
EXPERIENCE says. “We communicate with the customer Gach. Hendrick Automotive Group uses
Pandemic lockdowns challenged every where they want to communicate and do its Reputation score to provide consistent
dealership’s ability to service customers; so as efficiently as possible.” training to teammates at every store. The
Hendrick dealerships were no exception, company looks at dealership scorecards,
reports Gach. NAVIGATING THE NEGATIVE online reviews, and Reputation scores
Though customers put Hendrick regularly.
Both Brian Johnson, vice president of Automotive Group at the top of the list
marketing at Hendrick Automotive Group, for online service, Gach is quick to add “Every dealership knows where they stand
and Gach stress their first strategy was to “we’re not perfect. Even though we have an and how well they are doing for the month,”
improve their online game. “We had to outstanding reputation and a great score, Johnson says. “We have teammates at the
provide a great experience,” Gach says. we still get negative reviews sometimes.” management company dedicated to this.
“When someone starts the process, you have We have a dedicated team at Reputation
to get back to them right away, especially with How teammates answer reviews—even that supports the management company
the chip shortage impacting inventories.” negative ones—is the key to the company’s and the dealerships. But overall, we
success, he adds, noting the company gets just make it a priority to maintain an
He says it involves understanding how managers involved to resolve negative outstanding online reputation.”
people want to shop and meeting them reviews immediately.
where they are. For instance, some people This, he adds, makes marketing the
want to start the process online and finish in “Most of the time it’s because of a company easy. “It’s social proof that we
the store while others want to do the entire communication challenge,” he says. “The provide great service,” he concludes. t

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