Dealers to be rated online

A new website has been launched that allows consumers to independently rate and review car dealerships in New Zealand.

Launched by Motorcentral, which provides management tools for used-vehicle dealers, the goal is to provide better information and buying guidance through the collation of reviews from recent Kiwi car buyers.  

BuyerScore helps dealerships collect feedback from verified customers, which is then displayed online. Consumers are sent online surveys by dealers using the service to rate and review their experiences.

Shane Breckon, director of Motorcentral, told Autofile Online: “BuyerScore is already being displayed on dealers’ websites and www.needacar.co.nz. Our aim is to have its data in places Kiwis research cars the most, so we intend to assess extending the service to other online platforms that help us meet that goal.

“The feedback from dealers has been overwhelmingly positive. They are learning what customers expect of them and where they might be letting customers down.

“They do not have ‘control’ over the reviews, although they can request to have a review examined by one of the BuyerScore members if they believe it’s inappropriate or incorrect. And dealers have the ability to respond to customer comments. When doing so, it emails the customer as well as displaying it for the public to see.”

Motorcentral’s Mark Greenfield talks about BuyerScore

While BuyerScore is a beneficial tool for potential vehicle buyers, Greenfield argues that BuyerScore is equally as valuable for dealerships. Autofile Online caught up with the Motorcentral's general manager to find out more. 

Autofile: What's BuyerScore all about? 

There are different components to BuyerScore, but I guess one of the key aspects for dealerships is understanding what the customer’s experience was.  BuyerScore surveys only customers who have purchased from the dealership, which is then used to tell dealers what the experience was like with their sales person and business manager. 

It comes in the form of individual surveys or reports we provide based on each individual sales person and allows them to identify areas they’ve worked well or where customers comment it’s negative. From there it goes onto the BuyerScore rating review platform. That’s where dealerships can leverage what that feedback is about.

When you look at the number of dealerships who have slogged it out over the years to try to get Google reviews, it can be a hard and long process. These dealers have commented there are reviews from buyers who haven’t even purchased from them, or there are fake reviews – both positive and negative. It’s pretty easy to manipulate online reviews when there is no way to control or verify an actual customer.

BuyerScore takes care of different components to give the dealership insight into how customers experience various aspects of the business. It allows dealers to have the feedback presented to prospective buyers so they are filled with more trust and confidence.

We know, on the whole, that the motor-vehicle industry is pretty good and dealers operate good businesses, but unfortunately, it gets tainted with a bit of a bad brush by the media. 

In almost 40,000 BuyerScore surveys, 94 per cent of people would recommend the dealership they brought from. We’ve also seen people are keen to provide feedback.

To date from when we launched just over a year ago, the survey completion rate is just over 50 per cent at 50.7 per cent. That beats every global benchmark I can find on consumer surveys – the average sits around 15 per cent. It’s a huge number and we believe that number will actually grow as more buyers use it. We see our completion rate will go past 60 or 65 per cent within the next 12 months.

But ultimately, different components of BuyerScore are informing the dealer, showcasing the dealership and helping the public make informed decisions because reviews do influence buying decisions. It was pretty important we create something from a credible source, from buyers only. 

There’s been the odd dealership that has been surveying customers for several years and they’ve learnt something from having BuyerScore as it’s an independent source of surveying. Other than getting testimonials, there’s been no real way in the past to efficiently survey customers, consolidate feedback and leverage those reviews across online and dealership advertising.

Autofile: What has dealer feedback been like? When you hear your business will be going under review, especially on the internet, some people might start getting defensive? 

Greenfield: You’re right. Some dealerships assumed they will only hear negative feedback, but within a short time, they are surprised that what they’ve been receiving is positive. Any negative is constructive, and they’re able to identify it and deal with it.

One key feature of BuyerScore we made available to dealers is that when initially they go live with it, it’s private to them or “unpublished”. It gives them a couple of months, or however long, to take stock of what customers say. 

If it isn’t right, they can fix their business and get to a point where they can say, “yes, I’d like my ratings published or included where they are visible”. Taking that approach gives dealers more confidence about being rated. The ones who know they do a good job aren’t that afraid of it. There might be a minority who never want to be rated. That’s just how they operate their business, they don’t care. 

What we will see over time is there will be rated and unrated dealerships and the public will just have to form their own purchasing decisions. 

Autofile: Why now? Is it due to more consumers jumping online to purchase vehicles, cowboy traders increasing or has it been a long time in the making?

Greenfield: It’s been something I’ve probably had in my head for around 15 years. From that perspective, the number of cases that go to the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal in relation to vehicle sales is still really small. However, the backyard trader has always been there.

The issue isn’t that it’s all online. The issue is that it’s not regulated as much as it should be. I almost think BuyerScore plays a role in pseudo-regulation without it being anything official. I think it will play a part in cleaning up the industry. 

The industry doesn’t want the minority who make it bad for everyone else being the only voice heard. The majority is good and the public is still building trust in car dealers. Once people have good buying experiences from dealerships, they will continue to buy from there for the rest of their lives because they get protection, service and value.

The number of registered traders is still disproportionate to the number of actual dealerships there is. They are two very different numbers. 

Autofile: Does BuyerScore also review repair workshops? 

Greenfield: It works across any vehicle-type dealership – trucks, motorhomes, motorcycles, marine, boats. BuyerScore operates across all of those, any vehicle-trader. We’re developing it for customers who have service or repairs workshops. We have already developed survey questions, so it’s ready to go. 

Autofile: Is BuyerScore used with any other online platforms?

Greenfield: It will be live on Trade Me within the next couple of months. It will be its ratings and review source because, right now, as a dealer you don’t have as much feedback ability on Trade Me. It’s set to launch very soon – early this year. We have around 240-250 businesses on BuyserScore, and it keeps on going up by about 10 to 20 dealerships a month. 

Autofile: What’s the general response been?

Greenfield: I’ll give you an example. Some dealerships are rewarding and remunerating sales teams based on its results. Sales teams start to know they’re being surveyed and lift their games, so BuyerScore has resulted in higher conversions for some dealers. 

Dealers have learnt more about certain aspects of their business. People are upgrading customer parking, toilets, waiting areas and other facilities. There are also examples when it has taken them two years to get 60 to 70 reviews on Google, but an average dealership is getting about 60 reviews within four months with BuyerScore. 

Autofile: Can dealers comment on negative reviews? 

Greenfield: Dealers can reply to every review online, which I encourage them to do – positive and negative – thanking people for their time. With the negative reviews, customers’ concerns can be addressed. 

The unfortunate aspect of most other global rating sites is they aren’t just locked down to the customer rating the business, they don’t have a way to police it. That’s where it changes and you can just get a disgruntled person reviewing instead of genuine customers. 

For dealers wanting to learn more about BuyerScore click here.