Reviews Don't Lie: What Reputation Really Reveals

In this episode of Changing Lanes: The Hooks Playbook, dealership reputation is put under the microscope—starting with two real Google reviews from the same store that couldn’t be more different.

So what separates great dealerships from the rest?

Kip Hooks, owner of Hooks Lincoln in Fort Worth, Texas, breaks down what reviews actually reveal: not marketing, not luck—but culture, leadership, and the daily decisions happening behind the scenes.

With a 4.7+ star rating and hundreds of authentic reviews, Hooks Lincoln doesn’t chase feedback—they earn it. Kip shares why reviews are a lagging indicator, how consistency is built on trust (not scripts), and why negative reviews are one of the most valuable tools a dealership has—if handled the right way.

This conversation goes beyond ratings and dives into what really drives customer experience: communication, accountability, and leadership that shows up when things go wrong.

If you want to understand what your reviews are really saying about your business—and how to turn both wins and mistakes into long-term trust—this episode is your playbook.

Stop by Hooks Lincoln in Fort Worth, Texas
Visit us online: www.hookslincoln.com
Find us on Google: Hooks GBP

Follow Kip Hooks: www.linkedin.com/in/kip-hooks-6723046a/

Podcast Directed and Produced by: www.hiredgunsagency.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I want to read to you two Google reviews. Here's the first one. This was the first time I've used your mobile service, but it won't be the last. The technician showed up on time and performed all the scheduled preventative maintenance in a very professional manner. He was very nice, informed me of everything he was doing, completely tarped the floor beneath the vehicle to catch any drips. Additionally, the service scheduler was helpful and very professional prior to and after the service appointment. Truly outstanding service. Now here's another one from the same dealership. Horrible communication. Was told my car would be ready at 9 a.m. Got to the shop around 9 30. Car wasn't finished until 1 p.m. Constantly called for updates throughout the time of my vehicle being there. Would have to call at least three times just to get someone in service to answer the phone. Was not offered any accommodation or loan or vehicle after having my car for an entire week, was also offered nothing and just had to wait an additional four hours for my car to be ready and had to cancel work meetings. Both of those reviews are real. Same dealership, same brand, same same leadership. So the real question isn't why do bad reviews happen? The question is what do great dealerships do in responding differently? That's what today's episode is about. I'm Sean Reigns, your host, and today we're pulling back the curtain on something every dealership has, but very few talk about it, honestly. Reputation. Now Hooks Lincoln has a 4.7, it might be greater than that. It didn't look today. They've got a 4.7 star average rating on their Google Business profile with hundreds of reviews. Trust me. Go check it out. Actually, don't trust me. Go check it out for yourself. Most of them are glowing. Instead of cherry-picking just the best ones today, we're going to do something different. We're going to read real reviews. We're going to talk about what they say between the lines, which is really important. And yes, we're going to talk about what happens when things go wrong. Joining me as always, the top frog, the owner, the main man. Kip hooks, Kips, thanks for being here as always. Always good to be with you, Sean.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to talk about this.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah, this is a good one. And I think a lot of dealers are maybe not probably excited to talk about, but even before we went live, we were talking about the nuance that just people don't get into. So I want to start with the obvious. You don't get the kind of star rating that you guys have on Google, a 4.7, might be again, could be higher than that today by accident. It just doesn't happen by accident. I pulled a handful of your five-star reviews, and what jumped out wasn't really people talking about price, incentives. It was names. It was people like naming your team members. They talk about how they were treated. Like, I want to give you an example. We had an excellent experience purchasing a new Lincoln from Hooks Lincoln in Fort Worth. Our sales representative, Jeff, did a fantastic job of explaining the whole process and made it seem like easy. We had looked at various dealerships before making our purchase and felt the overall experience at Hooks Lincoln was the very best. It was a no-fuss transaction that took much less time than we have experienced at any other dealership. They helped us find the car, arranged financing. If you're in the market for a new Lincoln or a new car, I would highly recommend Hooks Lincoln. Kip, what is that, when you hear that back, what does that say to you when customers consistently talk about your people, not necessarily the product?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

You know, it's it's warms the heart, but it tells me that the culture is reflecting exactly what it's supposed to reflect. We don't teach, we don't coach, we don't, we don't never do these things. Hey, you're going to get a survey, please do this. We don't do that. It needs to be a real deal, accurate reflection of what we did. We cannot know where we are or how we're doing on the grand scale if we're getting garbage in, garbage out. We can't get better without without the good stuff. So, you know, it just means that the people here like being here. The team enjoy what they do. They enjoy who they work with and the people that they get to work for being the client. We have we have good processes in place, but you can fake some of that stuff with a process. You can't fake culture, you can't fake character, you can't fake the things that drive that experience for a customer, for a client. You can't fake it, man. You can't you might be able to fake it every once in a while, but overall, people are gonna see through that. And that is so thank you for reading that, because that I'm I always it makes me feel good to hear the good ones. And it's very rewarding. And, you know, but I know they're not all good. I know I know that they're not all good, but but you know, we it's not it's not because of lack of effort, but it's or or intent or desire. Um but you know, this whole thing happens, starts to happen, and so much is done about this before a customer even pulls their phone out, gets online, whatever. This is all put in place by the people who work here long before that.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And I I mean, one of the first things that I remember and getting to know you and your store was when I was looking at your Google Business profile and reviews, and I started reading just one after another after another. And they're constant, they're like constantly coming in. Like it's just like um, you know, and some people kind of game that, some dealers game that system, and all of yours are just clearly these very authentic, genuine expressions of people. And I know you know this, but I think all dealers need to think about the fact that reviews are what would be called a lagging indicator. They show up after the fact, they're the receipt for the decisions that are made on the showroom floor, in the service drive, and behind the scenes. Would you agree that culture shows up in reviews whether you want it to or not? Yeah.

unknown 6:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

I mean, like it or not, that the reviews are going to tell you whether or not people like doing business with you. They're gonna tell you whether they feel good about the the culture that they that they transac with, that they interacted with or not. And they're going to be very forthright given the opportunity. You know, this is something that a lot of them are sent to them, so they don't have to make, they don't have to go create a Google account if they don't have one to leave us a review. But I have had people that have called me and said, I don't want to create a Google account, but I want to leave you a solid review. What can I do? Where can I do it? I said, the fact that you're telling me, that's I mean, that that just means the world to me. But, you know, it's going to reflect really accurately about the way things went for them, if they were, if they felt rushed, if they felt comfortable, if they felt welcomed, if they felt like they were heard and listened to. The things that a survey say, that a review that comes back to you tell you, you can't hide from that. You can't set that up. That's done somewhere else. You get to read it and be accountable for it. Good or bad.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yep, so true. So I want to go maybe one level deeper. Um when you read these reviews, good or bad, what do they mean to you personally as an owner?

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Well, honestly, they hit a lot closer home than you think. This is my name, it's my heritage, this is my legacy. This is but I'm also at the I'm the leader of this whole thing, and it's a reflection of of everybody. It's the dealership is my name, it's family name, past, present, future. All tenses. I mean, you know, did we do what we said we were gonna do? Did we live up to what we what we stand for? Did we did we carry out the way we meant to carry out? And did something happen? You know, uh if it's if the answer is no, then ultimately it it's me. But it's it's it's whoever was part of that transaction, but it's me, it's the process, it's the leadership, it's it comes back to me. You know, everything that goes wrong here when it does, it it is it comes back to me. I will take credit and and I mean I'll I'll take blame and pass credit. You know, I just here I'm here to facilitate, but it it is a direct reflection of the way we do things here. And did we set out about it in the right way? Did we train the people the right way? Do they did they did we hire the right person? But did we do the things that we believe in as an organization because it's a reflection of the entire the entirety of who we are?

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah, you're this is why this is why you are separate among you know dealers that just don't care as much. Because that responsibility piece really matters. Like, and it do you care about that personally? Leadership attention uh changes outcomes. So next thing I want to ask you about is do you think that reviews matter more when leadership actually does care about them?

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Million percent. Yes, 100,000, million percent. Yes, leadership has to care. I mean, if it's noise to them, it's noise to everybody else. If it's if it's used as a whipping stick, then it's you're not gonna get very far with it. If it's used to get better and to be more productive and to help and to help people, customers, clients, teammates, if it helps to lift them up, hey, this is mistakes happen. Nobody is perfect. But if you're using that as an opportunity to get better, then a customer, a client gets a better experience, and one of our teammates is more fulfilled and feels like they're better off at what they do, then you use that as an opportunity. So if you believe in it, you can use it as an opportunity to do something grand, not something to beat someone over the head with, because that's not what we try to use it for. So, yeah, you know, it it's really it's really reflective of the the way that leadership embodies this is very reflective of the process that they're overseeing and the things that they put in place and how they the role they had to play in all this. So if they shy away from it and run away from it or use it, oh that wasn't me, that wouldn't pass blame. I mean, come on. It's it's I I didn't have a chance to meet these people, and it's still my fault. Ultimately, I still have a role to play because I have to help us to get better, to help everybody here succeed, clients and staff.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. I want to share with you there's another pattern I noticed in in reviews for hooks. All different customers, different days, same phrases. Kept me updated. What person doesn't want that when they are having a vehicle service, or maybe they're in the process of purchasing, um, but kept me updated. In other words, didn't feel rushed, and they went above and beyond those three phrases, like literally multiple times people saying those things, and I think those are critical for the consumer. It doesn't, however, sound like luck. So let me ask you this how do you create, and I know that you love this word, consistency without you know turning people into robots?

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Well, first off, luck and consistency are polar opposites, right? You look into something every once in a while when you do things consistently, then you're looking at something for special. So, you know, this is a big one for us. And we don't we don't try to script conversations, we script expectations, we put things down to like these are what we expect, and we trust you, we empower you to do those things in your role, to meet these expectations, to however you get here within these, if you hit these marks, you're golden. Good deal. We but here's the expectation that the the satisfaction you know it all comes back to trust. And trust has so many different elements that go with it, but whether it's listening or clarity or expectations or whatever it is, um consistency is not control, consistency is trust.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Love that, and that's an important distinction. I mean, great experiences feel personal, like but they're built on what you just said, consistency, repeatable systems. That's why your reviews uh don't feel like it's some kind of robot rehearsed thing. They all feel human, and you can look at all kinds of dealer profiles and you cannot say that very same thing about them.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

No, no, you're exactly right, and it's intentional. I mean the consistency comes from from trust, it comes from clarity, it comes from empowerment. People don't want to be micromanaged. If the people that I want to work with don't want to be micromanaged because they're they're critical thinkers, they're problem solvers, they're curious, they want to be fulfilled, they want they want to to get better and they want to help others. They have sort of service-oriented perspectives. So, you know, it's it's it's all about if you can if you can focus on the experience and building relationships and you trust that those things are going on, then customers stop feeling like they're here to to to transact. They're here to they're here because they have a relationship.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Really? Yep. Love that. Okay, I want to try something we've never done on the podcast. I'm going to, you're uh you'll love it because it's a great one. I'm gonna read another five-star review of yours, but uh what I want you to do after I read this is to walk us maybe behind the scenes of what likely happened operationally to create this experience for your customer. Here's the review. We walked in without an appointment one day and were greeted by Ryan. Ryan was very helpful in showing us vehicles we were interested in. We test drove a couple that day and were undecided as we wanted to test drive some other brands before making a decision. There was no pressure to get us to purchase a vehicle right there and then. Instead, the response was, thank you for coming in. Please let us know if we can help in any way. We test drove a couple of other vehicles and decided we wanted the Lincoln. We came back a couple of days later on short notice and were promptly greeted again by Ryan. And he was just as awesome as before. We drove three more vehicles that day and decided on one. Ryan put together several purchase options based on our input, and we decided on the best option for us. At this store, there is a single point of contact. In our case, Ryan was our salesman and finance manager. We did not have to sit and wait for someone else to be available whom we had not interacted with yet. Ryan already knew our wants and needs. He presented us with the products they offer and answered every question we had without applying pressure. Of the five or six vehicles we have purchased, this was by far the best experience we've ever had. We would highly recommend Hooks Lincoln. If you're in the market for a newer pre-owned vehicle, if you're not sure, well, go buy and see them, and you will probably be. So, like what had to go right internally for that review to be written?

SPEAKER_00 18:02

Well, I'm grateful. Thank you. That kind of experience starts well before the customer ever gets here, right? Um we set expectations, it's that that that we communicate with our clients when and how and with what that they expect, what they ask for, we do what we said we were gonna do. We're building relationships, and relationships aren't built on ultimatums or pressure. They're built on trust. Uh, they're built on uh, you know, listening and and and doing what you say you're gonna do, integrity. And and you know, you have to have those communications with customers by the code those communications internally and externally. So that we're set up here to do because it takes a team, otherwise, there wouldn't be a bunch of people here. But we were ready and we took care of them when they got here, and we everybody supported that whole thing. So, you know, when a customer seamless really, it's when I I'm really proud of the team because that's a lot of discipline behind the scenes before. You know, I used to say with even with my kids, well, that's where it started. And it cade over here, he'll remember. But you win games at practice. You know, I don't coach you during the game. That's that's we've missed if I did that. You know, our our preparation here is our practice. But I believe every team wins games at practice because you can't just show up for games and decide and and hope you win. It's a discipline. It's a discipline about being prepared, being ready, and being flexible and versatile in every situation.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

I love that analogy because it makes so much sense. And I was a baseball coach for about six or seven years as well. And I used to say very, very similar, similar things to these young boys. Um just the the flip side of this uh also has some truth. When a customer says that things felt really chaotic or disorganized, that's usually, I don't think, and I'm asking you, that's not usually one mistake, right? That's like a breakdown of all sorts and handoffs and all kinds of other things.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Is that right? Typically, typically. I mean, customers are going to feel friction no matter where it comes from. You know, if something breaks down in the process that doesn't, you know, you can't add them all up and get one result and then add up part of them and get the same result, it doesn't work. So it comes from something in the process. That's why the the communication is at the heart of it. It's at the heart of whether it's internal, external, it it's all based on communication. We can't know, we can't read minds, we can't, there's no unilateral answer here or anywhere for that matter. So, you know, if we if we are aligned behind the scenes and living up to the expectation that we've set forth, then the results will speak for themselves. If we're not, they still speak for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Well, let's talk about the hard part, which the the the negative review that I read up top of the episode. Let's use that as an example. We were talking a little bit about that offline, and I really thought your perspective was absolutely right on the money. Um, you know, there's I think a lot of dealers will want to, you know, spin, they'll be defensive, they're you know, frustrated. Around some of those negative reviews. And a lot of people don't understand that there could be a lot going on. And I won't give the I won't repeat the Isuzu impulse thing, but like that that is something that I think in just being transparent and honest with people is sometimes um customers um don't understand all of that nuance. And so when something goes wrong, like that review where somebody's was expecting their car at 9:30 and they had to be there for a week, and they also had the expectations of put me in a loner car and all those things, what are some of the things that you know contribute to that going wrong? But also that people kind of need to understand. I'm sure it's partly ownership of like, well, the dealer, you say it all the time because you're like this. No one's perfect, like mistakes happen, but there's also sometimes really misaligned expectations, too. And so when you think about all of that, like what are your what are your kind of thoughts on an on a review like that?

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Well, I mean, obviously, somebody missed the ball. I mean, they missed big time, but the key is that you have to own it. You know, and there's like I said, just said, there's nothing is unilateral around here. It requires internal, external communication, ongoing. It could be a matter of it could be a hundred different things. I mean, maybe the technician was late, maybe they were sick, maybe they didn't show up, maybe somebody misscheduled it, maybe the advisor didn't have the courage to go tell them that the technician was out, or maybe they were busy, or maybe they were scared, maybe they were preoccupied, it could be it could be a whole bunch of things, but regardless, you have to take ownership of it. Because if you don't, you will repeat it over and over. Because if you acquiesce to this and say, and then you're putting your stamp of approval on it that it's okay, and it's not okay. I mean, every business makes mistakes, but the best thing you can do is learn from them. I mean, you bring it up, or that you you're how often do we use mistakes to punish people instead of get better? And you can if you don't own it, but you know, I really believe that it would it boils down to communication, and at some point this could have been mitigated, it could have been it could have been cut off, but it wasn't, and it just went and it happened and it affected a customer, and the customer lets you know about it. Don't be mad at the customer, they didn't do anything wrong. They're telling you, and you should sell you should tell them thank you, if anything, for giving you this information that you can use. So, you know, you got mistakes happen, man, and you gotta own them. You gotta admit them, you gotta own them, you gotta get better from them. If you don't, you're wasting everybody's time. At that point, then you can use it to beat them over the head.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

Fair enough. So when you guys don't this doesn't happen a lot for you. I mean, thank the Lord. But when you guys have a negative review, how do you how do you handle it?

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Well, we reach out as soon as we know. And I'll meet with uh general manager, I'll meet with Bob, I'll meet with the with the department head, I'll meet with the person. Um we don't wait, we jump on it, who's gonna do it and when. Okay, and then you need to let me know when you're done because I'm probably gonna call them. You know, you don't make excuses, you don't you find out what's going on because you're gonna get this much information in a review, and there's gonna be this much that's they have to say. So, you know, it regardless of you gotta do the right thing. You've got to do the right thing, you've got to have the character. It's a reflection of me, our integrity, our name, our business, our team, everybody, everything that we are, it's a reflection. Don't let it go. Don't let it spin. Don't run from it and don't be scared. I mean, what you did, you did. At least own it and get better for it. And that's uh character on our one of our other discussions. So I mean, i if we regardless of what's gonna happen, regardless of the outcome, regardless of if this customer ever comes back again, this experience they're gonna carry forward. And if it is the last time they come back to you, you don't want that to be their last impression of you. I don't. That's that's my name, my heritage, my my forefathers and my my kids moving forward, my every all of us. I don't want that out there. You know, um, if you do the right thing, regardless of of what the outcome is going to be, the future, don't worry about that. Make this one right, then that's the right thing to do. And whether or not it works out, you can't control that. You had no control over it to begin with, but at least you did the right thing, at least you left them on the right foot, and at least they know that you're willing to stand up for what you said you're gonna do. And if you'll do that, I believe it works out more times than not.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Yeah, I mean, that's a big difference. I mean, a lot of dealers lose trust, right, in these moments, right? You you're talking about how I'm not trying to win arguments, right? You if this goes back to what's most important to you, it's like winning relationships. And, you know, I think that's an important thing to to consider. Like when something, when a negative review experience does happen, like what changes? It's not just for that customer, but operationally, and you're kind of saying that that's a chance to to look inward, own it, you know, be responsible, you know. Any thoughts there?

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Yeah. I mean, you when you look at that a negative review, it's an opportunity. And and it's it's uh it's an opportunity to figure out where you went wrong in the process. It's an opportunity to coach and counsel someone. It's an opportunity to realize that we have a communication breakdown. And hey, we've had legitimate real communication breakdowns. You know, ATT, sometimes it goes down. If it goes down, our phones are off. I can't call them. So I got them cell phones. Because that is so critical to everything. So we have those opportunities. But, you know, how could we have caught these things earlier? You know, every time this happens, when I call someone, the first thing I do is thank them. Thank them for the opportunity. Thank for stepping up and thanks for letting us know. Because I don't want this to happen again. And you telling me about this and all the specifics of your experience, I can determine where it broke down, as can they. But to them, it's just all messed up. But where, you know, we can I and I write copious notes when the customer is telling me about something that went wrong. Because I want to know everything they have to say, and I can't record it, so I'm just right, right, right, right, right. And then I pull things out and I verify and I talk to them and I go back to what I said. I want to tell you again from the top. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to share this with me, and thanks for picking up the phone and calling me. Some people don't have the fortitude. Hey, it's sometimes it comes out of anger and frustration. Sometimes it comes out of care. Sometimes it comes out of a missed expectation. So if it's a missed expectation, then you've clearly done something right in the past sometime in the past to set their expectation so high that they that we missed. That's happened. You know, and I'll tell them, hey, that's on me. Whether we had a personnel issue in our service department or we were we had somebody leave, we're trying to find the right people. But I tell them honestly, hey, look, we yeah, we can put people in place. I have to put the right people into place. Your expectation, that experience that you ex that you've had in the past and what you expect from me, from us and everyone that works here, you can't just plug somebody in. It has to be the right person. And sometimes they're right there in front of you, and sometimes it takes a while to find. But bear in mind, we are looking diligently, and you can call me anytime. Anytime. You need to talk to me about something, call me. I'll find out what's going on. I'll help resolve the situation if there is one. Because they're an opportunity, you can't use them to beat somebody over the head with them. They can't be used as a purely punitive measure. Otherwise, it's going to be a repeated issue and it's going to turn into a habit. So you have to use them to find ways to get better to mitigate. Yes, you want to mitigate those things that have happened in the past. But if you're a critical thinker, you're looking at you're looking through everything and not only ways to mitigate it, but how can we get better? Because this is obvious, an obvious pitfall. Like we have a bridge here, so a span, uh, we've got this gap, and some people can jump over it, and some people fall in the middle of it. So, how do we get rid of the gap? So, all those things come to mind. So, I really do. I'd I study bad ones. I'm grateful for good ones, I study those. I'm grateful for all those. But it's, you know, and it's not that we have to put all this emphasis on the bad ones because we're trying to make them right. It's because we're trying to get better for that person and every other person. And it's not because we just gloss over the good ones like, okay, well, that we thank you. We don't gloss over those either. We look at those and how'd you do go? And then we go lift people up and say, hey, you did great. How did you do this? Or what happened here? Tell me. Tell me what happened. You know, with Ryan and the one you said earlier. Man, did how did you know they were going to come back? Did you just on a limb, on a whim, or did you what happened? Or is this just, you know, so we talk to them and see what happened. Because we want to mitigate the bad behavior or or or outcomes, really, and replicate the good ones and use these good ones. The good good ones are what close those gaps. So there's nothing to jump over, it's just smooth. So love that.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

I love how you frame that like negative reviews, while they can be uncomfortable, they are very useful, yeah. Which I think is really uh important. I also sidebar when you're talking about that review that calls out Ryan, the that story makes so many dealers nervous because it tells the story of letting somebody walk. And you and I know, you know this better than me because I only sold cars many, many, many, many years ago for uh a couple of years, nights and weekends, when I already had a full-time job, but I got tired of dealers asking me, like, have you ever sold a car in your life when I was trying to sell them internet website type stuff? But my first day as a part-time car salesman, I won't name the dealerships, not in Texas. Um, but at a Chevy dealership, sorry. Um, but it's the only one I could get to give. Only place I could get to to hire me part-time, nights and weekends. But my first day on the job relative to this Ryan story, um, the sales tower was in the corner of the front of the showroom. And the GSM, the general sales manager, for all of you folks that are not in the car business, called over a salesperson who had been there for I think a long time. And the amount of profanity and horrible, disgusting language that that was used against this salesperson, because I'll never forget it, you let three customers walk today. Now, let's be let's be fair. This was in the early 2000s. So we've, you know, we've we've got 20 years or so um in between then and now. But that experience for a lot of dealers of letting somebody walk, they do punish salespeople. They do like it's it's and it's that still happens, maybe not to the same extremes. But that burned in my mind how um difficult and sometimes really unbecoming the car business can be. And I I share that quick little story. I wasn't planning to, but you guys are the absolute polar opposite in contrast to that. And you have at least one, probably more. I just happened to pick that one. But you probably have more reviews like that, where something that would make the dealer really unhappy or uncomfortable, no sweat at all. And because Ryan treated that prospect, that potential new relationship, new customer, the way that Hooks does business right out of your playbook, there was no concern. Yeah, go look around, check and see what's at, like how they're treated, probably didn't like the vehicles. But it's very, very possible that all the things that we talk about on your podcast, all these core tenants, the cornerstones of why you do business the way you do and why these things matter, is what brought them back. It could be that was what won them back to the Lincoln brand itself, was literally how these people are being treated and the comfort and like, yeah, figure it out. You got to make the right decision. That is not the norm, I know for certain in most dealerships, and it says a lot about you and how you operate. Before we get away from tough reviews, do you ever use them or share tough reviews with your team?

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Of course. Of course, everyone. Let's share them with the team, you know. Um, not maybe the team at at large as a whole.

SPEAKER_03 36:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:53

But, you know, with especially with the people who were involved, uh, even bring text into it, you know, if it's a service issue, because hey, look, this is a reflection of this person, and this little breakdown here happened because the one you mentioned earlier. If we could go back to that one, that the person sat for four hours, you know, and the the expectation was missed by four hours and so forth. You know, maybe the technician was sidetracked. Maybe they were late, maybe something happened. But here's how that affected if that was the case, here's how that affected these five other people. So that they understand that, hey, you're not back here on an island that we don't you're not forgotten about. You're critical to the process. So they're used, they're shared with those who it's necessary to share them with, who who need to know, who can benefit from it. They're used as a experiential tool to get better. They're used to uh to enforce and and reinforce character. Hey, this is what's gonna happen. We're gonna do this for these people because we've got to make this right. We've got to, whatever the situation. But it's also on another level. I want to have people who are critical thinkers on this team because critical thinkers solve problems. And so it's a way to go about that together in a critical thinking manner, whether I'm helping someone learn how to be a critical thinker and solve problems, or I'm learning for them from them, or we're just agreeing that as a group, we're probably gonna come up with some better up better options than we would unilaterally or individually. So, yeah, they're they're used, they're shared uh as in a more let's find out what happened and get better.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

Yep, I love that. I didn't come up with this saying, but I really like it. You don't earn loyalty by being perfect, you earn it by being accountable. And I know we've had some of these conversations before. Some of your strongest advocates, some of the strongest advocates of hooks didn't necessarily start as happy customers. Um why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Because it's about it's about showing up, it's about being accountable. And I don't think that anybody expects another person or entity to be perfect all the time, but it's how are you gonna act when you do mess up? And I think that just I think that the character shows up and the character is something someone can trust in. The character, the experience is is supported is a reflection of the character. And if they can rely on that character of that person, you know I think it says a lot. I think it says a lot about that person, that that person's character. When you show up, when you take accountability, when you when you call when it's not fun, when you own the situation, you can get lucky and give somebody a good experience. As we said earlier, consistency is the key. But when things go bad, character rises to the top. And honestly, this a lot of this in my experience comes back to listening. People want to be heard, and if they have something to say, try cutting them off and see how they grade you. Because people just they want you to hear what they're saying. Whether it's about how horrible everything went here, I've had people just dress me down and da-da-da-da-da, and then hear them out, man. Hear them out because there may be something in there that you can use to get better. There may be something in there you really need to know. I mean, there may be an egregious actor in there that you really need to define and weed out. Has it happened? Yeah, it's happened. I bet anybody who watches this or hears this, yeah, it's happened, and we had to deal with it. I've had to deal with it, but you deal with it now. Let's go. Because that you, unless you just want to let it keep on handling happening. But a mistake handled in the right way when you listen can turn into a very strong loyalty moment, and it can really build those relationships. And and it it tells people a lot about who you are. You know, I can remember being, I'll tell you, on on I've been on boards, elected boards and whatever, and you're interviewing people for, I remember specifically, like one of the other one of my earlier big ones, it was a huge contract, and their interview, I mean, they're in front of us as a board, and they're giving us their pitch, and it's our turn to ask questions. And everybody's well, what if, you know, can we get one of these? Can we do these things? And he got to me and I was like, tell me about when you messed up. I wanted to hear about sometime you messed up and messed up big and what you did to address it. That's all I want to hear. Because I'm not expecting you just to go with the flawlessly. It's a huge construction contract. It's not going to be flawless. So how are you going to address these things? Because I want to know how you're going to act in the in the downtimes. That's a reflection of your character. And if I if I run from these things, that says a lot about me too. But when you take them on, listen to people and truly care, you've got to care. People, people can see straight through disingenuous disingenuous people. But if you if you really use those, if you really take those to heart, it can turn into a very strong loyalty tool. But, you know, it's it again, like the games, you know, you win games at practice. This if you you can't go into it like, I'm gonna use this and make this person really loyal to me. It doesn't work that way. Might work, might not work, but the point of the matter is what's your intention? Your intention is to take care of the customer. I I've got to own it. I have to listen to them, I have to try to make it right. If they'll let me make it right. And be grateful for the opportunity to make it right for them.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Yeah. You've shared with me, we've talked about experiences that you've had over many, many years where somebody that needed to be heard, whether you really wanted to have to listen to them or not, that's for a Sidebar, but you know, people aren't perfect. So including the people that you know do business at dealerships or at hooks. But you've shared with me a couple where I've just uh been, and now I'm not surprised by these stories, but to have people who clearly want to be heard and they're being heard perhaps being really disrespectful, or they're you know, just they don't have all the information, or that's just their perspective, and that's the only side they see. But you have not only shared with me experiences, like not many, but some of them that have happened, and then this unique turn of you applying all the things that we talk about here on the podcast, and how that uh results in a conversion event of somebody who was like, I'm not happy and perhaps misunderstood, but you listened to them and respected them, and then gave them well, this is the this is the advice I would give you that it's turned around people, and maybe one day we'll get into maybe some of those. Um, but that you all of the things that you're talking about show up in your reviews, and I'll tell just the audience once again just go read the reviews for Hooks Lincoln in Fort Worth, Texas, and then try to do as good as they do. Good luck. Uh, let me move on to a little different topic. A little few more questions before we wrap this episode, Kip. But I think transparency is kind of the new marketing in some ways. Like today, I don't think a lot of customers just blindly trust ads. They more so trust reviews. And yes, there's gamesmanship within the whole review game and has been since we've had online reviews, but it doesn't really put down the truth that people do, all of us do as consumers, uh, dig into those reviews. Like, we're not buying like whatever the product is, if it's like got a one-star review and people don't really like it. So, what what do people want to know? They want to know, like, well, what happens when I'm not in the room? Like, how does this business behave when things aren't really cozy and comfortable? So, question for you is why not hide the stuff that's difficult to talk about, the tough stuff.

SPEAKER_00 46:22

Being transparent and being human is a lot more important than being perfect. I don't think that anybody, as I've said before, I don't think they expect us to be perfect. Would they like to have a perfect experience and the perfect deal? Well, yes, of course. Do they expect you to be perfect every time? It it's unattainable. It's it's too idealistic. It doesn't happen. So it's the way you show up and the way you like this, like I've said, we're not perfect. I don't claim to be perfect. I've tell people every time I have a I'm looking at my phone. I've when I have a somebody who calls me about something, hey, we're not perfect. At no point have I ever claimed that we are perfect. Will we do our best? Damn right. Will I be here to take your call? Yes, I will. Will you be able to talk to me about whatever you need? Yes. Will I help? I'll do all I can. I don't have all the answers, I don't know all the answers. But I'm pretty smart and I'll bet I can find somebody who does have the answers. We'll solve it, we'll figure it out, we'll get you an answer. I will not leave you hanging. So honesty, transparency, those things they matter. We don't do them in order to gain customers as a marketing ploy. It's who we are. I mean, it's a reflection of character. Because we care, because I care, because I don't want I don't want there to be any bad stuff out there, but when it but it exists, so I embrace it because it gives me an opportunity to make it better. And uh I'm uh uh some of the most satisfying times moments that I've had have been a time when when I've talked to someone who was so upset and felt so bad and not really happy. I didn't it's not like I went and I didn't go do something crazy for them. I listened to them, I help them, I cared. And they come in in tears and leave with the tears of of madness or or are you know hopping mad and and give me a hug before they leave. And and that's you know, hey, nobody wants bad situations, but if you can take one like that and get that outcome, it's it's incredibly rewarding. That wouldn't have happened if my intentions weren't pure and true. And and they were. I'm not coming off like this holier than thou. I'm not. I'm not that. I'm just me. I'm just human, I'm just a character. But it's my character that that is at the end of the line here, the end of the chain here. And and I have to own that, not just for me, not just for my granddad, and for my dad, and for my brother, and for my kids, for Hunter and Cade and Trip and Dee Dee, and for every but it's for everybody here, I have to own that. Because they they I'm not gonna let them down. So, you know, hey, if we have a rash of bad stuff happen, we're gonna be digging into it pretty deep. But we all, because we always, always, always want to make it better. But if you be honest and you'll own the fact that you're not perfect and you will let people know that, I think that that is a that's a tremendous tool to build relationships.

SPEAKER_01 50:17

See, this is why you you you very much understand that the reputation of your store is your loudest salesperson and it works 24-7. Like you get that. And uh, I wish all dealers kind of got that. Maybe some of them do, but for a lot of it, it's lip service. It's there's not all this stuff backed up by why all this stuff matters and why we do this and all these opportunities. I think we found a really good place to park this episode. Um, absolutely, and you know this because I've told you a number of times, and I'm telling the audience, go to the Google business profile of Hooks Lincoln, read their reviews. You will find out uh that everything that Kip talks about is absolutely backed up by what people say. Um, and it's it's worth it. What stands out to me in this conversation, reviews aren't what have made Hooks Lincoln great. They revealed what was already there and has been for decades. We talk about a lot of these things, but these reviews reflect the culture of your store. They reflect and show an expose, if you will, in a very good way of your leadership. And these reviews also reward the consistency of your team, which is amazing. So I don't know if you have a final word, but if I were to say, like, what would you hope people understand about reputation after watching this episode?

SPEAKER_00 51:56

Well, you know that in all honesty, the I don't want to be I want each independent person, each individual to have the best experience they have, their own great experience. And I want to be it's nobody does stuff to be judged. It's a it's just a product of our industry. It happens. So the fact that they reflect us well is good. We don't do anything we do just to have a good review. And we said that in the earlier on. We don't coach them, we don't ask for them, we don't beg for them, we don't do anything to get a good review from a client. I want it to be an honest, if we're gonna have them, and I think people need them, I think they can be used as a as a yes, they can be used as a marketing tool, but they can also be faked. If they're all too good, hey, like Dad said, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Ours is true. I would never, I have never, you will not find a person who I've ever said, please give me a good review. Have we asked, hey, is this good enough? I'm sure someone has, but I don't I don't ask for reviews. We don't want to ask for views. It's a product of, it's a result, it's the ending score of the game. And how do we play the game? That that will reflect how we play the game, whether we won or lost. And I hope that we're winning more than we are, and I believe it we are. So we have fantastic people. So I'm grateful for the opportunity to talk about this and to have the opportunity to admit and own the fact that we are not perfect, but you can call me. I'm here to listen. We'll do everything we can to do to make it better if something ever happens, but we're gonna try to get better from from you telling me what we have. We're gonna try to do the right thing the first time overall. Thank you, Sean. I appreciate it. Appreciate the opportunity. Just come on here and just chat for a bit.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

So boom, another great one, Kip. Yeah, always I love have I love having these conversations with you. So we'll park the episode here. Uh listen to the audience: a 4.7 star, or maybe higher. Again, I didn't check it today. A 4.7 or higher star rating isn't the story. The story is the decisions that Hooks Lincoln makes every single day. Kip hires for character, he empowers employees to solve problems. The communication is happening honestly, even when it's uncomfortable, which is kind of rare. I just thought it would be fair to balance the episode of talking about that. You guys have so many glowing reviews. But you also treat every review as a coaching moment. It's not a scoreboard, right? You literally give that feedback to the team so it keeps you online. Great reputations for dealerships, especially, are not built by avoiding mistakes. And you heard Kip lay that out in this conversation. They're built by owning them. And again, um, you might not be as rare as hooks where you don't have a whole lot of these uh mistakes. But if you're wondering what reviews say about your business, definitely don't just look at the stars. Read the stories because, as Kip mentioned, really up top, the reviews are not lying, they're revealing the truth about who you really are. So until next time, thanks for spending time with us. We always appreciate it, never want to waste it. We'll see you all again real soon, right back here on the Changing Lanes podcast.