The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) recently announced a new affinity partnership with Podium. Podium is a leading interaction management platform in the automotive industry and works with over 40,000 businesses worldwide, including 5,000 dealerships in the United States and Canada. In partnering with AIADA, Podium’s platform will help AIADA’s members modernize their communication channels to gather reviews, message customers, gather feedback and more. Their platform collects and manages business reviews and messages in one central, easy-to-use inbox.
“Being able to monitor and manage customer feedback in today’s fast-moving, online environment is vital to protecting a dealer’s reputation,” said Cody Lusk, AIADA’s president and CEO. “By allowing dealerships to become immediately available via messaging, not only are they able to mitigate risks of negative reviews, but dealerships are actually providing the type of positive and seamless modern buying experience consumers have come to expect.”
In using Podium’s platform, dealerships will be able to contact customers who have recently visited the dealership’s site, completed a test drive or made a purchase. Minutes after a vehicle is purchased the dealer can automatically invite the customer to leave a review. This invitation is sent via text or the messaging app of their choice.
Because the review invitation is sent moments after a car is sold, the requests for reviews and feedback are more likely to be acted on, and the results will be more accurate. This integration will save dealerships time as well as increase the number and quality of their online reviews on Google, Facebook, DealerRater and other key sites.
“AIADA has been the leading force in providing solutions for international nameplate dealerships in the U.S. auto industry,” said Cameron Hale, VP of Auto Sales at Podium. “This was a key factor in Podium choosing them as a close, operational partner. Joining AIADA’s drive to provide solutions for their dealers with Podium’s powerful online review and two-way messaging products will supercharge their member’s competitive advantage in bringing in new customers and keeping them for their lifetime.”
By conveniently facilitating millions of customer interactions, such as driving customer-generated online reviews and providing improved customer messaging tools, Podium serves more than 40,000 local businesses to create over 16 million interactions with their customers a month.
Headquartered in Lehi, UT, and founded in 2014, Podium is currently backed by IVP, Accel, Summit Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Y Combinator.
