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Do You have a Social Media Employee Policy At Your Dealership...?  You Better Create one ASAP!!

I think that got your attention...

*** This is VERY important ***

Every dealership should have a "Social Media" EMPLOYEE USE Policy. What I mean by that is that EVERY Employee at the dealership (Front and Back) needs to know about Social Media and its effect it can have for the dealership during work hours and OFF work hours. 

"Off Work Hours" ????? Confused...?

Let me give you an example... a REAL example, not just a cool story to throw in for training and impact reasons...

I had a dealer client call me a while ago and tell me he had a "unique" problem. I was intrigued and asked him what happened. The dealer goes on to tell me that he had a voice mail from a very upset woman. And then he went on to detail the voice mail. It turns out the woman came into the dealership to purchase a vehicle and was working with a sales person. She did not buy the vehicle there, but was very interested in purchasing from them. So, she went home to "think about it" she went online and "Googled" her sales person's name... You won't believe what showed up on the FIRST page of Google... The sales person's MySpace Page. The woman "Clicked" the link and right there on the sales person's TOP of his MySpace page was the Sales Person smoking a "Marijuana Bong" (TRUE STORY) and the CAPTION on the Photo Read "Party Animal" - WOW!!! The woman was very disturbed that this person worked at the dealership and she did NOT want to do business with him or ANYONE that employed a "Drug Addict". It did not matter that the dealership had no idea what the employee did on his own time. It did not matter the sales person was one of the top earners in the dealership, it did not matter that the dealer was a great guy and helped a lot of people in the community. It ONLY mattered what her perception of the dealership was at this point. And what she told the dealer in that message stung him... She said she was a 50 year old woman and if she can "Google" her sales person in 5 minutes then SHAME on the dealership for not doing a better job hiring people that represent their establishment... Ouch, what can you say to that?   

The sales person had NO idea that their "Off Work" antics, habits, exploits would EVERY hurt the dealership that he worked at or was trying to build a career at. Some might say it is NONE of ANYONE'S business what they do AFTER work... or while they are NOT working. 

*** The problem with that is that if a person, a sales person, service, office person posts their life, posts their beliefs, posts their antics for the public. Then is NOT "Their Private Life" anymore... especially if they work at a MULTI-Million Dollar establishment. There is WAY too much at stake here so I iMPLORE you to pay attention to your dealership and your employees.

Here is what I suggest:

Immediately create a Dealership "Social Media Employee Use Policy" something that states that if you are employed at ABC Motors, you AGREE NOT to post ANYTHING compromising online, specifically Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Tumblr, Flickr, YouTube etc... If employees choose to have accounts like these they MUST EITHER Post PG - PG13 Content OR KEEP Your Account on "PRIVATE". This also goes about personal beliefs about sensitive subjects. 

Then after you create the policy, have the dealership's attorney create a formal agreement and put it into the employee handbook and make sure they all sign off on it.

* This might seem extreme BUT please think of YOUR Dealership RIGHT NOW and YOUR Employees... ALL of THEM. Can you imagine if you left your dealership's reputation uncensored online, allowed employees post anything and everything without educating them of the harm to themselves and the dealership's reputation unintentionally. PLEASE believe that Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, PhotoBucket, Ning, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr... ALL of these site INDEX WELL!!! Meaning, that they show up on GOOGLE, MSN, AOL, BING etc... VERY VERY Well.

Protect your reputation-

*** Here is a COOL idea:

When you are about to hire someone... BEFORE you do, "Google" Them, "Facebook" them, "Twitter" them etc... Use the Internet as your own personal FBI Background Check :) 

If you have any questions or if you would like some more information on how to secure your dealership's Online Reputation or if you need help educating your employees of Social Media / Online Reputation please email me at seanb@dealersynergy.com It would be my pleasure to help you.