Company Press Release

DealerRater Integrates LotShot™ into iOS App for Dealers

Enhances dealer employees’ ability to secure trusted customer reviews

WALTHAM, Mass. – July 13, 2016 – DealerRater, the world’s leading car dealer review website with more than 5,600 Certified Dealership customers in the U.S. and Canada, announced today that LotShot, previously a web-only photo review application, is now available as a feature in the DealerRater for Dealers app for iOS.

Now easier to use than ever before, LotShot allows salespeople at DealerRater Certified Dealerships to snap and share customer photos at vehicle delivery, email them to a customer, and dramatically improve their chances of receiving a review. Nearly 50 percent of all LotShot review requests made by dealership salespeople to their car-buying customers result in a review on DealerRater.

“Purchasing a car is a significant event and LotShot has proven to be both a fun way to share the moment and a very effective way to quickly earn a review,” said Gary Tucker, DealerRater CEO. “Adding LotShot to our smartphone-based employee app streamlines the picture-taking, sharing, and review invitation process.”

In a social media-powered consumer economy, studies have shown that photos perform best for likes, comments, and shares compared to text, video, and site links. In addition, product and service reviews that include customer pictures greatly improve review credibility. Photo reviews on DealerRater earn more than twice the amount of helpful votes from consumers compared to plain text reviews.

"LotShot is simply cool," said Chuck Prosch, Fleet/Internet Manager at Pearland, Texas-based Strickland Chevrolet, a two-time DealerRater Texas Dealer of the Year and Consumer Satisfaction Award winner. "I don't know anyone who doesn't like to see a picture of themselves with their new vehicle.”

The LotShot app capability is simple to use. A dealership salesperson opens LotShot on their smartphone, takes or uploads a photo, enters the car-buyer’s name and email address, previews the note, and sends the photo along with DealerRater review completion instructions.

“What we have found with LotShot is that customers not only get back to us about the experience they had with their salesperson,” added Prosch, “but they also share LotShot photos with family and friends, adding to the positive feeling they have about our team members."

The DealerRater for Dealers app for iOS is included in Certified Essentials,™ the company’s award-winning, reputation-management toolkit. The iOS version of the app is available for immediate download by DealerRater Certified Dealers.

An Android version of the app will be released soon. Certified Dealers can sign up to be notified when it becomes available.

For more information on LotShot, visit http://info.dealerrater.com/Lotshot.

About DealerRater

Founded in 2002, DealerRater is the world’s leading car dealer review website that connects consumers with the right person at the right dealership. The site offers more than 2.5 million sales and service reviews across 41,000 U.S. and Canadian dealerships, including a network of over 5,600 Certified Dealers. More than 14 million consumers read DealerRater content across the web each month. By offering a product suite that allows qualified dealerships to manage reputation and achieve higher SEO rankings, DealerRater supports new customer connections by growing online presence. For more information, visit https://www.dealerrater.com/dealers, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or contact 800.266.9455, ext. 1.