Last updated: 6 October 2026
TL;DR
- Branch managers in a dealer group rarely reply to reviews because they lack the time, do not feel ownership and do not want yet another system with a password.
- Dealer groups solve this with central control: marketing owns all reviews, reply rules handle the positive ones and only complaints go to the dealership.
- The branch manager does not need to reply in public; their role is to call the customer and resolve the complaint offline.
- In Repmanager you email the branch manager straight from the review without them needing an account, and their reply comes back into the same review.
Why don't branch managers reply to reviews?
Because it does not feel like their job and there is no time for it. A branch manager runs sales, the workshop and the staff. Reviews come on top of that, spread over several Google Business Profiles per dealership. Without a clear agreement on who does what, it slides to tomorrow. And tomorrow brings a new pile.
A marketing manager at a dealer group with dozens of dealerships put it like this: "They never have time to look at those reviews as it is. Let alone set up a password for something new." That is not unwillingness. It is a realistic view of what a branch manager can carry in a day.
Two more things play a part. Many branch managers find writing a public reply awkward: what can you say, and what is better left out? And when the complaint is about their own dealership, they are not the most neutral writer. Not replying then feels like the safe choice. Just not for the customer.
Does it matter if the branch manager doesn't reply personally?
No, as long as someone else does. The problem is not who replies, but that nobody does. In Repmanager's Automotive Google Review Study 2026, 53.1 percent of complaints (one and two stars) at the 30 largest Dutch dealer groups went unanswered across the full history, as the complaint gap showed.
A striking finding in that study: answered and unanswered complaints barely differed in tone. So there was no deliberate choice about which complaint to answer. What was left, was left because nobody was watching the process. You do not fix that by pushing branch managers harder. You fix it with an owner.
For the importer it does not matter who writes the reply either. The importer looks at response time, response rate and rating per dealership. How importers measure that is covered in importer KPIs for reviews.
What works when branch managers don't reply?
Central control. Marketing owns every review and only brings in the dealership where it is really needed. Positive reviews go through reply rules in the house style. Marketing answers complaints in public, and the branch manager gets the complaint by email so they can call the customer. No account, no password.
This is model A from who replies to which review in a dealer group. Among the dealer groups working with Repmanager it is one of three models that hold up, and often the best place to start for groups with busy branch managers. The logic is simple: most reviews are positive and do not need a branch manager.
| Type of review | Who replies in public | What the dealership does | How in Repmanager |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four and five stars | Reply rule, automatically | Nothing | Reply rules at organisation level |
| Three stars | Marketing, from an AI draft | Usually nothing | Reviews overview, owner in marketing |
| One and two stars | Marketing | Branch manager calls the customer | Email from the review, no account needed |
| Urgent, about management or with a legal threat | A person, deliberately | Depends on the case | Rep Shield holds it and notifies |
There are two schools. One keeps branch managers out of the tool on purpose: fewer accounts, one tone, no debate about priorities. The other gives the dealership its own login, because "it's his customer, walking into his showroom". Both work. What does not work is asking dealerships to reply without agreeing who owns what.
So what does the branch manager still need to do?
Call the customer. That is the role nobody else can take over. Marketing can acknowledge the complaint in public and apologise for the experience, but the complaint gets solved at the dealership. The branch manager knows the customer, the car and the technician. They are the one who can turn an angry customer around.
So for low ratings, put their name and role under the reply, with one way to get in touch. Then the customer knows who they are dealing with. Which channel to choose is covered in contact details in a negative review reply.
Ask for one thing back: a short reply to the email once the customer has been called. Then marketing knows it is closed, and you have proof of follow-up if the importer runs an audit. Look at the pattern too. A one-star for "impossible to reach" is often a workshop call-back request that was never picked up. That belongs in the dealership's team meeting, not with marketing.
How do you set this up in Repmanager?
You set it up once: marketing as owner, reply rules for positive reviews, a fixed route for complaints to the dealership, and a safety net for anything that needs a person straight away.
- In Reply rules, switch on a rule for four and five stars, with an AI reply or fixed replies and a delay. Automatic reply rules take most of the pile away. Which reviews to automate is covered in which reviews to answer automatically.
- In AI guidelines, under per-rating behavior for one to three stars, fill in the signature with the branch manager's name and role. Do this per location, and fill in every field there: a location with its own settings overrides the organisation completely.
- In the reviews overview, assign every low rating to an owner in marketing. The Unassigned and Open too long tabs show what is being left behind.
- Send an email to the branch manager from the review. They do not need an account. Their reply comes back into the same review, and until they reply you see "waiting for reply".
- Record agreements in an internal note on the review, for example "customer called, new appointment booked". The note never appears in the public reply.
- In Rep Shield, switch on holding reviews about management, with a legal or media threat, or about injury or discrimination. Choose an email address or webhook for the notification.
- Use the location table on the Dashboard for the conversation with dealerships: unanswered reviews, response rate, response time and rating per dealership, in one view.
What usually goes wrong?
Forwarding every review to the dealership. Anyone who gets every five-star in their inbox stops reading within a week. Forward complaints only.
Dealerships keep replying in Google. In the first weeks some branch managers still reply through their own Google Business Profile, alongside the tool. You end up with duplicate or contradicting replies. One internal email with the agreement usually fixes it.
No agreement on feedback. Without one, marketing does not know whether the customer was called. The review looks neatly answered in public, but the customer heard nothing.
Everything on one person. Central control with one marketer and no stand-in stops at the first holiday. Make sure at least two people have access.
Frequently asked questions
Should the branch manager answer a complaint in public themselves?
No. Marketing can reply in public with the branch manager's name and role in the signature. The branch manager calls the customer. The tone stays consistent and the contact is still personal.
What if the complaint is about the branch manager?
Then you do not want their name and number under the reply automatically. Let Rep Shield hold reviews about management, so a person decides who replies and who calls.
How do you know whether the branch manager called the customer?
Ask for a short reply to the email sent from the review. That reply comes back into the same review. If nothing arrives after a few days, the "waiting for reply" status shows it.
How do you keep dealerships involved without an account?
With a fixed rhythm. A complaint by email, and once a month an overview per dealership from the dashboard for the management meeting. Every branch manager sees where they stand without logging in.
Ready to set it up?
Want to run reviews centrally and send only the complaints to your dealerships? In a 15-minute demo we show how dealer groups set it up.
