Hey there, let’s get straight to the point…you’re probably here because you want to improve your locator for next year. Don’t worry, you’re definitely not the only one. Luckily we’re about to drop nearly 20 years of industry knowledge below to help you out.
First, you’re never going to have a good locator if your data is giving you headaches. When customers first approach us, bad data is one of the most common issues we see. There’s no better way to describe bad data than that it’s just the absolute worst…it literally wrecks your locator. Bad data limits the functionality in many ways, specifically it can make the locator frustrating for your customers to use. That’s not ideal for your customer experience and brand image…
Bad data often leads to incorrect or outdated information in the locator, likely sending your customers to your competitors. If you’re having data issues in your locator, this should be the first thing on your “to-do” list. Luckily, with MetaLocator managing data becomes one less thing for you to stress about. The platform provides the ability to easily upload and update your data, and even allows for crowdsourcing where partners in your network can update their own information themselves…saving you precious time.
In today’s day and age over 70% of the global population owns a mobile device, everything is mobile…and if your locator isn’t you’re already miles (or kilometers) behind. Luckily, with MetaLocator, this is an easy fix. All our locators come completely mobile friendly off the shelf. Specifically, our Mobile Device Support comes with native GPS and directions. Mobile configurations also provide a “Share/Send” feature to easily communicate dealer information through text, email and other forms of mobile communication.
Enhanced search options and filtering are great ways to get consumers to their desired outcomes faster, which is why this is one of our best practices for your locator. MetaLocator allows admins to create search filters and custom categories, giving visitors the power to specify their searches the way they need to. The easier you make it for consumers to find their desired information, the more likely they are to convert a sale, so don’t overlook this one. 😉
Speaking of search results, another way to optimize information the locator is the way results are presented to your customers. Oftentimes the closest dealer in the network may not be the best fit for what the consumer needs. MetaLocator developed a way to get better results in the locator to your customers by presenting the best fit dealer as a top result based on what the user searches for. This gets your customers what they’re looking for efficiently, providing them with an optimal customer experience.
Reputation means everything, especially in a digital age where consumers can look up reviews of your brand in minutes. Reinforce what you already know, that your brand is great, by displaying all of the illustrious reviews your customers have left you directly in your locator. Reviews provide that reassurance of quality from your network, while also proving as a method of encouragement for your dealers to execute their jobs as best as possible…and stack up more of those positive reviews.
Leads are the lifeblood of your business, they’re what keeps the lights on. Sadly, our industry expertise has found that a whopping 30%+ of leads can go ignored…yikes. With something that important you should probably know them like the back of your hand. Well, now you can with Lead Status Reporting. This allows admins to see the status of leads in the backend of the software. Specifically, you can see where in the sales cycle a business inquiry is, providing you the ability to make sure any leads that don’t get follow up on can be redirected to a more responsive dealer. This means you’ll be converting more leads, and boosting revenue.
Insights and analytics are a vital piece to any locator…if your current locator isn’t providing you with analytics to show you everything (yes everything) that is happening in your locator, then you’re already a step behind the competition. Get valuable information like visitors, page views, clicks, response times, lead status and more to see how consumers are interacting with your interface.
These are just some recommended ways you can improve your dealer or store locators in 2025…yeah there’s a lot of things that go into a locator to get them up to standard.
Want to know how your locator stacks up to our industry expertise? Request a free locator performance report.
Check out MetaLocator’s software in action by visiting our demos page, featuring demonstrations of our locator software in various configurations.
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