CASE STUDIES
| PRODUCTS | COMPANY | INDUSTRY | LOCATION | ROOFTOPS |
   |
Northtown Automotive Companies |
Automotive |
New York |
13 |
Northtown Automotive Companies, a 13-store dealership group based in Western New York, faced a growing challenge: as their business scaled, their review management process didn’t.
Each location had its own way of handling reviews. There was no central system, no scalability, and no way to learn from customer feedback. Marketing was manually responding to every review and escalating issues store by store, with little insight into whether those efforts were making a difference.
One-person review operation
No consistent response times or store accountability
Sales and service reviews lumped together
Managers unaware of critical feedback
No analysis of customer sentiment
“I was replying to every review myself. It was unsustainable and coordinating resolutions across locations was chaos. We needed a smarter system that could scale with us.”
—Luke Schnell, Web Manager, Northtown Automotive Companies
Worse, their previous vendor charged extra to separate sales and service reviews—something Northtown felt was essential to understanding performance.
In July 2023, Northtown piloted Widewail at one store. A year later, in August 2024, they expanded the program across all 13 locations.
(Performance measured from August 1, 2024 - February 1, 2025)
With Widewail, response coverage is scaled group-wide without adding headcount. Reviews are answered faster, sentiment is tracked automatically, and managers can finally see where their teams stand. By October, they were seeing clear returns:
"One of the major reasons we signed up is that we could track reviews with Widewail's sentiment analysis and identify trends that we could hopefully rectify. Because what's the point of all this if we're not fixing something that's broken?”
—Luke Schnell
Scalable System
Hours of daily manual work became minutes, with better visibility and consistency.
No Upsell for Sales/Service Split
Clear performance insights without extra fees.
Corporate Oversight, Local Ownership
Corporate team sees the big picture while managers own their store’s reputation.
Real-Time Feedback
Sentiment data gave teams a roadmap, not just a scorecard.
Consistent Responses
Fast, professional replies helped build trust across all stores.
“Some GMs weren’t bought in at first. Now we just show them the data.”
—Luke Schnell
(Performance Measured from October 1, 2024 - May 1, 2025)
219% increase in Google reviews
3.9→ 4.7 star rating (+0.8)
Within the first 6 months of Invite, Genesis of Buffalo made a fast and measurable reputation shift. The lift in rating suggests more than just volume—it points to a better customer experience. Feedback momentum is often hard to generate, but Genesis of Buffalo proves it’s possible with the right strategy. This improvement sets a new standard for what early adoption can look like.
Fastest response time: 0.1 days
Rating jump: 4.3 → 4.9 stars
Review volume up 1,617%
85% drop in negative review rate
Known for long-term service relationships and low staff turnover
Northtown Lexus outperformed in every category: response speed, sentiment, and volume. The sharp drop in negative reviews highlights the strength of their service operation. Long-term staff and customer relationships continue to drive trust. Their consistency makes them a benchmark for others in the group.
"Lexus just gets it. Their service manager has been there for 20 years. Customers trust him—and it shows."
—Luke Schnell
Highest total review volume: 4,217 lifetime, 739 in the measured time frame
Maintains a 4.8 rating
Northtown Kia leads the group in total review volume while maintaining one of the highest ratings. That kind of consistency at scale is hard to achieve and reflects a well-run store with a customer experience built to handle high engagement.
Lowest rate of negative reviews in the group at 2%
Jaguar’s reputation stands out for its consistency. Sustained positive feedback and minimal negative sentiment reflect a well-managed customer experience.
Northtown moved from reactive to proactive. They stopped chasing issues and started spotting patterns early, using review data as a diagnostic tool.
Feedback was anecdotal
Managers lacked visibility
Problems went unaddressed
4,000+ reviews analyzed for trends
Group-wide benchmarks established
Clear paths for training and ops improvements
"We start with the GMs who are excited about it. They become champions. Once others see the results, they want in."
—Luke Schnell
Initially, Northtown believed poor communication was their biggest issue. Phone systems, scheduling frustrations, and service delays felt like obvious friction points. But sentiment analysis told a different story.
30% fewer positive mentions than the benchmark
50% fewer negative mentions
Translation: Customers were complaining about communication, it just wasn’t what they cared about most.
"We thought the phone system and drop-off process were the problem. But the data showed it’s not about how much we communicate—it’s how clearly and personally we do it."
—Luke Schnell
Armed with this insight, Northtown focused instead on improving repair accuracy and staff professionalism, areas that customers actually brought up more often.
Northtown customers value professionalism more than the industry average (14% more positive mentions). But when it’s lacking, they’re 4x more likely to mention it negatively.
Store Highlight: Northtown Lexus saw 186 positive mentions of professionalism and only 2 negative mentions. Strong interpersonal relationships at Northtown Lexus drive loyalty.
"The service manager at Lexus is one of the best in the company and is fantastic at resolving customer issues and explaining things clearly. The store also has one of the lowest turnover rates in the group, and that stability matters.
Interpersonal relationships are huge in our area. Customers trust the people they’ve worked with for years. Some have had the same advisor for a decade. If that person has always treated you fairly, you’re going to believe what they tell you.
No one at this store is taking a short-term approach. They’re in it for the long game—and that shows up in the reviews. The GM knows how to make people feel special."—Luke Schnell
“Getting it right the first time” is a make-or-break factor at Northtown. Customers praise quick, competent repairs with 20% more positive mentions. But when delays stack up or communication breaks down, frustration spikes, with 1.5x more negative mentions than average.
Store Highlight: Northtown Subaru has 281 positive mentions of repair and only 8 negative.
Manual processes don’t scale
Visibility creates accountability
Sentiment data builds buy-in
Sales/service split clarifies priorities
Fast, consistent replies build trust
Customer reviews are operational tools—not just reputation markers
"We’re not just collecting feedback. We’re doing something with it."
—Luke Schnell
Widewail gave Northtown the system they needed to support 13 stores, understand what truly mattered to their customers, and take meaningful action. They’re no longer putting out fires—they’re preventing them. And they did it without adding headcount or slowing down.
.png)
