Whether you’re an independent auto dealer who’s been in business for 60 years or a franchise on your town’s auto row, reviews can make or break new car buyers’ decisions to do business with you.
Reviews are the first face of your business when customers start researching whether they want to do business with you or not.
Those shiny yellow stars on Google are like gold for dealerships – worthy of your time, attention and investment. According to Zendesk, 90% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase.
The lesson is obvious: you need to make sure your reviews, on all platforms, are managed with that 90% in mind. Here are five ways to do that:
1. Ask for a review! Simply ask your customer to write a review about their experience. After their visit, write them an email that includes a link to the review site. When you ask, 75% of the time your customer will write a review on a site like Google, DealerRater or a Facebook.
2. Respond to negative reviews. Leaving unanswered negative reviews sends the message that you don’t care or don’t have any answers to the issues addressed in the review. Either way, it will do more damage than the negative review itself. When responding to negative reviews, the response should be written with the reader and the reviewer in mind. When someone reads the response, they should be able to discern whether the dealership truly cares and will use the negative review as an opportunity to fix what is wrong and possibly to train their staff. A negative review may feel like an assault on a dealer’s business, but it is not advisable for the dealer/owner respond to any review.
3. Respond to positive reviews. Thank the reviewer for the great review, congratulate them, and welcome them to the dealership family.
4. Always use the reviewer’s name in any response.
5. Don’t solicit fake reviews. This strategy will backfire. Google will suspend your profile when they detect this happening.
There’s an art to responding to reviews – especially negative ones. So why not let the experts raise your review game to five stars?
For a free Review Platform Assessment, email us at info@socialclimberpro.com
Author: Christine Watson
Christine Watson is Executive VP of the most innovative and badass Social and Reputation Management Agency on the planet! She has spent her entire life in marketing and advertising in one form or another. She believes in the power of reputation management as a way to increase ROI! She specializes in complete automotive marketing management through innovative channels.
