Maintaining a Positive Dealership Reputation Online

As a dealership, most of your customers have already formed an opinion about your business before setting foot onto the lot. This is because most potential customers begin the search for a new vehicle or vehicle service online. Google reviews, social media comments, and search results are a few of the factors that play a key role in shaping customer perceptions. This means that maintaining a positive online reputation should be high on your dealership’s priority list. It can impact:

Showroom and service drive traffic
Lead conversion rates
CSI performance metrics
Long-term brand equity

Simply put, your dealership’s online reputation matters more than it ever has before. Whether you have a single store or a multi-location rooftop, you must be proactive in managing your online reputation. It can be the difference between winning business and losing to your competitors.

Claim and Manage Your Online Profiles

Up-to-date social media, Google Business Profiles, and other online listings ensure that customers can find hours, contact information, and other key details easily. Not being able to find this information can drive potential customers toward a competitor. Even if they still choose your dealership, their initial opinion will be lower because you made them do extra work to find basic information.

Encourage, Monitor, and Respond to Reviews

Your dealership’s online reviews are one of the most significant parts of your brand’s online reputation. Whether on your website or publicly available on Google, Yelp, etc., knowing what is out there helps your business leverage positive reviews and address concerns.

Encourage Positive Reviews – Not all satisfied customers are used to providing feedback about the high-quality service they received. However, many are willing to leave a glowing review if you take the initiative to ask them and make it easy to do. Following up with clients by sending them an email or text message with a link to a customer satisfaction survey or specific place where you would like them to write a review shortly after every sale or service.

Monitor Reviews Consistently – Asking customers to share their thoughts about their service experience is beneficial when someone from your team reads them right away. Be sure to check for new reviews regularly to identify and respond to potential issues quickly.

Respond to Every Review – Your customers will feel that sharing their thoughts is worthwhile when they know that someone from your dealership has actually read their review. Always take a moment to thank customers that leave positive reviews and remind them of how important their satisfaction is to your team.

No business gets every detail right every time and making sure customers that leave negative reviews are heard is just as important. Acknowledge their viewpoint professionally and invite them to continue the conversation privately to work toward resolving a specific problem. Do not leave a rude response or argue with the customer on a public page, even if you know their review was unfounded.

Engage With Social Media Followers

It’s called “social media” for a reason, and staying engaged with your dealership’s Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok followers is a must. These platforms are valuable tools for promoting your business. Don’t ignore the questions, feedback, and other comments your followers leave on your posts. Engaging with messages and comments quickly and professionally keeps the conversation going and builds trust in your business.

Turning Negative Feedback into Growth Opportunities

No business is perfect, and even the best receives negative reviews from time to time. Not all poor reviews are constructive, but many simply point out an area in which your dealership can improve. Both positive and negative reviews share insights into how your customers view your business. Poor experiences can give your team a list of high-priority suggestions for changes that can help grow your business.

Off days and mistakes happen, and professionally acknowledging issues helps less-than-satisfied customers feel that their concerns are heard. These concerns are often linked to miscommunication or gaps in training and operations. Being diligent in finding the source of the problem helps your team make any necessary changes. Some of these customers might even update their reviews if they feel that your team handled a misunderstanding or error exceptionally well.

Leverage Your Positive Reputation When Creating Marketing Materials

Building a positive dealership reputation online is only part of using past customer experiences to your advantage. Your dealership can integrate reviews and testimonials into your website, direct mail and email campaigns, and social media to expose positive feedback to a larger audience. These reviews can make a significant difference when it comes convincing new customers to choose your dealership over a competitor!

Use Your Positive Dealership Reputation to Your Advantage

Your dealership’s online reputation encompasses so much more than simply earning as many five-star reviews as you can. The insights into customers’ experiences from reviews can give your dealership valuable information. You can learn about what customers loved and what your team can do better next time. Maintaining a professional online presence when responding to reviews is an important step in handling any issues that do arise. Consistently monitoring your dealership’s online reputation plays an important role in driving long-term growth in nearly every area.

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