Long gone are the days of wishing you could be a fly on the wall- causally observing car buyers’ true opinions of your automotive dealership. Now, anyone can just go online to gauge perception. And that’s exactly what your sales and service customers are doing.
Consumers work hard to avoid dealerships with negative reputations. A quick glance at star ratings, number of reviews or the top 10 most recent detailed experiences can tell a customer everything that he or she needs to develop a positive or negative impression of your store.
74% of consumers state that positive reviews increase their trust of local businesses.
A whopping 74% of consumers state that positive reviews increase their trust of local businesses. It’s clear that your new or used car dealership’s presence online has a big impact on bottom line revenues.
So, what does it take for your online presence to rank #1 in your local metro area? That answer depends on who you ask.
If you take it from Mark Dowling, the GSM of Vic Bailey Honda, the current #1 ranking Honda dealer in the South Carolina district, he would say it takes the right partnership.
“I always look to compete with dealers twice our size,” explains Dowling. “Our mid-size dealership is able to surpass the online reputation ratings of dealerships larger than us with the help of Prime Response®, our reputation vendor.”
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He continues, “They make it simple for guests to leave a review and strategically direct our customers to the right place to leave their feedback for optimized results. While our team does an excellent job offering guests that top-notch experience, Prime Response does a great job in making sure that is expressed online.”
Immediately after hearing the news that he was at the top of Honda’s leaderboard for the SC district- not only for the sheer volume of reviews, but star rating as well, Dowling made a quick phone call to his Prime Response rep.
“You will be receiving a lot of referrals from me,” Dowling said. “I know we do a good job over here, but we are partners in this and we did it together.”
Simply relying on your staff’s performance will not always earn your auto dealership its deserved reviews. While a well-trained team is 90% of the battle, it’s still up to the buyer at the dealership to follow through and, fingers crossed, post positive feedback on the review site of their choice. Sadly, intentions do not always manifest into actions.
Take control of your dealership’s online reputation with Dominion’s award-winning Prime Response. Call 877.421.1040.
