How Smart Dealers Build a Head-Turning Reputation with No Wasted Effort, Backed by Data

Today’s advice follows the 80/20 rule. 

Widewail’s playbook produces 80% of the reputation benefits to your dealership for 20% of the effort. 

And the best part?

All the advice we’re sharing today comes directly from the voice of the automotive customer. 

From the combined wisdom of 1.1M dealership customers, both sales and service, distilled in the next 500 words. The Voice of the Customer Report covers customer feedback from 2023.

Dealers need to do 3 things to produce a killer reputation. A reputation that’s the deciding factor between a customer submitting a lead and going elsewhere. A reputation that places your dealership above competitors where prospects are searching. A reputation that will garner praise from the OEMs. 

The 3 things:

1. Follow tactical reputation best practices
2. Minimize negativity at the dealership
3. Maximize positivity at the dealership

This article is not about tactical reputation. The basics of tactical reputation are to ask every customer for reviews, ask via SMS, make it easy to submit, and respond to every review within 2 hours. Dealers who do that will see reputation improvements without changing anything onsite.

This article is about improving dealership processes in ways that will have the most impact on customer perception and, therefore, reviews. 

For dealers who want to change day-to-day operations as little as possible, minimally disrupt their employee processes, and provide the most focused training, all while maximizing reputation outcomes, this is your playbook. 

Let's go. 

How to Maximize Positive Reviews with Key Onsite Tweaks

Quality Personnel and Effective Communication

Widewail's research highlights the five most common topics in positive reviews: staff, sales department, knowledge, professionalism, and friendliness. To maximize positive reviews, consider the following strategies:

Invest in Hiring and Training: Prioritize hiring staff in the sales department who are not only knowledgeable but exhibit friendliness and professionalism. Implement tests during the hiring process to assess these crucial traits. The topic of STAFF comes up in 57% of positive reviews, the most of any topic. It’s remarkably common for happy customers to mention the representative they worked with by name in their positive reviews.

Communication Tools and Training: Equip your team, especially in the service department, with tools and training that enhance communication. Poor COMMUNICATION is the most common topic in negative reviews, appearing 37% of the time. Generally, confusion or misaligned expectations related to WAIT TIMES or PRICE lead to negative outcomes.

Monitor Spikes in Mentions

Regularly Monitor Rising Mentions in:

• Communication
• Management
• Wait times
• Honesty
• Pricing

These topics should be mentioned infrequently in positive reviews. A sudden increase in these areas is a warning flag and should precipitate further research.

Strategic Investments

Investments That Do Not Influence Positive Reviews:

• Valet program
• Loaner car program
• Offering more deals

Investments with Reviews in Mind: While amenities like a valet program or a loaner car program may be appealing, our data finds that these investments do not significantly influence positive reviews. This is not to say they are unnecessary, but they are not driving customer feedback. Instead, focus on quality personnel and effective communication systems.

How to Minimize Negative Reviews with Key Onsite Tweaks

Communication Systems, Primarily in Service

Widewail emphasizes that quality communication systems are crucial in minimizing negative reviews. The five most common topics in negative reviews are communication, service department, wait times, price and repairs. 

• SLAs around Communication: Establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) focused on effective communication, particularly regarding wait times and pricing. Clear communication can set realistic customer expectations and minimize dissatisfaction.
• Real-time Service Updates: Invest in technology or processes that facilitate real-time service updates, including photos and videos. This transparency can build trust and reduce negative feedback on repairs and service.
• Unified Pricing Information: Implement technology that unifies pricing information across all dealership teams. This ensures consistent and reliable communication regarding pricing, minimizing negative reviews.

Monitor Spikes in Mentions

Regularly Monitor Rising Mentions in:

• Sales department
• Management
• Wait times
• Pricing
• Dealer-caused damage

Proactively addressing issues in these areas can prevent negative reviews from escalating.

Strategic Investments

Investments that likely will not influence negative reviews:

• Making significant changes to a loaner program
• Removing deals on service visits or new car sales 

Avoiding Ineffective Offers: Deals have been shown to have little impact on negative reviews. Dealers could consider discontinuing offers with the knowledge that their absence will not cause an increase in negativity. 

That’s It

We researched millions of customer reviews to give you a simple path from disarray to distinguished. Our data lights a clear way forward. 

Dial in your sales staff to generate positive reviews.

End miscommunication with repairs, pricing, and wait times in service to reduce negative reviews.

Pair these in-store improvements with industry-standard reputation tactics to produce the best results.

Lastly, keep your loaner cars and valet. They are nice. But don’t expect them to transform your reputation. 

Focus where customers tell us it counts.