Did you know that negative reviews could be costing you? Not simply because they are written, but more so to do with your lack of response?
No business wants to encounter a negative review, but reputation management is now a crucial part of doing business. There’s no getting around it.
Sometimes, it is the fault of the business or it just comes down to not being able to please everyone. Whatever the reason, you should never “let it be” or think “it will pass.”
This way of thinking is costing your dealership thousands and you are most likely not aware of it.
For every negative review you are potentially losing 30 customers…30! That is a crazy amount and what goes along with those people are their pocket books.
Lets say one customer was going to purchase a vehicle worth $32,000 but had a bad experience and decided to leave a negative review.
If you lose 30 potential customers who were going to purchase a vehicle at the same price based on one non-responded negative review, your dealership loses an astounding $960,000. Go ahead, reread that example again.
Take a minute to let that sink in as you sip on some coffee.
Now imagine multiple non-responded to online negative reviews (the calculator in your head must be going off).
This is a huge wake up call and alarms should be sounding off.
All reviews must be replied to and you need to try and provide a public contact person and number for negative reviews in particular.
This way when those 30 potential customers see the negative review, they too now see that you are paying attention and willing to listen. That alone changes the game.
Hiding negative reviews is not the answer either, as customers look for negative reviews when doing their online research and they are in fact looking to see how your dealership handled it.
It is time to put some time into online reputation management not just for the sake of proper customer service, but for your piggy bank as well.
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This topic “Not Responding to Negative Reviews Could Cost You Thousands” was covered on the Auto Dealer LIVE webcast segment “Get Your Social On”, which airs weekly at 3:30pm EST.