Let’s be real. There is no secret ingredient to creating a successful auto repair shop business. But, if there were, customer reviews would likely be it.
Unfortunately, as important as auto repair shop reviews are, convincing satisfied customers to give them can be challenging. Even worse, negative reviews are much easier to come by and have a significant impact on your brand image with 94% of consumers avoiding businesses after reading a bad review. With that said, there are specific things you can do to elicit reviews that reflect well on your auto repair shop.
Not Sure How To Get More Reviews?
Garnering more auto repair shop reviews is important but the key is to do it consistently. In fact, up to 85% of customers won't even entertain reviews older than 3 months and 40% only care about reviews posted within the last two weeks.
Here are some tips to help get you started:
- Ask every customer to leave a review while they are checking out.
- Send reminders digitally, via text or email, after purchases.
- Add links for leaving reviews to your correspondences with your customers, so that it stays top of mind and is easy.
You might also consider utilizing software to automate this process. Auto repair shop marketing platforms, like BayIQ, automatically solicit reviews from customers after every service and immediately push them to Facebook and Google, enabling you to easily respond.
What NOT to Do
As vital as auto repair shop reviews are, they can quickly backfire and hurt your business. That’s why it’s important to avoid the following:
- Ask a customer to leave a good review- Your service should speak for itself. Simply ask that they write an honest review.
- Incentivize leaving reviews- Though it may be tempting, don’t offer incentives for reviews. Major sites like Google and Yelp prohibit this practice.
- Use third-party review companies- It’s difficult to determine whether the review came from a trusted and authentic source. Leverage the fact that you are a small, local business and rely on local customers to help promote you.
- Slander your competitors- The review page is about your improvement and growth. Speaking poorly about your competitors is a bad reflection on your company, not to mention it gives them free mentions.
- Respond negatively- A negative response to a negative auto repair shop review only inflames a situation. Instead, reply quickly and positively to all customer reviews. This gives you an opportunity to right any wrongs and shows potential customers that you’re willing to make sure every customer is satisfied.
Reach for the Stars
Review ratings greatly impact the success of your auto repair shop. In fact, 57% of consumers won't even use a business with less than a 4-star rating. This makes securing positive auto repair shop reviews even more crucial.
With that said, targeting reviews alone likely won’t earn you the coveted 4+ stars. It takes a holistic approach to marketing- one that focuses on reviews but also customer loyalty, communication, promotional campaigns and more.
As a specialist platform designed for small auto repair businesses, BayIQ is the answer. It has all the key ingredients required for an effective marketing strategy such as automated text and email messaging system, an online review solicitor, an appointment scheduler, and a built in loyalty program. With BayIQ you can take your auto repair shop’s reviews to the next level and
