Rev Up Your Reputation Management
Yelp and Google tips for auto shop owners
Auto shop owners are experts at building face-to-face relationships with their customers — but in the Internet era where most consumers look online before they buy, it’s becoming increasingly important that these relationships are being built online too.
While having active social media profiles is a smart move for your auto shop, handling your reputation management and answering reviews online is just as important for your business.
With roughly 95% of American households owning at least one car and the average repair costs for a person owning a car total $2,588 per year, that’s a lot of potential business for your auto shop!
You can start increasing foot traffic to your shop just by making potential customers trust you while they’re researching auto shops online.
Think about it: when you search on your smartphone to find an auto shop near you, the search results will also pull in Google and/or Yelp reviews.
In 2016, 92% of consumers said that they read online reviews before they make a purchase, and 51% of consumers will buy from a local business with positive reviews.
Here’s how you can hop in the driver’s seat and take control of your auto shop’s online reviews:
Make sure your Yelp and Google pages are claimed
Before you can make the most of your shop’s profiles on review sites like Yelp and Google, you need to claim your pages. Here’s our Essential Guide to Claiming Your Yelp Page for finding, creating, and claiming your business’ page on Yelp.
For Google, follow these steps to make sure your business is appearing correctly online.
Now that your pages are claimed, you’re able to update all of your business info, like hours and location, and you can upload photos to show potential customers how great your work is.
Need some photography tips? Here you go!
Let your customers know that they can leave reviews
Don’t be afraid to ask your customers to share their experience with your business online — order “Find Us On Yelp Stickers,” let every customer know that they can write a review while you’re processing their payment, or mention that you’re on Yelp and Google while you’re doing a vehicle walk-through with a happy customer.
Only 10% of people say they never look at online reviews before they buy, so it’s crucial you ask your valued customers to share all of their experiences online!
Respond to all reviews — both positive and negative
Now that you have some reviews on your page, it’s important that you respond to them! Stay positive in your responses, apologize for mistakes, and keep your demeanor personable and relaxed.
Our Community Management Team shared what they think makes for a great review response, so if you’re not sure where to start — start here.
Flag reviews that violate the site’s guidelines
Unfortunately, people may have negative things to say about your business from time to time. When the negative things people say are untrue or violate Yelp or Google’s guidelines, you can flag them to try to have them removed.
Our guide to Flagging a Yelp Review in 4 Simple Steps can help you get those negative reviews off of your page, and if you’re not sure whether or not to flag a review on Google, here is what violates Google’s guidelines and here is how to flag something that does.
Cross-promote your positive reviews
The simplest way to share a positive review is by taking a screenshot and posting that to your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. You can also just cut and paste the text of the review on your social pages with a “Thanks!” to the reviewer.
Amplify your post by using sites like Canva to make quick graphics with the text from a customer review. Adding a visual element to your post can increase engagement and interaction with your post!
Taking these steps to take control of your auto shop’s reputation online is crucial to keep your business thriving. You’ve been building relationships every single day in person since your shop opened— and now you can build those relationships online.
