Tips and Best Practices

Tips for responding to positive reviews

Dealership responses help you build relationships with customers, but they’re also public. When you reply to your customers, keep these guidelines in mind:

Not all positive reviews require a public response. Your responses will be publicly visible, so you may want to prioritize those that would be especially useful or relevant to shoppers viewing your listings.
Keep it short and sweet. Shoppers are looking for personalized, genuine responses, but they can easily be overwhelmed by a long response.
Advance the conversation. Tell reviewers something new about your dealership or share something that they might not have learned from their first visit or interaction with you.

Best Practices for responding to negative reviews

Customers care about your reputation. Manage your reviews, even when negative. Negative reviews aren’t necessarily a sign of bad business practices. For example, the customer may have had mismatched expectations. Reviews can also help identify points on how to improve future customer experiences and resolve customer complaints.

Address negative reviews positively and quickly. A prompt, positive interaction shows prospective shoppers that you care and is more likely to result in a positive resolution (and perhaps an updated rating).
Look into the details. Check your dealership’s records of the interaction and speak with staff to better understand what happened.
Apologize when appropriate. It’s best to say something that demonstrates compassion and empathy and apologize for any mistakes, but there’s no need to take responsibility for things that are out of your control. Explain what you can and can’t do in the situation. Show how you can make uncontrollable issues actionable. For example, bad weather caused a delay in parts shipment, but you monitor the delivery tracking status and provide advance notice when possible.
Protect reviewers’ personal information. If personal information needs to be shared to resolve the issue, suggest that they contact you personally through a business email or phone.
Show that you’re a real person. Your sign off should include your name, initials and/or title in your reply.