No business owner likes to read negative reviews. On a personal level, they can be hurtful; you care about your business, and don’t like people speaking ill of it. And on a business level, negative reviews can take a huge bite out of your online reputation. It’s no exaggeration to say that a bad review on Facebook or Google can scare away customers and corrode your bottom line.

Still, bad reviews can happen. They may even happen to your used car dealership. The question is, if you spot some critical words on an online review site, what can you do about it?

We have five suggestions.

Step Away for a Few Minutes

It’s only natural to feel a little angry in the face of a bad review—but lashing out or responding in rage will only make things worse. Step away for a little while to make sure you can approach the review with a cool head. You may even wait a few days before responding.

Apologize

You may not think you did anything wrong—but the customer thinks you did, and it’s important to acknowledge that. Write a response and simply let them know that you are sorry they had a bad experience. Remember, most people who write bad reviews only want to be acknowledged.

Try to Make Things Right

A negative review is frustrating, but it is also a great opportunity to offer some customer service. Offer to make things right however you can—with some sort of discount, refund, or other special treatment.

Deescalate

One of the best things you can try to do is shift the conversation from a highly public forum to someplace more private. Let the customer know how much you want to help them, and invite them to either call or email you directly. That way, you can avoid airing too much of your dirty laundry in front of other potential customers.

Move On

Hopefully, these efforts to acknowledge the person and offer a solution will result in the review being amended or removed. But if it’s not? Well, there’s frankly not much you can do about it. You can’t have bad reviews purged, even if you think they’re fallacious. Better to move on and help other customers have a meaningful experience. And make sure you ask those customers to write you some positive reviews—balancing out that negative one.

What today’s dealers need to remember is that online reviews are key to the buyer decision-making process—so having a strategy to manage these reviews is crucial.

For your auto dealership, first impressions are paramount. It’s utterly critical that you make your customers feel safe, welcome, and understood the moment they walk in the door. And a big part of that boils down to how you greet them.

You might be surprised by how many ways there are for sales reps to greet their customers—and of course, some methods are better than others. In this post, we’ll run down some of the right ways to greet the people who come through your door.

But first, we’re going to look at some of the wrong ways.

How Not to Greet Your    Customers

Here are a few of the bad greetings we’ve heard in used car dealerships.

• Hello, can I help you? Of course you can! You work at the dealership!
• Hi, do you need a salesperson? Again, a no-brainer; of course they do!
• Hello—how are you today? This one is friendly, but hardly steers the conversation toward making a sale.
• How can I be of service to you today? Don’t make the customer tell you how you can help them. You’re the one who should initiate the sales process! You tell them how you can be of service!
• Hello, are you looking for a new car? Of course they are! That’s why they’re at a dealership!

There are problems with all of these greetings—but the overriding problem? All of them leave the door open for the customer to give you a negative response, to turn you away, to say they’re “just looking.” And that’s not how you want these conversations to go.

Better Ways to Greet

So how should sales reps greet their customers? There are a few guidelines to keep in mind.

• First, always smile. Positivity is key.
• Say hello, state your name, and ask for theirs. Something like this: “Hello, welcome to Orange County Used Cars and Trucks. My name is James Erickson. And your name is?”
• If they only offer a first name, ask for their last name, too. Then write it down. Try to do this discreetly.
• Refer to the customer by their first name.
• Don’t offer your business card. Do that at the end of your conversation. At the beginning of the conversation, the card has no value to the customer.

This may all sound simple—but by directing the conversation and disallowing any opportunities for a negative response, you’ll be much better positioned to move your customer encounters forward, ultimately closing more of your sales.

When it comes to marketing your used car dealership, there are a few practices that are non-negotiable. Facebook Ads, Craigslist, an SEO-ready website—these are the essentials, the things every dealership simply must do.

Once you get a handle on those tasks, there are a few additional strategies you might consider, all of which can augment the basics. One such strategy is starting your own dealership blog—the benefits of which can be considerable.

Here are just a few of the reasons why you might conside r launching a blog for your used car dealership.

It Helps Establish Trust

First and foremost, a blog can cast you as a knowledgeable and credible authority—someone who knows a lot about vehicle purchasing, financing, and maintenance, and is eager to help customers who have any related questions.

This makes it a lot easier for customers to trust you—because they see that you know what you’re talking about and are a good resource for guidance and information.

It Builds Customer Loyalty

A regularly updated blog also gives your buyers a reason to keep coming back to your website, even once their purchase is complete.

For example, if you regularly offer tips for vehicle care, they may follow along with your blog and remember your dealership the next time they are in the market for a vehicle.

It Provides Social Media Fodder

A Facebook Ads campaign is highly recommended for effectively marketing your dealership—but you can augment it with organic reach, regularly posting valuable content for your followers and fans.

And one way to develop that content? Blog often—and remember to share your posts through all your dealership’s social media channels.

It Offers SEO Value

Another reason to consider a dealership blog is that it can enhance your SEO efforts. For one thing, blogging is a good way to routinely update your website content—something Google tends to value.

Plus, each blog you post is its own listing for the search engine results page, meaning you can more ably fill the Web with positive, branded content.

Blogging can be especially helpful for localized SEO endeavors, too—potentially giving you a competitive edge over other dealerships in your area.

The Right Way to Blog

Of course, there are right ways and wrong ways to pursue a dealership blog—and if you really want to reap any of these benefits, it’s important that you focus on quality writing and value-adding content. Having a consistent blogging schedule is also important.

Ideally, your dealership website is like a 24/7 sales representative—constantly educating buyers, sharing your value proposition, and nurturing them through the sales funnel.

More specifically, a good used car dealership website is easily discovered by search engine users, and gives them the information they need to take the next step: Calling you to set an appointment.

But not every dealership website meets this high standard. If yours isn’t accomplishing what it should, it could be for any number of reasons.

Here are six of the most common dealership website fails—any one of which could be the root of your site’s poor performance.

It’s Too Slow

These days, consumers just don’t have the time or the patience to wait around for your website to load. If it takes more than two or three seconds for your site to load completely, you’re almost certainly losing traffic. Make sure your site loads quickly, across all device types and Internet browsers.

You Don’t Have a CTA

A good dealership website should spur action. It should push your visitors to pick up the phone and call you. That requires a clear and concise call to action. In fact, we’d recommend having a CTA on every single page.

Your Site Lacks NAP Info

When we talk about NAP, we’re talking about your dealership’s name, address, and phone number. This contact information should appear on every page of the site. For one thing, it’s an important local SEO factor. For another, it makes it easy for visitors to connect with you.

The Content’s Too Flimsy

A good dealership website will educate and inform; it will help the buyer to feel more confident in making that appointment with you. Some good, detailed information about your inventory and your F&I products helps. A dealership blog can also be valuable.

You Don’t Offer Any Trust Signifiers

Along the same lines, a good  dealership website should make it easier for buyers to trust you. That’s something you can accomplish by offering social proof, in the form of reviews or testimonials. Information about warranties, guaranties, awards, or professional affiliations can also be good.

There’s No Keyword Optimization

Finally, a good dealership website should be optimized for the search algorithms—and one way to make that happen is by ensuring you have keywords placed in all the right places. You don’t have to stuff them into every sentence; just make sure you have a keyword in your meta description, keywords in your titles and headings, and perhaps a few keywords in the body of your website content.

A good dealership website should help boost your visibility and increase conversions. If yours doesn’t do that, maybe it’s time for a tune-up. 

Happy Selling Driving Sales fam! 

We all know the stereotypes people have concerning used car dealerships. Used car dealers are often assumed to be sketchy or shady—an unfair cliché that nevertheless makes many buyers reluctant. It’s critical to the success of any dealership to dispel this cliché, and to convey real trustworthiness and credibility.

One way to do that is through your used car dealership website. The question is, does your dealership convey credibility? Here are a few ways to tell.

Signs of a Credible Website

1. Testimonials and reviews. The quickest way to help your customers feel confident and comfortable is to show them that others have bought cars from you and enjoyed the experience. Testimonials and reviews from past clients can be an invaluable form of social proof.
2. No ads. While some smaller dealerships may be tempted to run third-party ads on their site—boosting revenues—this ultimately causes your dealership to look desperate and unprofessional. Ditch the ads to boost your credibility!
3. Regular updates. Sites that feel like they haven’t been updated in weeks, months, or even years tend to appear less credible. Make sure to refresh your website content at least once a year, and update your dealership blog often!
4. Contact information. Where can buyers get a hold of you if they have a question or need to resolve an issue? If you don’t have clear contact information somewhere on your site, it makes it seem like you have something to hide!
5. A fast loading time. Want your website to come across as totally professional? Make sure it loads quickly—ideally in three seconds or less. This is an important and oft-overlooked way to boost credibility.
6. About Us information. Another way to make your dealership seem more trustworthy is to humanize it. That means including a robust About Us page, ideally with bios and photos of your team members.
7. Trust seals. Guaranties, warranties, money-back offers—if you have any of these offers in place, make sure they are positioned prominently on your dealership website! They give buyers a lot of peace of mind!
8. BBB accreditation. If you are affiliated with the BBB or any other area business organization, make your membership known! Again, it’s an easy way to give your buyers peace of mind.

The bottom line for dealers is that earning trust is critical—and it’s something you can do with a well-designed website. 

Landing pages can be invaluable to your dealership’s digital marketing approach—yet all too often, these key pieces of online real estate are underutilized, if not altogether ignored.

Maybe you’ve never even heard of a landing page. Basically, it’s a Web page that’s highly targeted to get the user to take one specific action—buying a particular product, signing up for an email newsletter, downloading an e-book, or something similar.

Dealerships often use landing pages to capture leads from Craigslist or from a Facebook ad. Say a user clicks on a listing regarding used BMWs. You might direct them to a landing page that’s all about BMWs, as opposed to your main company home page. This is an effective way to guide traffic through your sales funnel without losing those leads.

But not all landing pages are created equal; the question is, how can you make yours as effective as possible? Here are a few landing page design tips for every used car dealership to keep in mind.

Designing Landing Pages for Your Used Car Dealership

• Get right to the point. Remember that a landing page is meant to be highly focused and action-oriented—so there’s no need to beat around the bush. The mere fact that you attracted users to the page means you’ve won their attention. Keep your landing page brief and devoid of fluff.
• Design for readability. The best landing pages have short sentences, short paragraphs, bullet points (whenever appropriate), and minimal distractions. A few good product images can be helpful but avoid a page layout that’s too cluttered.
• Minimize choices. An effective landing page encourages the reader to take one specific action. Avoid laying out too many options—calling, emailing, looking at other vehicles, etc. Focus on the one primary thing you want users to do.
• Don’t provide too many navigational options, either. Again, you want things to be streamlined and focused. Providing 10 different links, to different parts of your dealership website, will only dilute the effectiveness of your landing page.
• Always include a strong call to action. Make it very clear how you want your reader to proceed. A good landing page will have at least one strong call to action, maybe even more. Try to include a good CTA above the fold, too—that is, make it visible without the user having to scroll down.
• Focus on benefits. As for the content of your landing page, always ask: What’s in it for your customer? Detail some of the top benefits of the service or product in question. Again, avoid fluff—just get to the good stuff!

Every used car dealership wants its phones ringing off the hook, flooded with inquiries from potential customers. A good marketing campaign will get you those calls—but calls alone are not enough! Your job is to turn those calls into actual appointments—actually getting people to your showroom where your sales reps can close the deal.

This isn’t necessarily as simple as it might first seem. A basic guideline to keep in mind: You won’t get appointments unless you ask for them. When someone calls your dealership to ask about a particular used Civic they saw on Craigslist, you’ve got to be point-blank in requesting that they come see you face-to-face, and to test drive the vehicle.

The Wrong Way to Ask for An Appointment

There are good ways and bad ways to ask for an appointment. One of the bad ways is this: When would you like to come in?

It’s bad because you’re likely to get soft answers. A customer might say they can swing by on Saturday, and even ask you when you open. They’ll then say they’ll be in “sometime that afternoon.” This is better than a hard no, perhaps, but not much. It’s certainly not a real appointment, as the customer in question is very likely to be a no-show. They were wishy-washy because they simply didn’t want to hurt your feelings with a definitive no.

The Right Way to Ask for An Appointment

Here’s a better way.

1. 1. First, make sure you instill some urgency. Say something like this: “Yes, we do still have that Civic on the lot, but it’s priced very low, and probably won’t be here past the weekend.”
   2. From there, offer some specific times. Example: “If you want a chance to drive that Civic before it sells, I’ve got a few openings. How is either Friday at 3:15 or Saturday morning at 9?”

This isn’t a complicated script, and there’s no elaborate sales tactic here. It’s all about making a direct request; leaving no room for wishy-washy answers; and then getting a firm commitment from your buyer.

Now, you may have some objections. Just remember that setting appointments  your ultimate goal—so don’t just grant the objection, but redirect the concern. For example: “Yes, the car does have some miles on it, but it’s in tip-top shape and handles beautifully on the road. I’d love to let you take it for a spin, just to see for yourself. Can you be here at 3:15 on Friday?”

Turn those calls into appointments, no matter how many objections you have to push through. And if you’re not getting calls in the first place, well, that’s a marketing issue—and we can help you with it!

Craigslist can be a powerful avenue for selling your used car inventory—but those ads won’t write themselves. It takes strategy and a little effort to write Craigslist ads that get the job done. And all too often, dealers jeopardize their ad efficacy by falling prey to common errors and mishaps.

In this post, we’ll run you through five of the most common Craigslist errors—and offer some tips for avoiding them.

Making Your Text Difficult to Read

Your ad copy should always have proper spelling and grammar—but on an even more basic level, it should be easy to read. That means not typing in all caps, and it means avoiding unwieldy run-on sentences.

Don’t just dump a bunch of copy into your Craigslist ads. Take some time to sculpt your message, review, proofread, and fine-tune.

Writing Titles That Mislead

The basic rule for titles: They should make it very clear what you’re selling. If you’re advertising a used Toyota, the word Toyota really needs to be in the title.

Remember that some Craigslist users will search by title and filter out any ads that don’t include certain keywords. That’s why listing the specific car you’re selling is always a smart idea.

Using Bad Photos

Some of the worst Craigslist ads we’ve seen either have bad, blurry photos, or in some cases have no photos at all!

Make sure that all of your ads:

• Include photos!
• Have a lot of bright color.
• Ideally, have a backdrop other than your dealership showroom (somewhere outside, surrounded by greenery, is ideal).
• Show off the most appealing features of the automobile.

Failing to Include Details

Buyers want more than just the make and the model. Also make sure you list any modifications that have been done to the car. If you’ve just put on a brand-new set of tires, list that. If there are after-market add-ons that come with the car, list those, as well.

The bottom line: Don’t be stingy with detail.

Not Branding Your Dealership

One more Craigslist mistake is focusing so much on the vehicle that you forget to market your dealership.

Remember that you’re not just trying to sell people on the car. You’re trying to sell them on you, and to give them a reason to trust you with their automotive needs. Make sure you always include a few selling points for your dealership.

Craigslist is your used car dealership’s secret weapon—an invaluable tool for showcasing your inventory and connecting with motivated buyers. After all, Craigslist shoppers tend to make decisions quicker, and generate higher overall conversion rates, than the average consumer. But of course, getting the most bang for your Craigslist buck requires more than just scattered posts. It takes a real strategy. Here are some tips to help you get started.

Making the Most of Your Craigslist Ads

1. Only advertise the best-selling vehicles for your market. One of the most common questions that dealers ask is, which vehicles should I advertise on Craigslist? Certainly, we recommend being selective, curating the cars you display based on local trends and buyer personas. To ensure your Craigslist dollars aren’t wasted, don’t spend them on second- or third-tier inventory.
2. Sell your dealership, not just your cars. Your ads should do more than just lay out the technical specs for the vehicle in question. They should also make note of financing options, monthly promotions, and other services you provide at your dealership. Remember that you’re not just trying to sell a car; you’re trying to build your brand.
3. Don’t forget a strong call to action. You’d be amazed how many used car dealerships write Craigslist ad copy but forget to include a strong call to action. Always use motivational language and crisp verbs to encourage shoppers to call or email you. And make sure to include the right contact information!
4. Include some good photographs. One of the great things about marketing automobiles is that they’re so naturally photogenic; it’s not hard at all to take some good, compelling photos that make people want to learn more. One tip we can offer is to take pictures somewhere away from your dealership. A nice, green, outdoorsy backdrop feels more personal and inviting than the inside of your showroom.
5. Automate! The best Craigslist advertising campaign is one that runs largely on its own. Of course, there will always be a need for some human input, but using a program like Get My Auto’s Craigslist Wizard can make the entire process smooth and streamlined.

As always wishing you great success with your dealership's endeavors! Happy Selling. 

o you feel the need for speed? If not, you should—at least where your website is concerned. It’s always been important for your dealership website to load quickly and efficiently—but it’s just become more pressing than ever. In this post, we’ll explain why, and also show you how you can repair a slow or laggy website.

Why Website Speed Matters

The main reason why your website speed matters is customer experience. You probably know first-hand how frustrating it is when you’re trying to load a website, but it’s moving at a painstakingly slow speed. Well, if it’s frustrating for you, it’s bound to be annoying for your customers and potential leads, too. In fact, studies show that if your website takes more than three seconds to load, most users will simply abandon it altogether.

But there’s another reason why website speed matters—and that’s SEO. Google has always said that performance is a key ranking factor. Now, they’ve rolled out their Speed Update, which really proves their commitment to quick-loading sites.

The Speed Update is Here

But what is the Speed Update, exactly? It’s a new algorithmic addition to mobile searches, wherein sites that load too slowly will actually be penalized—meaning they may not show up in search queries!

How slow is too slow, exactly? Google hasn’t offered any specific metrics, but you can probably fall back on that three-second standard we offered above. If your site takes much longer than that to load, there’s a chance you could be seeing some drop-off in your Google rankings.

Checking Your Speed

If you’re worried about your site speed, now’s a good time to check it. You can just do this informally, loading your site on various browsers and devices to see how long it takes. Or, for a more scientific approach, just do a search for “speed tests” and find some of the resources available. Google even has its own speed test you can run.

And what happens if your site doesn’t load quickly enough? There are a number of potential issues, some of which may be obvious—like an overabundance of big, complex files, such as video and images. It could also be an issue with your server speed or even your server location.

If you can’t find an obvious fix, it may be worthwhile to address things with either your Web developer or your host.