How Your Dealership Can Strengthen Its Reputation
Back in the day, a car dealer’s reputation was built through word of mouth and street presence. However, in today’s modern, digital era, more factors play a role in building and maintaining a solid reputation, including online and community presence.
Here are five ways car dealers can strengthen their reputation:
- Collect customer reviews.
According to a recent Bright Local survey, the average consumer spends 13 minutes and 45 seconds reading reviews before making a decision. Among consumers that read reviews, 97 percent read businesses’ responses to reviews.
- Provide written credit approval to credit-challenged consumers.
Having the ability to approve credit-challenged consumers for vehicle financing is an effective way to build trust and gain customer referrals. Dealers enrolled in the Credit Acceptance auto finance program can offer written approval to car buyers with bad credit or no credit through our proprietary credit approval processing system, CAPS®.
- Sell affordable, reliable vehicles.
Whether you sell new and/or used vehicles, building and maintaining a reputation for selling affordable, reliable cars may help you earn your customers’ repeat business and attract new customers.
- Offer good customer service.
Making every customer feel important can go a long way towards earning their repeat and referral business. Pay attention to the smaller amenities such as complimentary coffee, water, tea or a sitting and play area for children. If your goal is to gain lifelong business, you want to make sure your customers view your dealership as more than just a place to buy a car.
- Have a community presence.
Community events and charitable donations to noteworthy causes are a good way for your dealership to build a positive reputation. It shows your customers that you care about more than just selling cars.
If you are a car dealer interested in improving your reputation and your business by being able to serve a wider variety of potential customers, offering subprime financing is one way to do that. Simply fill out the form on our Become a Dealer page to learn more about the advantages of joining our program.
