Do buyers care about reviews?
“Alarm bells would go off in my head…what’s been going on in the last 12 months in the business that there’s been no reviews?”
We already know that recent reviews are the one of the determining factors for many consumers when choosing which retailer to buy from. Not only are they a trusted source of information about a retailer and the buying experience they offer, but they’re also authentic real-life experiences of previous buyers.
With Highly Rated just around the corner, we invited some car buyers to join us at our Manchester head office to talk all things reviews. We asked them:
Why reviews influence buying decisions and the customer journey
How they feel about negative reviews
Why review recency is important
What a Highly Rated award means to them as a consumer
Find out more about what they had to say in the full video below:
So, how can you make sure you’re Highly Rated on Auto Trader in 2024?
To be Highly Rated, you must hit all 3 elements of our criteria in the last 12 months:
1. An average overall rating of 4 star and above
Highly Rated retailers will generally receive positive reviews and be 4 star or higher on average. Recency is crucial, with 95% of visitors to Auto Trader believing it’s important to read a review of a dealership that was written within the last 12-months*. Continued momentum of positive reviews will stand you in the best stead to be Highly Rated this year.
2. Number of reviews in proportion to sales made
All of our retail partners vary in size, so this is to make it fair and inclusive to every retailer. The key to this is ensuring that you request a review for every sale that you make. Making this part of your daily jobs to be done can help you generate as many reviews as possible in proportion to your sales. We’ve also added new functionality in Portal so you can now request reviews in bulk.
3. Respond to your reviews, 1 and 2 star being the key focus
Highly Rated retailers will generally receive positive reviews. Replying to all reviews is important, however this year we want to focus on the responses to the occasional negative review.
Why? Because we strongly believe that things can go wrong from time to time and it’s about offering a resolution to any issues that may arise. Future buyers often want to see how the issue was resolved to give them reassurance that if something were to go wrong, you’d make sure to resolve the problem. Respond to all of your 1- and 2-star reviews to be Highly Rated 2024.
It’s clear that buyers really value reviews and that they strongly influence their buying decision, so it’s crucial that you continue to build up your reviews and aim to be Highly Rated this year.
Want more top tips on reviews? Check out our dedicated Dealer Reviews insight masterclass.
Sources:
*: Auto Trader on site survey, August 2023.