If you are running a garage or car sales outlet and you fail to take onboard the importance of online reviews, you could find your business being left behind in the future. This is the message from UK automotive shopping site CarGurus, that found that around 70% of buyers now always check online reviews before contacting a dealer or garage.

The changing nature of the market is also illustrated by the fact that 18-34 year old buyers are the most influenced by a company’s online footprint with 91% of this generation placing as much trust on online reviews as they do on word of mouth recommendation.

Amy Mueller, vice president of communications at CarGurus, said, ‘The growth of the internet and social media has made it easy for people to share their buying experiences, good and bad, with fellow consumers. As a result, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to your online reputation. Customer reviews set the tone for how your business is perceived by future customers.”

Amy says that every review should be seen as an opportunity to engage with customers and build a strong reputation. As such businesses should always encourage feedback and pay close attention to their content. For this reason it helps to have a person who is specifically responsible for social media. It should be their job to respond to reviews quickly, addressing any issues that cause bad reviews. Good reviews should also be put to work in marketing, with the customer’s permission.