UK Car Dealers Fear Using Social Media Websites
06/07/2013
Despite the rapid growth that social media websites have experienced over the years, there are actually a small amount of dealers who are actually utilising social media in order to create sales opportunities for their location, or rectify customer issues. Are these dealerships selling themselves short, by not allowing themselves to be on the forefront of the media to assist their customers with their issues?
According to a review service that goes by the name, JudgeService, there are roughly only a handful of dealers within the UK that are focusing their attention on creating a proactive social media strategy. The provider, cited information that they had researched on Zendesk that even though Facebook is the most commonly used website that individuals utilize to connect with one another, the social media site is also extremely popular for negative reviews. Online review sites are chosen by individuals that are happy with the services that they provided, and want to share their positive experiences with their friends, family, and prospective customers.
JudgeService’s point of view is different in contrast to the point of view that MotoNovo has regarding UK dealerships utilising social media websites. According to MotoNovo, they question if social media websites have any value for assisting dealerships with making sales on their vehicles, and servicing the needs of their customers.
The sales director for JudgeService, Dale Woodley states that there is no secrets that reviews that customers leave do have an impact on the buying decisions of others. However, according to the latest research, the views that customers have is important. It is important for customers and prospective customers to have an outlet that they can use in order to share and obtain feedback from.
Most car dealers will place additional focus on programs that offer customer service to individuals, even though the services that are offered are important, it is also important to maintain consistent lines of communication with customers through online environments as well. With more than half of the people that purchase a vehicle in the UK having access to the Internet, the feedback that these individuals provide is equally important as the feedback that customers who call into the customer service lines offered by the manufacturers provide.
Many dealers are concerned that by allowing customers to have a medium to share their views, that negativity may result from allowing access to this medium. However, instead of entirely focusing on the negative aspect of offering this service, it is important that dealers focus on how this change can actually help their organisation.
Having the ability to find out exactly what people think about a service that is being rendered, is a great way to be able to positively identify which elements need to be continued, regarding what the business is doing, and what elements need to be stopped. This will ensure that all negative elements are addressed abruptly.
Since JudgeService’s website has gone live in 2011, the site has received in excess of 60,000 reviews from people. There are now over 460 dealerships that utilise the site.
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