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Blog
Jan 4, 2024
Your Auto Shop Needs More Online Reviews
Taylor Howe
Marketing Manager
We all know online reviews are important for any local business, and your auto shop is no exception. Learn how to up your review game!
We recently launched a promotion that offers a free window decal for auto shops. The decal includes a QR code with the shop’s unique Google or Yelp reviews link, so customers sitting in the shop can quickly scan and leave a review.
Marketers understand the incredible power of reviews, and business owners have long heard that they should put in the effort — but it can feel like a tricky game that’s hard to win.
This blog is a quick overview of the reasoning behind our promotion, and why it can change the reviews game for your shop.
Why Display a Decal?
1. Get more reviews, of course.
Studies show asking EVERY customer for a review will net more results than only asking satisfied customers.
The decals all say “Thanks for visiting our shop! Please consider leaving us a review while you wait.” It’s clear you aren’t saying “Only review us if you like us.” and, rather, you’re saying, “your voice matters, no matter what you’re saying”. That fact, alone, will soften opinions and encourage positivity.
2. Illustrate your commitment to satisfaction.
By proudly displaying your online reviews link in your shop for waiting visitors, you’re illustrating your commitment to satisfaction and boosting your review count all in one!
If you were worried you weren’t offering positive experiences, you wouldn’t be advertising the ability to publicly review your shop. As we mentioned in point one, though, the very act of asking is almost as important as the in-the-moment opinion of the customer.
3. Getting positive reviews can be hard.
The people who are going to leave a bad review will probably leave a bad review whether or not you ask them to. The happy customers, however, need a little nudge.
4. The quantity, recency, density, and quality of the reviews are critical for your success.
As more and more businesses are realizing, online reviews are critical to a shop’s ability to capitalize on local search & word of mouth business. The quantity, quality, density, and recency of reviews play a pivotal role in whether customers take action to visit your shop. Displaying a decal will help you to achieve all of these things.
Putting a decal on your shop window will drive more reviews. And it’s easy to stick onto your window without damaging the glass! If you haven’t requested yours yet, go here to do so.
How do I Find My Reviews Link?
Don’t make people search for your business. Rather, direct them immediately with a link that takes out the guesswork. Google has a unique link that pops open a box for them to write their review, where Yelp requires that you simply send them to your reviews page.
Whichever way you’re going with your efforts, here’s how to grab your link:
For Google:
1. Go to your Business Profile. Learn how to find your profile.
2. With Google Search, select: Ask for reviews.
3. With Google Maps, select Customers Reviews: Get more reviews.
For Yelp!:
1. Find Your Business on Yelp:
- Go to Yelp’s website and search for your business in the search bar.
- Click on your business to open its Yelp page.
2. Copy the URL from the address bar of your browser. This is the link to your Yelp business page.
For businesses not using a QR code to send traffic to your link, we encourage you to hand out the link any other way you can. Whether it’s through automated texts, emails, postcards, or even just a displayed sign on the counter, these links make it easy for people to give you their feedback.
And, as we know, making it easy is the only way to get someone to take action!
The decal is free, but Cinch is not.
Whether or not Cinch is the tool for your business, your decal is completely free. We’ll customize it with your unique reviews link and ship it right to your shop. That said, we hope you’ll consider learning how Cinch can really power business growth for your shops.
Cinch will help you increase your shop’s reviews, but it also makes it easy to respond to those reviews in a single platform where you can also manage all your other customer interactions.
⭐ Want to send brownies to people leaving a bad review? You can automate that.
⭐ Want to thank people with a coupon for leaving a good review? You can do that too.
By combining the power of data visibility and customer profile management with smart, highly-personalized automated communication & marketing, Cinch has truly revolutionized the way you manage your customer journey.
We hope you’ll give it a look and see what it can do for your business.
Now get started driving that local traffic and referral business!