Warning issued over review handling

According to Dragon2000 there are still garages and workshops handling bad reviews inappropriately, resulting in a damaged reputation and loss of potential customers.

The dealer-centric software business has warned that as reviews are becoming increasingly influential, it is essential that garages and workshops handle bad reviews in a professional manner, so they send the right message out to prospective customers.

Karen McKenzie, operations manager, Dragon2000 said, ‘Bad reviews are a fact of life and no garage or workshop can keep everybody happy, all of the time. The important thing to remember is that potential customers will read how a garage or workshop has responded to a bad review, as it gives consumers a clear indication of how complaints are handled.’

The warning comes in light of recent research from search agency, BrightLocal which hightlighted that more people are reading reviews on a regular basis (50% versus 33% in 2015), with 91% of consumers regularly, or occasionally, reading online reviews. Only nine per cent of consumers don’t read online reviews.

Its survey also showed that 84% of people trust online reviews, as much as a personal recommendation; 90% of consumers read less than 10 reviews before forming an opinion about a business; and 74% of consumers said that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. A further 58% of consumers say that the star rating of a business is most important.