The reality of auto repair marketing in the modern world is that we are in a “Review Economy.” People use the Internet to find products and services. Customer reviews help your business show up on search engines when people are trying to decide where to go for auto service near them. Think about it; when using the Internet to search, you have to use a search engine. If you are looking for a product or service, the results you get from that search take you to websites of companies offering the thing you are looking for. Here’s the tricky part: search engine companies like Google, Yahoo and Bing have figured out that every company has a website and that every company website says the same thing, “Hey, our company is awesome, buy our stuff.” So it seems that search engine providers discovered that consumers looking to buy aren’t necessarily convinced by those kinds of messages anymore. When ten companies are all telling you their widget is the best widget, how do you know which widget really is?

Being cynical these days, the typical search engine user will keep looking for more than just self-promoting websites. They want more information, and they use customer reviews to help them decide what to buy. Consumer reviews provide consumers with information that can help validate (or not) a company’s website claims. In response to that reality, the search engine companies have begun giving preference to sites with legitimate customer reviews as part of how they determine what’s going to show up on the front page of an Internet search. Customer reviews are not the whole of how that works by any means, but they are an important part of what drives new customers in.

And here’s one more thing to think about. Every single review you get is feedback you can use. Your customers’ responses confirm what you are doing that is working, and what you can do to make your business better. The value of customer reviews to increase customer satisfaction in your shop cannot be underestimated. Knowing what’s really going on is the fastest way to improve, grow and thrive.