- Car Dealership Guy News
- Posts
- The raw truth about what customers think of dealerships — And how dealers are responding
The raw truth about what customers think of dealerships — And how dealers are responding
Featuring Matt Murray and Jake Hughes, Widewail
Welcome to another edition of expert insights from the Car Dealership Guy Podcast, an episode recap that breaks down the juiciest takeaways from the conversation.
In this episode, Matt Murray, Founder and CEO at Widewail, and Jake Hughes, Widewail’s Director of Marketing, discuss what customers really think of dealerships and why customers are the “empty chair in the board room.”
1. Joining the car business.
Matt Murray transitioned from military service to digital marketing at Dealer.com, eventually leading enterprise sales at Cox Automotive. In 2018, he and his wife launched Widewail to address gaps in reputation management for dealerships, focusing on managing customer interactions and insights from online reviews.
2. Evolution of reputation management.
Initially, reputation management was driven by ego-based sales tactics — e.g., comparing Google ratings with competitors. Over time, it has evolved into a vital aspect of search engine optimization (SEO). By leveraging reviews, dealers can drive bigger ROI, along with enhanced visibility, all while uncovering actionable customer insights that allow them to improve their marketing effectiveness.
3. The current state of dealer ratings.
The average Google rating for dealerships sits at 4.56 stars, but Matt notes that this has become a baseline, it losing differentiation value. In other words, dealers can no longer afford to fall too far below this average — any minor difference between two competitors’ ratings are immediately noticeable to consumers.
4. Widewail’s services and scale.
The Google Business Profile feature is a primary driver of dealership sales, since it allows consumers to leave / view ratings and gives retailers an opportunity to respond to reviews. Four metrics boost the visibility of a dealers’ profile—volume, frequency, quality and responsiveness of the business. The higher each of these metrics, the more visibility the profile receives.
Widewail — Power your reputation engine with Widewail. Go Google-first. Our approach is proactive: mostly automated, sometimes manual. The perfect blend of high tech, high touch. Do more than generate and respond to reviews; use Voice of the Customer AI to gain insight into what's making your customers happy and what's not. Put your best foot forward with great reviews - because customers buy from those they know, like, and trust. 2,000,000 reviews managed and counting.
Ready to see the difference? Visit widewail.com to book your live demo today or check out Widewail's 2025 Auto Brand Scorecard here: widewail.com/brandscorecard.
Tax Max — The Tax Max “File and Drive” Sales Event is a simple tax season program that will help your dealership boost down payments and get more customers approved. Tax Max files the customer’s tax return, the dealer gets the down payment and the customer gets the car. Use coupon code: CARGUY and receive 25% off the Tax Max VIP package. Learn more at taxmax.com/TaxMax/car-dealer-overview.aspx.
DLRdmv — With DLR50, your dealership now has 24/7 portal access to calculations, pre filled forms, checklists, inquiries, plus white glove processing and specialist support. You can even acquire duplicate titles in all 50 states directly through the DLR50 platform! Learn more at dlr50.com.
5. Industry challenges driving negativity.
Jake reports a 20% rise in negative staff-related reviews, which he attributes primarily to the increase complexity of navigating the post-pandemic car business.
“Complexity is back in a big way in our industry. The COVID easy sale, right? The customer is going to pay MSRP or higher and can't negotiate it. That's over. We've all seen that. Incentives are back in a really big way. Customers are feeling that opportunity to negotiate the deal some, which means a lot more communication with the individual customer to get to the finish line. That's a lot to manage.” — Jake
Knowledge gaps are also playing a role. With the market becoming more complex and sales representatives selling at least three kinds of drivetrains (EV, hybrids, ICE), dealership teams are struggling to keep up with all the information, causing a dip in customer satisfaction. To overcome this difficulty, dealerships will need to thoroughly train staff members on all vehicle types and ensure they are ready to answer buyer questions.
6. Service department trends.
While sales reviews are becoming more negative, service departments are seeing increased positivity.
“We're seeing better year-over-year performance out of service in a couple ways. One, negativity in services growing less than sales. We're seeing more growth year over year in the sales department versus service. At the same time, positivity of the service department is growing within reviews and it's declining in sales.” — Matt
Two factors are driving this improvement: better communication and simplification of processes. Service team employees are getting better at communicating with customers, partially thanks to better training and also thanks to more technology that allows communication to happen in a way that suits the customer. On the other hand, many shoppers leaving positive reviews cited how low-stress their visit was, highlighting the benefits of a hassle-free service experience.
7. Pricing challenges.
Cost continues to play a role in the customer experience, but pricing satisfaction is trending in unexpected directions. Positive mentions of car price tags are starting to trend upward from the COVID-era, suggesting that more incentives and higher inventory levels are driving up satisfaction even as overall prices remain relatively flat.
However, service costs are causing a sharp uptick in consumer complaints. Matt believes this is due to the increase in average vehicle ages, which has led to owners spending more money on auto repairs than they’re used to.
“The average vehicle on the road is twelve point six years old…And so we looked at review data and said well there has to be something in our review data specific to those high-value or high-cost service appointments. We saw a 30% increase in discussion of brakes, 35% increase in discussion of transmission and 37% when the customer is talking about engine. Our customers are running into service appointments that cost them far more than they're accustomed to.” — Matt
8. Brand-specific performance:
Lexus leads Widewail’s brand rankings, excelling in review volume, wait time satisfaction, and service quality. Conversely, brands like Volkswagen and Mitsubishi have dropped in rankings due to poor digital marketing execution, including insufficient review generation and response.
9. Actionable insights for dealers.
To boost their review performance, dealers need to focus on core issues like price transparency and proactive communication among sales team members. Educating employees on EVs will be especially important to success — negative reviews criticizing staff helpfulness and knowledge are 72% and 76% higher among EV buyers than ICE buyers. When it comes to the service department, providing cost ranges for major repairs can help set customer expectations while avoiding surprises.
10. Closing thoughts.
Artificial intelligence is starting to play a bigger role in search visibility and customer engagement. Matt warns dealers against relying on one tool to heavily, instead endorsing a diversified approach that leverages tools like Google and AI equally.
What did you think of this podcast recap?Let us know - |
Interested in advertising with Car Dealership Guy? Drop us a line here.
Want to be considered as a guest on the podcast? Add your name here.
Reply