Successful businesses everywhere know that in order to gain loyal consumers, they have to build their credibility in the marketplace. After all, without credibility, customers won’t keep coming back and they won’t spread the word to their friends and families. Businesses that have earned credibility by providing honest practices, collaborating with customers, and providing top-quality goods and services are respected and trusted. By differentiating your dealership and standing out in the crowd, you will sell more cars, increase your customer base, grow business, and see more repeat customers. With today’s online tools and technology, it’s an easier task than ever before to guide your dealership toward a position of credibility with your customers.

To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of ideas and best practices to not only help gain credibility for your dealership, but also to maintain the consumer trust you have worked to earn and sell more cars. Our “10 Things to Know About Gaining and Maintaining Credibility” will serve as a great starting place for your dealership as you propel your brand toward success:

1. Know your customer and offer what the customer needs. You will quickly gain the confidence of your shoppers if you avoid pushing products that will not fulfill the needs of the buyers. Instead, for each transaction, get to know your shopper’s needs, wants, and specific criteria for selecting a vehicle and focus on those things in order to help you deliver the solutions that best meet those needs.

2. Know what you can do. In other words, don’t make promises if your dealership or service department can’t live up to them. Instead, to gain trust, be forthright and honest with consumers so they know exactly what to expect.

3. Know your products and services. Always let customers know the exact features and services they will be getting when they shop with you. Avoid misrepresenting or over-promising on what you can offer, and instead present customers with truthful descriptions of your offerings.

4. Know the bottom line. Be familiar with your pricing structure and provide consistent pricing for consumers across all product and service offerings. By doing this, you will develop a reputation of fairness and trustworthiness that will bring shoppers back to your dealership.

5. Know how to resolve problems. The most important thing to know about problems that occur after the sale is that you should never avoid them. Instead, issues head-on, offering customer-friendly and viable solutions that will deliver on what you’ve promised.

6. Know that bad-mouthing the competition is never a good idea. When you must discuss your competition, always be professional and respectful. You will gain more credibility by doing this than you would by cutting them down. Your professionalism will go far in helping to grow the credibility you need for success.

7. Know that sometimes you just have to say it. Bad news is never fun to receive, especially in the automotive industry when it can end up meaning an out-of-commission vehicle, a delayed special-order, or extended repairs. Your customers will give you a higher level of respect when you let them know upfront what they can expect.

8. Know that being available is important. In today’s world, consumers demand near-immediate gratification, and when it is difficult to reach someone who can help them at the dealership, they end up feeling frustrated. Be sure every page of the dealership’s website has contact information, and be available on Twitter and Facebook to provide customer service as well.

9. Know your word is your reputation. When you make promises, it’s important you ensure you are able to follow through so that customers know your word can be trusted. By meeting the commitments you have made, you will ensure customers of your trustworthiness.

10. Know your customers can help you as you grow. When customers have had a great experience at your dealership, ask them to post online reviews and let other consumers know about the great service they received. Word of mouth is a powerful tool, and with most of your customers having an online presence, their recommendations can spread quicker than ever.

There are many ways your dealership can build a reputation for being trustworthy and dependable in the market, and most of them relate directly to honesty and hard work. Don’t hide the great things you are doing as a dealership; instead, talk to your customers, provide feedback, and let them know you are there to help them when needed. All of the suggestions given provide a level of transparency so your customers are able to see the credibility you offer as their local dealership. By continuously ensuring you are the go-to dealership when it comes to providing top-quality customer care, you will sell more cars enjoy continued repeat customers as well a growth in your customer base due to the referrals your existing customers give. You can build and maintain a reputation of credibility with your customers by demonstrating your expertise, know-how, and can-do attitude!

Check out the MotoFuze ReputationPro tool to help you manage your online reputation!