Perfecting your listings & building trust online

How to improve your vehicle listings & trust online

Our General Manager, Mark Greenfield, was joined by Angela Humble from Trade Me Motors on Autotalk's latest series of digital webinars.

They discussed two very hot topics 'How to create the perfect vehicle listing' and 'How to boost the trustworthiness of your dealership'. Both of which have become increasingly important with our current COVID-19 situation where customers are doing the majority, if not all of, the car buying journey online. 

Missed the event? Watch the recording here...

Key Takeaways:

1. Ensure your vehicle listings have informative descriptions. Be sure to provide a quality and honest description of the vehicle, consider including the following:

   • An accurate description on the condition of the vehicle, inside and out.
   • Special features and benefits.
   • Make it emotive. Does it make a great family car? Would it make a suitable vehicle to tow the boat or caravan? (Extra tip: if it’s a trade in, ask the customer what they liked best about the car and include this in the description).
   • Answer common questions a customer visiting your dealership is likely to ask about the vehicle.
   • Use sentences over bullet points. Your description is like a sales person so try and describe the vehicle as naturally as possible.

   A recent study carried out by Trade Me found that 70% of car buyers rated descriptions, features & benefits as the most important attribute they wanted to see on a vehicle listing, along with information on the vehicle’s history, safety information and a high number of quality photos.

2. Once you have created an informative description about the vehicle, be sure to add a short blurb about your dealership. Include thing like:

   • What differentiates you from other dealerships? Does your dealership have a showroom that’s weather proof? Does a member of your staff speak another language?
   • Do you accept trade ins?
   • Do you offer finance, warranties, insurance?
   • Remember, a customer shouldn’t lean anything new when visiting your dealership, that they haven’t already learnt you online.

   A recent study carried out by Trade Me found that 25% of car buyers didn’t know that the dealership they purchased from provided finance.

3. Reviews influence the car buying journey

   • Car buyers use reviews when determining what dealership/s to trust.
   • Past customer experiences hold value, they give car buyers an extra layer of confidence.
   • BuyerScore enables you to display your review rating badge in places where customers search for vehicles such as Trade Me, Need A Car and your own website.  

4. Reviews can help you improve your dealership

   • Reviews give you a clear understanding of what you're doing well.
   • They present opportunities by identifying certain areas you can improve on to make you a better dealer.