Dealers are replying to more online customer reviews and responding quicker, says JudgeService.
Of online dealer reviews, 79% received a response in Q4 2024, representing 1.5 million Google reviews, compared to just 8% 10 years ago when it first started measuring replies. The speed of reply has improved to an average of 3.5 days, compared to three weeks (22 days) in 2021.
Neil Addley, MD of JudgeService, said: “Customers look at replies to reviews as evidence that the company is listening to its customers. That’s why they are so important – no one wants to feel they will be ignored.
“Forbes identified that 89% of customers are more likely to choose a business that responds to every online research and our research shows how dealers have grasped this by responding to more reviews in an increasingly timely manner.
“Whilst there is a lot of nonsense spoken about AI, this is already proving to be an example of how the technology can be used to both improve the customer experience and save the dealership time and money.”
Dealers using JudgeService’s AI tool to write responses are averaging 1.9 days to reply.
According to JudgeService, 75% of customers want to read dealer reviews before making a purchase. This percentage increases to 95% for younger buyers.