Review Management Strategy for Truck Repair Shops

It has long been recognized that what consumers say about your company holds a lot more weight compared to what you say about your business, regardless of how good your services are or how authentic your message is.

As a diesel truck repair shop, this is all the more important since our vehicles are very personal to us, and we only want to leave them in trustworthy hands. We gauge this trust through reviews and the testimonials we get from our friends.

Here are some ways to improve your Google Business reviews so you can grow your customer base.

How to Set Up Search Reviews

Needless to say, if you want to get Google Reviews, it is important to have your shop listed on 'Google Maps' as a location first. Creating a Google Maps listing (which also generates a Google Business Profile) will not provide you authority over that listing. You must establish a Google My Business account and use that account to authenticate that you are the true owner of your heavy-duty repair shop through My Business Account.

It helps to have Google Reviews through a link that you can share with your fellow truck enthusiasts, which you can get from the ‘Share Review Form’ button on the home tab of your Google My Business homepage. 

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To make it less of a hassle to share, you can even use link shorteners so that it is easy for people to share the link with their friends. For this type of review management, you can use websites like Bit.ly to get URLs and track how often they have been used. This is essential for your overall SEO marketing strategy in order to track its effectiveness.

5 Ways to Get More Search Reviews

1. Link to Your Google Review Page from Your Website

If a consumer wants to post a review for your company, the first place they'll check is your website. Make a clear, bloat-free CTA (call-to-action) that is instantly identifiable. This can be a separate section on your truck company’s webpage or a link that can be accessed through the footer section that repeats across your entire website. Most people don’t actively think about leaving behind a review, so it helps to nudge them in this direction through subtle reminders.

While the aforementioned strategy is effective, dedicating a whole webpage to Google Reviews (or just testimonials in general) and making it available from your primary navigation is much better. The website should feature both a call-to-action option to create a review and a list of current reviews. These not only inspire potential customers to become actual customers but also provide additional motivation for current customers to post a review.

You may use screenshots to fill your reviews page, but they should preferably be in text format. Because reviews are often keyword-rich, posting them on your website in a manner that Google's spiders can "read" them is an excellent small business SEO approach to improve your search result rankings. 

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Having pictures of your customers in your testimonials also helps them feel appreciated and more connected, which does a better job of conveying the story of how your heavy-duty repair shop removed all of their hassles in their truck riding journey.

2. Persistent Follow-ups

Just because a consumer doesn't leave behind a review after you first asked them doesn't imply they won't leave one in the future. During your initial request, you may have caught them at an inconvenient time. 

Or maybe they intended to give you a review during that first interaction but had just forgotten.

In addition to your initial review request, we suggest developing multiple email follow-up templates and limiting your overall number of review requests to three.

Once a week, or perhaps every other week, submit a fresh request until you've reached your limit. 

Let's face it: no matter how hard you try and ask, some folks will never post a review. That isn't to say you shouldn't give it a try. Consistent follow-up keeps your firm on top of your client’s mind.

3. Getting Reviews In-person

Having physical cards can be immensely helpful to give in real life. This is where the link that we forged earlier in the post can become incredibly useful, as it would spare the respondents the effort of typing out a long arduous link into their search bar. 

Alternatively, if you find yourself having a nice conversation with a customer after providing satisfactory service at your heavy-duty repair shop, you can politely nudge them to leave a review in your conversation. If you have follow-ups set in place, this will make it even more likely for you to get a review.

4. Link to your Google Review Page in Other Places

When it comes to review management, the more points of contact for customers to be reminded of leaving a review, the merrier! You can attach the aforementioned link at the end of, for example, surveys where you are asking for feedback on how to improve your business. 

You can also strategically place reminders for reviews on your social media channels, as you will be regularly posting there to keep up your engagement. However, platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have their own built-in review systems so you must also take that into account when placing such links.

5. Interact with Your Current Reviews

Simply having an ample amount of reviews isn’t enough, it also helps to regularly engage and reply to the queries and complaints that people may post. It is also important to not get too disheartened by bad reviews, as all feedback is an opportunity for your company to grow and improve.

If you receive a negative review, use it as an opportunity to address the issue politely.

The Bottom Line

While many of us may be familiar with traditional word-of-mouth marketing, online reviews can have the same effect on a much larger scale. Today, word-of-mouth marketing and online reviews are synonymous — and they can be the difference maker between you getting the job or the shop down the road.

Whether it is Google Review Management, SEO marketing strategies, or any other form of digital marketing services, at Dieselmatic, we offer our expertise in marketing and digital marketing to truck shop owners just like you. We specialize in results-oriented digital marketing strategies designed to support sales, enhance brand image, and boost engagement. 

If you would like to learn more, you can schedule a call and talk face-to-face on a video call with a Dieselmatic team member.