How Auto Shops Can Turn Customer Testimonials Into a Trust-Building Marketing Engine
- Auto repair customers are often skeptical—88% trust online reviews, but 64% distrust the industry, making testimonials one of the most powerful ways to overcome barriers and win trust from new prospects.
- Strategically placed testimonials on service pages, social media, and ads can dramatically boost conversions, especially when aligned with specific services (like brake repair or luxury vehicles) and shared through visuals or video.
- With tools like Surefire Local, auto shops can automate testimonial collection, respond to reviews efficiently, and repurpose content across channels, making reputation management a powerful driver of growth and premium pricing justification.
Trust is everything in the auto industry. And in many cases, that trust has been broken—not by you, but by many of your competitors.
So, when you put happy customers front and center, when you make them the cornerstone of your small business marketing strategy, you turn their stories into your story. You show your future customers why you’re different.
The Measurable Value of Customer Testimonials in Auto Services
88% of automotive service customers trust online reviews and testimonials. 68% say that these real stories are the primary reason they choose a particular company.
What’s more, a AAA survey found that 64% of consumers have inherent distrust for automotive services companies, probably because they’ve been burned before. So, sad but true—even before they know you, you may be starting on the wrong foot.
A strong collection of testimonials can make all the difference. When potential customers are suspicious from the start, only the words of many satisfied customers will convince them otherwise.
And here’s the thing. You deliver on your promises. You take care of your customers.
And these happy customers don’t always automatically write you glowing reviews to prove this. It’s up to you to manage your reputation by ensuring customer testimonials exist and are seen when it matters most.
And that’s what we’re going to show you how to do today—consistently, efficiently, and convincingly.
What Counts as a Testimonial?
A testimonial is any content created by a real customer that uses their own words to share their experience. Testimonials can include videos that you or the customer produces. But they can also include reviews on a review site.
We could even expand the definition of a testimonial to include a social media post or comment. If it’s glowing, use it.
And you know what, a testimonial could even be a handwritten thank-you letter from a client who prefers that method. You can also leverage those testimonials, too, with care for your customers’ privacy. Always get written consent to use customer testimonials if those comments weren’t intended for public view.
Where Should I Place Testimonials on My Website?
Testimonials are critical during the final stage of decision-making. So, they don’t just belong on the review site, social media, or a testimonial page on your site. They will be most convincing when placed near booking forms and on service pages.
You can also embed reviews into sidebars and footers that follow visitors down the page. You can create a carousel that rotates through reviews to demonstrate the support of many, many customers.
Do I Need a Different Review for Every Page?
When possible, align the review with the specific service you’re offering.
For example
- If you’re a moving van company that helps businesses relocate, then they need to see your commercial reviews on that service page, not something from a homeowner.
- If you repair foreign, domestic, and luxury vehicles, include testimonials with mentions of the make or luxury features on the appropriate pages.
- For your brake pad replacement page, you need a testimonial or review about brakes and how safe your customers feel in their cars after the repair.
The more relevant and relatable a testimonial is, the more convincing it becomes. It may take time to find the perfect review or schedule video testimonials that perfectly showcase a service. But this is time and money well spent.
Don’t believe us? Start with just one service page. Run an AB test on a page that currently gets some traffic, or drive traffic to it with search ads.
Here’s how to do it. Make the pages identical. But one has a highly relevant testimonial next to the schedule button. The other doesn’t. See which one has a higher conversion rate.
How to Leverage Testimonials on Social Media
Turn a really good one-liner into a quote card to make it visual. Create a colorful card in a design program like Canva’s free version. Then copy-paste the quote with quotations around it. Post these cards regularly on social media and your Google Business profile. They look great on Instagram but work on almost any platform.
Track social media brand mentions using a reputation management tool. Share posts from customers on your profile and address any mentions that include concerns.
Automate the sharing of reviews from review sites on your social media profile so that they regularly appear in their unaltered form, further strengthening customer trust that your reviews and testimonials are true and real.
Encourage customers to write reviews on social media platforms that support them. Facebook is an excellent place to get more reviews. Automate the review request process to generate more of these social reviews.
How to Create Polished Video Testimonies
For video testimonies, remember that if you offer a discount or gift card in exchange for the testimony, always disclose this.
Help the customer create a simple formulatic script that goes something like this.
- I had a problem
- Here’s how I felt about it.
- This company (mentioned by name) fixed it.
- I appreciate X and X about their people and service.
- Here’s how I feel now.
Keep videos under 60-90 seconds. And if you don’t have access to a studio, don’t sweat it. Ask them to use their phone. These amateur videos work well too!
Can I Turn Customer Testimonials into Ads?
You absolutely can. Promote great reviews on social media using their boost or ad features. Strategically place them on your ad’s landing page and showcase real customers in video ads (not paid actors) to convince strangers that you’re the auto service company they want to schedule their next service with.
Clever Ways to Repurpose & Display Testimonials IRL
You can use your digital testimonials in the real world in several ways to build trust while customers are in your physical shop. This added level of trust-building can help customer-facing team members diffuse tense interactions, as the presence of comments from others can reinforce the fact that you strive to deliver amazing customer experiences.
You can print the quote cards you made for social media and frame them for reception. Tape them to shop windows, counters, or on signage. Include pictures when possible.
Also, add one-liner reviews to your emails, quotes, and even physical brochures to maximize their visibility and eliminate mental barriers potential customers may have to scheduling their service or paying you what your services are worth.
How to Get More Reviews to Leverage
Of course, delivering excellent customer service is important. But you also need a streamlined system to earn more 5 star reviews.
Customers want to see recent reviews. They want to see many reviews. And they want to see reviews that are relevant to their needs, answering questions they might have about what to expect.
Customer Testimonial Software can help you automate this process, taking it off your plate while helping you build a powerful review profile. These easy-to-use small business tools allow you to automatically request reviews after a customer pays for their service in the form of email or SMS (text messaging).
Tell customers where you want reviews, and actively work to get reviews in several key places like Google and Facebook. Mention certain attributes or details you’d like them to include, without telling them what to write.
For example, if you want to be seen as providing value, quality, or luxury car expertise, you can certainly ask customers to mention these when they’re relevant.
Also, think about the reviews you need for your service pages. If you need the perfect conversion-focused review for your engine repair services, then ask engine repair customers to specifically mention details about that service.
Respond to all reviews, good and bad, to demonstrate that you listen to customers and appreciate when they take the time to provide you with feedback. Generative AI reputation management tools can help with personalized review response starters you can edit to quickly and genuinely respond to dozens of reviews at a time.
How to Handle Negative Reviews
Now, let’s switch gears for a moment and talk about negative reviews. They’re going to happen. And because you’re managing your reputation so effectively now, the goodwill outweighs the bad.
When you get a negative review, always respond promptly after allowing yourself a little time to process comments that may cause anger or frustration. Thank the person for their review. Resolve it publicly if you can. Reinforce your commitment to customers and contact them offline when needed. When you play your cards right, many people will change their review once resolved.
Building Trust with Customer Testimonials on Your Website
Get more reviews and get more out of your reviews to convert strangers, justify premium pricing, and reassure distrustful customers.
Surefire Local’s business software is built with small auto services businesses like yours in mind. Our all-in-one marketing platform gives you a suite of easy-to-use tools that streamline your reputation management and online marketing.
To see these tools in action, schedule your free demo.