The Raw Truth About What Customers Think of Dealerships — And How Dealers Are Responding | Matt Murray + Jake Hughes from Widewail

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Matt Murray, CEO and Jake Hughes, Director of Marketing at Widewail where we discuss the raw truth about what customers think of dealerships and why customers are the empty chair in the board room. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Widewail – Power your reputation engine with Widewail. Go Google-first. Our approach is proactive: mostly automated, sometimes manual. The perfect blend of high tech, high touch. Do more than generate and respond to reviews; use Voice of the Customer AI to gain insight into what's making your customers happy and what's not. Put your best foot forward with great reviews - because customers buy from those they know, like, and trust. 2,000,000 reviews managed and counting. Ready to see the difference? Visit Widewail.com to book your live demo today! Check out Widewail's 2025 Auto Brand Scorecard here: https://www.widewail.com/brandscorecard 2. Tax Max - The Tax Max “File and Drive” Sales Event is a simple tax season program that will help your dealership boost down payments and get more customers approved. Tax Max files the customer’s tax return, the dealer gets the down payment and the customer gets the car. Use coupon code: CARGUY and receive 25% off the Tax Max VIP package. Learn more @ https://www.taxmax.com/TaxMax/car-dealer-overview.aspx 3. DLRdmv - With DLR50, your dealership now has 24/7 portal access to calculations, pre filled forms, checklists, inquiries, plus white glove processing and specialist support. You can even acquire duplicate titles in all 50 states directly through the DLR50 platform! Learn more @ https://www.dlr50.com/ 4. CDG Recruiting - Building on the success of my industry job board, I’m launching CDG Recruiting — a more hands-on, white-glove automotive recruiting service. Our team has decades of experience and has successfully placed over 1,000 roles in the automotive industry. So if you’re ready to find your next rockstar employee, try CDG Recruiting today by visiting @ https://www.cdgrecruiting.com/ 🚨 Don’t forget to subscribe to Car Dealership Guy Bites for quick, daily insights into automotive retail- delivered in under 5 minutes: Subscribe on Apple: https://carguymedia.com/apple_bites Subscribe on Spotify: https://carguymedia.com/spotify_bites Subscribe on Youtube: https://carguymedia.com/youtube_bites Need help finding top automotive talent? Get started here: https://www.cdgrecruiting.com/ Interested in advertising with Car Dealership Guy? Drop us a line here: https://cdgpartner.com Interested in being considered as a guest on the podcast? Add your name here: https://bit.ly/3Suismu Topics: 00:00 Intro 01:16 How did Widewail get started? 02:00 How did Matt go from the Navy to starting Widewail? 04:26 How has managing online reviews changed over time? 08:52 How does Widewail help car dealerships? 11:09 What happens when staff get bad reviews? 16:57 Why are star ratings so important? 17:41 How will AI change car dealerships and marketing? 22:56 Why does being honest about prices matter to customers? 25:39 What do people think about EVs versus regular cars? Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff: CDG News ➤ https://news.dealershipguy.com/ CDG Jobs ➤ https://jobs.dealershipguy.com/ CDG Recruiting ➤ https://www.cdgrecruiting.com/ My Socials: X ➤ / guydealership Instagram ➤ / cardealershipguy TikTok ➤ / guydealership LinkedIn ➤ / cardealershipguy Threads ➤ https://www.threads.net/@cardealershi... Facebook ➤ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... Everything else ➤ dealershipguy.com This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. #automotiveindustry #customerexperience #reputationmanagement