Today, having a strong social media and internet presence is a must for all companies, dealerships included. However, though we know that these elements are important for driving business, when it comes to actually designing and running these accounts and sites, it’s not always clear what we should or should not include on them. Take for example Meet Our Employees pages.
You may have seen them on other dealership websites. A Meet Our Employees page can range from just names with text bios, to pictures of staff, to videos with team members introducing themselves. When setting up your website, how do you know which option is the right one for you–or whether you even need a “Meet Our Employees” page?
As a rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to show your employees off on your website. Having them featured makes your dealership more relatable, as well as makes customers more comfortable walking in as they help them recognize your team. Additionally, if your dealership is part of a chain, featuring your unique staff makes you seem less like a corporate arm and more like a part of the community.
For this reason, most experts recommend having a page that at the very least displays your employees, along with their names. They also say that adding bios can greatly further the relatability aspect, as they allow customers looking at you website to connect with employees in a human way. Title and credentials should be shown, but you may also want to include fun facts. For example, if one of your salespeople coaches Little League, it could be nice to include that detail in their bio.
Despite the clear benefits of employee pages, there are two crucial points to bear in mind when creating them.
#1. Permissions: When putting together an employee page, make sure you have permission from every employee to use their photo or to write about them. If many of your employees would rather not be featured on the page, you may have to consider a different strategy for getting the above benefits of displaying real team members. After all, you don’t want the page to look sparse. Instead, take pictures of the employees who are okay with their pictures and words being used and sprinkle them throughout the website, instead of consolidating them all on one page.
#2. Turnover: Sometimes, dealerships like to have group photos on their website, and specifically on their employee page. While this is nice, if you have a high turnover rate, you may want to reconsider, as you’ll have to constantly update the team picture. The same goes for individual pictures if you already know that you can’t afford to constantly update your website whenever one employee leaves and a new one joins. In these cases, again think about sprinkling pictures throughout the site instead of having them all on one page. Also, consider displaying more employee action shots, as these won’t seem strange on the website after an employee has gone, whereas an out-of-date picture and bio makes you seem lazy or unsavvy.
Outside of these two concerns, go ahead and smile for the camera as you set up your Meet Our Employees page!
