By Matt Gruhn

For decades, dealers have been taught that trust is built through relationships. And it is.

The problem with today’s customer is that they often decide whether they trust you before the relationship ever begins. Before they submit a lead. Before they shake your hand. Before your sales team has the opportunity to demonstrate its expertise.

Long before any of that happens, they are evaluating your dealership through a series of digital touchpoints. They are scanning your website. Reviewing your inventory listings. Reading your reviews. Judging your responsiveness. Watching your videos. And with every interaction, they are answering a simple question: “Can I trust these people?”

The challenge for many dealerships is that they don’t realize these trust decisions are being made at all. They assume trust begins when the customer enters the showroom. The reality is that trust is often won or lost before the customer ever reaches the parking lot.

This is one of the central ideas explored in ANCHORING: The 9 Leadership Disciplines that Redefine Dealership Success. The first Leadership Discipline in the book, Activate Trust, introduces the concept of Trust Architecture: the intentional design of systems, experiences, and interactions that help customers feel confident, informed, and cared for from the very first touchpoint.

The five touchpoints below represent some of the most influential moments in that journey. They may seem small in isolation, but together they create an impression that shapes whether a prospect takes the next step or quietly moves on to another dealership. The question is whether you’ve designed them intentionally.

1.        The Website’s First Impression

The dealership’s website is today’s digital handshake. But in truth, it’s more than that. It’s the first and sometimes only chance to show customers that your business is competent, current, and customer-focused. If your dealership’s website is slow, clunky, or out-of-date, the customer doesn’t think, “I’ll bet their web guy is behind.” They think: “I don’t trust this place.”

A well-architected site, by contrast, immediately signals an understanding of what matters: Fast load speeds; mobile-first design; current inventory; clear calls to action; real people behind the screen. The point is that trust begins with the first impression created by a well-built front door.

2.        Online Listings

Online listings represent promises, and when those promises are broken, customers feel deceived.

In research on the Boat Buyer Journey, commissioned by MRAA, Discover Boating and the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, one of the most common frustrations reported by first-time and repeat buyers alike was the inability to find accurate, up-to-date inventory online. Stale listings, missing prices, generic descriptions all signal one thing: This dealership doesn’t have its act together.

That’s what makes listings such a critical touchpoint. When encountering detailed specs, high-quality, well-lit images, transparent pricing and descriptions that feel like they’ve been written by a human, not a template, it signals professionalism, attention to detail, and respect for the customer’s time. But when the listing is vague, outdated, or clearly copy-pasted from a manufacturer site into a template, the buyer makes a snap judgment. And not just about that one unit, but about the dealership’s entire operation.

Your leadership opportunity is to treat listings like they’re part of the showroom floor. The standard should be clean, current, welcoming, and easy to both understand and navigate. Dealership leaders must remember (and design for) this reality: Trust can be built — or broken — the moment a prospect opens a listing.

3.        Google Reviews & Social Proof

Customers expect presence, not perfection. Responding to reviews, especially negative ones, is a form of trust repair that, when done well, can become a trust multiplier. It shows accountability. It shows care. And these reviews show up in search results whether dealerships like it or not.

Leadership’s role is to normalize review generation and response across the team. That means coaching team members to ask for reviews at the right moments (e.g., post-delivery, after service wins). It means training team members on tone and empathy. And it means monitoring consistency and sentiment. This is architecture at work. And it’s on display 24/7.

4.        Lead Response Experience

Industry data shows that many dealers still fail on lead response. Delayed replies. Incomplete responses. No personalization. And often, no response at all. All of these shortcomings can be designed for trust-building (see the case study that lead Chapter 11 of ANCHORING: The 9 Leadership Disciplines that Redefine Dealership Success). Speed builds trust. Helpfulness builds trust. Remembering a customer’s name builds trust. Your CRM system can’t do that alone. It takes leadership, process and culture.

5.        Use of Video & Storytelling

Video is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s how trust is felt. Buyers want to know who they’re buying from. They want to see the faces behind the process. They want to sense transparency and authenticity. They want to feel a sense of place, especially in an industry built around lifestyle and escape.

The dealers leading the pack here are producing welcome videos from the GM or owner; walkthroughs of top inventory units; video responses to customer inquiries; service department intros and how-to content; and customer delivery day highlights.