You've seen those ads that I am talking about. Auto Service and Repair Shop owners constantly spend (read that as waste) money on advertising that doesn't work. Owners constantly tell me that they don't get any results no matter what they do. They place ads in newspapers; they run flyers; they do direct mail (the wrong way) and contract for 'val-paks'. The only common things shop owners tell me is that the results are about the same. Nothing!
So as an Auto Repair Shop owner, how do you fix this? What can you do to quit wasting money on foolish ads that only 'make you feel good to see your name in print' but still get no results?
Follow these three steps:
1) FOCUS ON THE 68%: In surveys, when asked why customers stop doing business with a company, 68% of the response is because of a 'perceived indifference'. Huh? In other words, 68% of your customers just plain and simple THINK YOU DON'T CARE.
Do you? Do you really want that customer to return to your shop for all of their auto service needs? Then show them! Tell them that you care!
How do you do that? There's a lot of ways, but consider these really inexpensive options and use as many as you can. Send them follow up 'Thank You' cards. Make a follow up phone call a few days after the service to be sure everything is ok. Send out 'Thank You' gifts to good customers that spend a 'predetermined' amount with you. (You pick the gift - You pick the amount of money - But this is a sure fire way to keep customers returning!) Offer special 'Customer Only' Bounce Back Coupons and give discounts for them to return to your shop. Send out direct mail with targeted offers that they're interested in. There's a bunch of things you can do that focus on your EXISTING customers.
Overall, what I am telling you is that you've already got the customer list. You don't have to look far for a list to market to. Just let them know you really care about their business.
2) TAKE BABY STEPS: There isn't a single strategy that's going to make 'fountains of cash' appear overnight. It's just not going to happen and whenever somebody tells you that 'they can make that happen', don't walk - run! There isn't any single strategy that's going to work. It takes a bunch of little strategies.
But when you take 'Baby Steps' you work in small, incremental ways to build your business. You're never caught with an advertising run that's not working but is still going to end up costing thousands. In fact, you have little if any investment. And best of all, you can make changes or 'tweaks' when you see some strategies aren't working as well as others.
Best of all, these 'Baby Steps' mean that you're saving a ton of money. Most of these simple strategies can be done 'in house'. The worse case scenario is that you need to hire a part time student to keep your mailing list or data up to date or maybe stuff envelopes for mailing. But that's not a lot.
3) TAKE ACTION - DO IT NOW!: I can't tell you how many times I have seen auto services shop owners attend events, read books or purchase marketing information with good intent. But they don't do anything. Nothing changes if nothing changes. You've got to take the first step and start to implement strategies. Those strategies will grow right along side your car count and bank account. I promise!
