However, it’s important to stay consistent in also attracting new customers rather than relying solely on the group of existing customers you build up as your shop expands its reputation for good repair work.
While walk-ins are certainly a thing, it isn’t the best bet to depend on them as your sole way of getting new customers. Instead, take proactive approaches to gain a steady stream of new customers coming through your doors.
Community work allows you to not only expose the business to potential new customers but also make a positive impact on the people and places you call home.
Do something good by feeding the homeless, supporting your city’s high school, or raising money for a local nonprofit, like Casey’s Automotive did for Ellie's Hats.
Partner with an adjacent local business, like a car wash or detail facility to establish a flow or referrals between your business and theirs.
According to Mary, advertising locally is one of the most effective techniques to draw new customers into your shop.
Some reliable local advertising mediums include local papers, school mailers, sports programs, small magazines, or even something as simple as hanging up flyers at adjacent businesses.
Running special promotions is a great way to attract new customers. Haglin Automotive provides first-time customers with an oil change special or $25 off a repair each quarter with a seasonal savings card sent to every customer.
A few examples of social media auto repair promotion ideas include both sponsored content and visual advertisements.
When you advertise your auto repair shop on social media, make sure you consider:
A strong automotive SEO strategy will help make your business appear higher in the Google listings when someone searches a keyword in your area.
Pro-tip: the first step you should take to improve SEO is to list your business on Google, then regularly update your website with new content.
Always remember the customers who have been visiting your shop since the beginning. As Mary says, you’ll also want to employ strategies that help retain existing customers and increase loyalty.
Vehicle maintenance can become less of a priority for customers who don’t set their own personal reminders on vehicle maintenance.
By investing in a shop management system that gives you and your team full visibility into what repairs customers have had previously and exactly which repairs they’ve declined, your service advisors have the opportunity to remind them of repairs and maintenance work that may be needed soon, saving them money on what could become more expensive repairs later on.
Your customers will appreciate that you are looking out for them and their vehicles amidst everything else they have to manage, and you can bring more revenue into your shop, too.
One aspect of marketing that Mary prioritizes at Tekmetric is the reliable information that the customer success team provides to Tekmetric users. Implement Digital Vehicle Inspections into your technician’s processes.
With Tekmetric’s DVIs, you can attach images and videos along with your findings, building trust with customers while clearly showing them what’s going on with their vehicles.
Giving small gifts to your customers during holidays, birthdays, or other celebratory times of the year is a great way to show customers that you appreciate their business.
A simple coffee mug with your logo on it could spark the next conversation about your shop when they have their friend over for coffee.
Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth auto repair shop marketing.
Provide your loyal customers with a gift showing how much you appreciate them.
Implementing a loyalty program in your shop will offer your customers important benefits that keep them coming back.
Or, for returning customers, one of the best ways to give and receive is to create a referral challenge that incentivizes existing customers to refer people to your shop for a reward.
Make your program attractive to customers and easy to track.
Upping your social media game can sound intimidating at first, which is why Mary recommends making it fun.
Consider sharing testimonials from satisfied customers, posting “day-in-the-life” or “behind-the-scenes” looks at what goes on in your shop from your perspective or the perspective of a technician, sending out e-newsletters with fun shop updates and vehicle knowledge, or making applicable “how-to” videos for sticky situations such as flat tires.
No matter what auto repair promotion ideas you put into place at your shop, you’ll want to track what works and what doesn’t.
With regular, careful analysis of the results, you’ll put your shop in the best possible position to generate more profits as cost-efficiently as possible.
Selecting a shop management system that allows you to track your auto repair shop marketing strategies will provide you with insights into who your most loyal customers are, how they found your business, and why they keep coming back.
Tekmetric's former Marketing Coordinator Mary Payton had the chance to share these go-to marketing strategies to attract new customers and retain existing customers with Vehicle Service Pros. Access her full piece here.
The list of service advisor responsibilities can seem endless. You might find yourself being pulled in many directions at once. You have to be there for customers, technicians, the shop owner, and even other service advisors. But it’s important to remember that you’re not alone.
Traditionally, there are four pillars to an auto repair shop that all support one another: the shop owner, technicians, customers, and service advisors. The integrity of the shop depends on each of these pillars in different ways. The shop owner needs to make the right calls and put the right systems in place for technicians and service advisors to do their jobs. Technicians must stay focused on their repairs and be diligent to catch all vehicle issues. And loyal customers keep the lights on.
As a service advisor, you’re uniquely positioned to support the other three pillars of the shop. By working with technicians, you can help customers better understand what needs to be repaired and why. By working directly with customers, you can gain a deeper understanding of what the shop does right and what the shop can do better. With a clear perspective of all facets of the shop, you’re one of the best people to advise the shop owner on ways to transform their business.
Whether you’re just getting started with your career or you’ve been a service advisor for a while now, the good news is that this is a career path that encourages ongoing learning and development. Being intentional about how you support the other three pillars of the shop—and remembering how they support you—can help you achieve balance and improve the quality of your job.
As 2023 winds down, it's a great time to reflect on the strides made across the independent auto repair industry.
Throughout the year, we’ve been collecting data, talking to shops that rely on Tekmetric every day, and gaining valuable insight into how your shop can prepare for the best year possible in 2024.
That’s why we released our latest Industry Index Report earlier this year, to give shops and industry resources to not only compare their performance against other shops but also some concrete tips and tricks they can implement at their shop.
This comprehensive analysis not only assesses the industry's vitality but also seamlessly integrates unique Tekmetric’s partner shop data, presenting a goldmine of opportunities for optimizing shop management.
The result is a compelling narrative that provides a bird's-eye view of auto repair in 2023 and delves into Tekmetric-specific data, to offer shops like yours the actionable insights you need for success in 2024.
Here’s how shops can take advantage of these trends in 2024.
Generating new business in auto repair is hard. The industry is projected to grow just 2% over inflation annually over the next five years. The average American has 15 auto repair shops within 10 miles of their home, according to Tekmetric's internal data, meaning competition for every new customer is fierce. And across multiple industry surveys, roughly two-thirds of drivers say they don't fully trust their local repair shop — making it that much harder to win them over. The result: only one in 10 shops both grows and hits profit margins of 20% or higher.
"We know the competition to win new customers is fierce,” said Lauren Langston, president and COO, Tekmetric. “That means we need the right strategies and the right tools in order to do it."
Tekmetric's data shows that winning shops consistently focus on four outcomes: car count, average repair order (ARO), driver experience, and cycle time. Two new Tekmetric products — Tekmetric Digital Ads and Tekmetric Phones — are built to move the needle on all four.
Winning new customers starts with being found. Tekmetric Digital Ads is an AI-powered add on that helps your shop show up where high-intent drivers are already searching for auto repair on Google Maps and Apple Maps. Because it connects directly to Tekmetric, you can see exactly how your ad spend translates into real revenue, not just clicks.
"It's really hard to see what's working. One of the superpowers of this product is that it's connected directly with Tekmetric," said Jared Haleck, chief product officer, Tekmetric.
Tekmetric Digital Ads is in early access now and rolling out to selected customers.
Every missed moment at the front desk has a cost. Tekmetric Phones gives your service advisors the customer context they need — instantly, the moment the phone rings — so they can spend less time looking things up and more time taking care of customers.
"Service advisors especially are loving it,” Haleck said. “It just saves them so much time. It creates so much convenience for them.”
Tekmetric Phones is in beta, available for customers on RingCentral.
Langston and Haleck walked through all of it — the industry data, live product demos, and what's coming next — in their webinar, "Building for the Results-Driven Repair Shop."
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