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.
In the auto repair industry, where customer trust and satisfaction are paramount, leveraging customer feedback is an invaluable strategy for improving shop performance. As technology improves, customer expectations for service quality and transparency continue to rise. Fortunately, shops can actively seek, analyze and act upon customer feedback to better position themselves to meet these expectations, enhance their service offerings and build long-term loyalty.
Customer feedback is a powerful tool that, when leveraged effectively, can lead to enhanced customer satisfaction, repeat business and a stronger reputation in the marketplace. As the industry continues to evolve to meet the needs of its customers, auto repair shops that prioritize and act on customer feedback will be better equipped to rise to these standards, thrive and succeed.
Today’s customers are increasingly more digital. In the past, auto repair shops relied on phone calls as their primary form of communication. In the modern market, however, digital communication like email or text messaging has become the preferred type of communication for most people. In fact, 91% of texts are opened within the first three minutes after receipt, with 81% of Americans texting regularly. Ultimately, the best way to get ahold of your customers is to cater to their preference – so ensure you know your audience’s preference and offer solutions that help meet their desired communication style.
Furthermore, the modern landscape of the customer experience emphasizes convenience. At the click of a button, you can have groceries delivered or receive an item within two days of ordering it. Long wait times and visiting brick-and-mortar stores to purchase items is no longer the only way customers can buy things. The same applies in auto repair shops. With this knowledge, you can implement digital solutions to make the customer experience more convenient, thereby increasing loyalty and ensuring your customers return time and time again.
Once you understand your audience in general, you should also strive to understand their experience with your business specifically. It’s important to foster a two-way relationship with the customer and give them the opportunity to share direct feedback. This can help you gain insight into the customer experience, including your shop’s strengths and pain points for customers, so you can adjust and improve.
Tracking feedback is just as important as tracking your shop’s internal operations or financial performance. You can gather feedback through multiple avenues: Google reviews, post-service surveys or even in-person conversations. Each option offers customers an opportunity to share their thoughts on areas where you perform well or bottlenecks that need to be addressed.
Digital tools can help monitor all forms of customer feedback. Through Tekmetric, you can integrate with a variety of solutions to monitor and respond to feedback via Google reviews. Or, to help drive your customer experience and gather feedback, you can utilize Tekmetric’s Smart Jobs feature to create estimates within one click, allowing your service advisors to spend less time on manual labor and more time cultivating strong customer relationships.
Customer feedback is critical because it addresses your shop’s bottlenecks from the perspective of the vehicle owner. For example, some shops may include parts ordering and inventory tracking among service advisors’ responsibilities, in addition to taking care of the customer. At Tekmetric, we’ve found this creates many opportunities for miscommunication between the technician who needs the parts and the service advisor, leading to a delay that affects the customer. To solve this problem, we created our Inventory Orders feature so technicians can easily order the parts needed. This ensured better accuracy within the shop and a greater customer experience.
Customer feedback also highlights the importance of convenience when it comes to driving loyalty. For vehicle owners, convenience is not always about choosing the closest shop. It is about choosing the shop that will make their life easier. For example, digital payments solutions can create a more convenient solution for customers. With Tekmetric’s two-way texting and text-to-pay features, customers can pay from their desk or their home office, pay for their college kid who lives in a different state and even pick up their vehicles after regular business hours.
Implementing customer feedback cultivates a stronger connection between your shop and your customers. Through open dialogue, feedback creates a two-way relationship that allows you to address customer needs effectively and improve shop performance. Customer feedback can also help address bottlenecks and streamline processes in your shop, leading to enhanced customer experiences, increased loyalty and, ultimately, a healthier bottom line.
Shop Management
Thought Leadership
September 27, 2024
Service advisors serve as the major touchpoint between customers and your shop. While they ultimately need to build repair orders for technicians, they need to get that information from the customer.
And vice versa, when technicians provide inspection findings, service advisors explain those findings to the customer to figure out the best path forward.
That's why service advisors need to make customer service a focal point of their role, to build that trusting relationship between the customer and your shop.
Because when customers feel like they can trust that your shop is giving them the right recommendations, they'll feel more comfortable approving repair orders for the work their vehicles need to keep running safely and reliably.
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