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Where to Put Ad Dollars? New Customers of Existing?

Joe Marconi
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JustTheBest Rising Star

JustTheBest

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Difficult question because everyone wants to jump on to get more new customers - and they don’t realize that they probably already have enough customers. 

I talk to shop owners virtually every day. 

My First question - “How many customers do you have on record?” Typical answer…. “Oh… thousands!... Maybe 2 or 3 thousand!”

My answer - “If you had 1,000’s of customers we wouldn’t be talking!”

Next question - “When was the last time you contacted them?? That could have been a letter, a postcard, an email, a text, a phone call…..?? When was the last time??”

Typical answer - “Uh… well… uh… probably about 3 years ago”

Really?? 

No matter what business, it’s always going to be expensive to get new customers. After all, they don’t know you; they don’t trust you; and probably don’t even like you. So you really have to dig deep to get those new customers. After all, why would they consider “risking” anything with somebody they don’t even know - unless it's a deal. 

Then that leads to stupid discounts and you’re left with nothing!

The right way… and you can read that as “The Cheap Way”... is to treat your customers like you would like to be treated… and do that NOT just when you want them to spend money, and they will recommend their friends, family and associates to YOU! 

Now, there’s smart ways to help that along, but give up getting more new customers. Instead, focus on keeping the ones you’ve got - besides there’s enough of the big box chains doing a great job to attract those customers away from you - but a little effort is all you need. 

For those interested, you can connect with my on a 15 minute strategy call and you and I will create a “Kick-Butt Offer” That I guarantee will put car count IN YOUR SHOP - and do it all USING YOUR CURRENT PRICING and WITHOUT Discounts or Give-a-ways. And you’ll even make money! 

Don’t want to be pushy, but this is going away soon- so hurry. 

Oh, and I’m not selling anything. No tricks - No gimmicks - No Kidding!
Use this link:

http://we-fix.cc/your-car-count

Hope this helps!
Matthew
“The Car Count Fixer”

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JustTheBest Rising Star

JustTheBest

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100% -  If you can't track it somehow... don't do it. Here's a real simple every day example. Every time I put new batteries in something, I use a sharpie and scribble the date on them. Just a quick DDMM/YY. The next time you replace them, you'll be surprised at how long they lasted... or didn't 😞

When it comes to your advertising, track it or don't do it!

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IMAGE ONE Rookie

IMAGE ONE

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For long-term, I would recommend developing a good visual brand, to position yourself consistently and professionally to your local market area. That is equally important for retaining current/old customers and becoming recognized as THE shop to go to for attracting new customers. Use that brand for sponsorships and getting "seen" in your community.

For new customers, postcards is a great approach...even more so now that algorithms have changed so dramatically for social media marketing. There's mailing to a list of specific brand car owners, by zip code, year of manufacture and even demographics. A cheaper way to go is EDDM (Every Door Direct Marketing through the USPS) where you can mail for less postage cost. BUT, the message, offer, and look & feel of your mail piece is critical in returning you the best ROI. If you don't LOOK professional, that card will go directly to the trash in most cases. Postcards also work great for existing or old customers, to keep your shop "top-of-mind." A good plan and consistency is the only way this approach really works. Why? Because seeing you one time isn't going to do it. It now requires 8-12 "touch points" before most people make a decision. A touch point does not mean mailing postcard after postcard. It means how many times your potential customer is seeing your message, be it postcard, Facebook, Google, radio or local newspaper ads (and yes...small local community newspapers DO work...if the ad is a good one and visually consistent with your other marketing pieces. Professionalism and consistency are key.

Some examples are below.

1015219653_ScreenShot2022-10-26at5_11_59PM.thumb.png.e0680ad0851e89dd2105a5b1f484db3f.png1784418905_ScreenShot2022-10-26at5_12_20PM.thumb.png.9e29d95130579740dffe9ca753133396.png

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

    • Joe Marconi
      Technician Production is More Complicated than You Think
      By Joe Marconi in Joe's Blog
         0 comments
      Auto shop owners are always looking for ways to improve production levels. They focus their attention on their technicians and require certain expectations of performance in billable labor hours. While technicians must know what is expected of them, they have a limited amount of control over production levels. When all factors are considered, the only thing a well-trained technician has control over is his or her actual efficiency.
      As a review, technician efficiency is the amount of labor time it takes a technician to complete a job compared to the labor time being billed to the customer. Productivity is the time the technician is billing labor hours compared to the time the technician is physically at the shop. The reality is that a technician can be very efficient, but not productive if the technician has a lot of downtime waiting for parts, waiting too long between jobs, or poor workflow systems.
      But let’s go deeper into what affects production in the typical auto repair shop. As a business coach, one of the biggest reasons for low shop production is not charging the correct labor time. Labor for extensive jobs is often not being billed accurately. Rust, seized bolts, and wrong published labor times are just a few reasons for lost labor dollars.
      Another common problem is not understanding how to bill for jobs that require extensive diagnostic testing, and complicated procedures to arrive at the root cause for an onboard computer problem, electrical issue, or drivability issue. These jobs usually take time to analyze, using sophisticated tools, and by the shop’s top technician. Typically, these jobs are billed at a standard menu labor charge, instead of at a higher labor rate. This results in less billed labor hours than the actual labor time spent. The amount of lost labor hours here can cripple a shop’s overall profit.
      Many shop owners do a great job at calculating their labor rate but may not understand what their true effective labor is, which is their labor sales divided by the total labor hours sold. In many cases, I have seen a shop that has a shop labor rate of over $150.00 per hour, but the actual effective labor rate is around $100. Not good.
      Lastly, technician production can suffer when the service advisors are too busy or not motivated to build relationships with customers, which results in a low sales closing ratio. And let’s not forget that to be productive, a shop needs to have the right systems, the right tools and equipment, an extensive information system, and of course, great leadership.
      The bottom line is this; many factors need to be considered when looking to increase production levels. While it does start with the technician, it doesn’t end there. Consider all the factors above when looking for ways to improve your shop’s labor production.

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