Raising average ticket sales

[Dr.Dave]

I have another question about some thoughts about what I saw on ATI tele semiar.I guess I am thinking of attending a class but am wondering if these ideals are going to work here.Chubby was talking about attracting people that spend on maintance and not attrack the peo[ple that won,t.I,m sorry this topic may be too broad I,m just wondering in this market if anybody had some fundementals you could share.You see I,m opening a 2 bay shop in Hagerstown Md where the income maybe some what low its about 65 mile west of D.C I just saw a small shop about 2 blocks from me advertise $45 a hour.I,ve asked around $65 seems to be the going price although I heard another may be a $50.I was hoping for $65 my self.I(s this guy really at $45? or is it a trick ?How can I compete?How would the best methods to look for the costomers I want in this market?

[partsman]

Hi Dr. Dave,

 

Sorry for being brief but I'm on the road, I will send more comments over the weekend. I just wanted to mention that one of the easiest ways to increase the net on a ticket is to include value added services, ones that don't take additional physical labor but work in conjunction with an ongoing service. Also, like Chubby says, it's important to attract customer that believe in maintenance as they're usually more willing to spend on a regular basis. As a note, fluid exchanges are now the number one performed maintenance service and the most profitable. Before a customer can be a believer though, you need to strengthen their trust in what you say regarding a service and that it is necessary/cost effective. Some of the easier ways are to show them articles, put up educational posters and offering fluid testing/analysis at every oil change. If for example they see their fluids going from good to bad, over a period of months/years, they will be more willing to change them. When your in house test indicates his "trans fluid" reached the breaking point, the customer understands action is necessary because he personally saw that fluid going through the change stages. You can find more info at www.Fluidtesting.com , a site we set up to show the FRX program (OE Approved by Ford). A few other items that fit into this concept are our oil filter magnets, nitrogen tire inflation and a motor club/road hazard program. Each of these items can be added to existing services with virtually zero labor, and will increase the ticket by $5 to $50.

 

I will try to send more.... hope this gives you some ideas.

Gary ( www.GWRauto.com )

[Joe Marconi]

I wouldn’t worry about the guy down the block or up the street. Concentrate on your customer base. Define the type of customer you want and market and cater to that type of customer. We all know how some shops use a low labor rate in an attempt to attract customers. It does not work in the long run.

 

Provide the very best in customer service. Create maintenance plans that will get your customers coming back. All your marketing must be designed to get the customer to return again and again. You need to build loyalty.

 

Once you have built trust, the labor issue will die. Be consistent and treat every customer like there are your best friend.

[xrac]

Here are sales ideas that may be worth reading:

 

Sales Ideas...

[Joe Marconi]

Here are sales ideas that may be worth reading:

 

Sales Ideas...

 

Thanks for the tip. That’s a lot of great info. One thing I'm not too sure about and that's discounting. How do feel about discounting in good or bad times? I prefer building packages that give the customer value, rather than a discount. For example, we sell a “Seasonal Maintenance Package” for $69.95, which includes: LOF, tire rotation(with the balance), BG engine and BG fuel additive, top off fluids and a 30 point inspection. We sell a ton of these and promote them 4 times a year.

 

Thoughts?

[xrac]

Thanks for the tip. Thats a lot of great info. One thing I'm not too sure about and that's discounting. How do feel about discounting in good or bad times? I prefer building packages that give the customer value, rather than a discount. For example, we sell a Seasonal Maintenance Package for $69.95, which includes: LOF, tire rotation(with the balance), BG engine and BG fuel additive, top off fluids and a 30 point inspection. We sell a ton of these and promote them 4 times a year.

 

Thoughts?

 

I dislike lose leaders and super low discounts. It attracts a bottom basement type customer and the shops that use it usally do a bait and switch, hard upsell type approach. I like to do what you do which is offer a value package. We do however, use a competitive brake promotion that is low enough to attract interest but not too low to not be profitable. We use it to attract new customers. We feel that the majority will keep returning once they have dealt with us.

[Joe Marconi]

I dislike lose leaders and super low discounts. It attracts a bottom basement type customer and the shops that use it usally do a bait and switch, hard upsell type approach. I like to do what you do which is offer a value package. We do however, use a competitive barke promotion that is low enough to attract interest but not too low to not be profitable. We use it to attrack new customers. We feel that the majority will keep returning once they have dealt with us.

 

Excactly, market your business to create return customers. That is the purpose of marketing. Also, like I always say, don't try to be everything to everybody.

 

Can you tell me more about your brake promo?