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Joe Marconi

Management
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Everything posted by Joe Marconi

  1. Got your attention? Great! Now let me tell you what I really think. Advertising DOES work. Did the title of this article grab your attention? You bet it did. I purposely phrased the title in that way in order to get your attention. That’s advertising. There was a time when I only relied on word of mouth, the yellow pages and an occasional ad in the local paper. I would throw together an ad myself and when the results were poor, I would convince myself it was because advertising did not work –when this simply was not true. In today’s world of business, if you don’t have an effective advertising and marketing program, you are going to find it nearly impossible to compete in the future. The fact is, as business owners we need to be constantly thinking of ways to grow our companies, and advertising and marketing must be part of our business plan. The problem is that we are often unsure about the effectiveness of our advertising and feel that a lot of our advertising dollars are wasted. John Wanamaker, considered the father of both the modern department store and modern advertising was quoted as saying: “I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted … I just don’t know which half.” Although there is some truth to this, it should not deter you away from advertising and marketing. There are things you can do to minimize the losses and increase the gains with an effective advertising plan. The rewards of an effective plan far outweigh the losses incurred when one of your ads or a promotion is not working. Four years ago when I was planning to build a new facility and expand my shop, I knew that in order to succeed I needed to gain market share in my area quickly, I could not rely on word of mouth alone. In order to grow at a faster pace, I needed to put together a comprehensive advertising/marketing program. With the help from a business consultant we set out to find a few critical factors; determine who my profile customer is, what products and services I want to bring to the consumer, and where to find more of my profile customer. I want to share with you some of what I learned from my experience and what forms of advertising are working for us. •There are some that say advertising does not work; that’s a myth. The right advertising works and you need to find out what works for you. You need to conduct a demographics study of your current customer base and the consumer base in you potential market area. Establish what your business is all about and what you bring to the market that sets you apart from your competition. Create a profile from your existing customer base to determine your ideal customer. Create an advertising program to attract more customers who fit your ideal profile. Find out where these people are in your market area and target these people. For example, if you are a high-end European service facility, catering to people who own Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover and Audi, then your advertising must reach out to these people. Your advertising does not belong in a discount publication. Remember; don’t try to be everything to everyone. •Don’t be afraid to try different forms of advertising; fear, sometimes keeps us back from achieving our potential. If something does not work, stop doing it. Try something else. That’s not failure; you have just gained knowledge that you did not have before. Don’t try everything at once either, build upon your program. Also, you need a blend of call-to-action and branding. You don’t always need to offer a coupon or discount. With our radio ads, we give seasonal auto tips during peak drive times. Sometimes it’s’ better to brand your company by getting your name out, then offering a discounted services. •Is word of mouth the best form of advertising? Yes and no. Word of mouth is great but it can be too slow. Several years back, I considered word of mouth to be my best form of advertising, while the truth was; I really did not have a well thought-out plan. •Many people say you can’t measure advertising. I don’t totally agree with that statement either. Every customer, new and existing, needs to be asked how they found you. You need to track and monitor this. I keep a spreadsheet of every contact I make; I want to know exactly how someone found us. This way I will know what works and what does not work. •All your advertising must be consistent in the message, colors, and logos. When someone sees your company, whether it’s on your website, TV, promotional flyer or print ad, it must be easily recognizable. Branding is everything. Don’t send mixed messages. That does not mean you can’t have different themes. Geico Insurance uses multiples themes. We all know the gecko and caveman commercials and easily associate these ads with Geico. I recommend recruiting the help from a professional marketing company to help you create an effective program. •The key to remember about advertising is that once you create a program along with a budget, you need to commit to that plan for the long haul. Your advertising must be consistent and continual. Inconsistent advertising does not work and actually ends up wasting valuable dollars. •People will buy your product or service when they are ready to buy, not necessarily when you are ready to sell. Just because a direct marketing promotion did not yield the results you were looking for, does not mean it failed. Keeping your company in the mind of the consumer through consistent advertising is powerful and will ultimately have positive results. Think of it this way; Dunkin Donuts does not expect you to jump off your couch every time it airs a TV commercial, does it? No. The purpose of the commercial is to keep embedding the Dunkin Donuts brand into your mind, which in turn they know increases their odds you will choose Dunkin Donuts the next time you are traveling down the road looking for coffee and donuts. After two years since starting our new marketing program, we now concentrate on TV, Radio, Internet marketing, email marketing and social media. This is what is working for us now. It may change in the future. That’s business. You need to do your homework and find out what will work for you. You will need to continually monitor and measure the effectiveness and make changes as you see fit, it’s an on-going process. Let me leave you with these thoughts; if you are not willing to advertise to your customer, I promise you, someone else will. Don’t get discouraged either; it takes time to establish your company in the market place. It’s like planting seeds; it takes time to see something growing from the earth. So, let me rephrase the title of this article: Advertising Does Not Work, the Right Advertising Works!
  2. We have recently seen two Toyota Camry’s (2004, 2005) 4cyl where the positive cable at the starter is touching the metal harness bracket located just underneath the air filter box. The cable is rotated upward and comes in contact with the metal bracket and shorts to ground out at times. The repair is simple, loosen the starter cable and reposition away from the metal bracket. We suspect this may have happened after the starter was replaced.
  3. We sell a fair amount of catalytic of catalytic converters. In the past we have not had a real issue. We had 6 failures of replacement cats since fall 2009. Our supplier has told us he is not seeing a lot of failures. He actually recommended a seminar on diagnosing cats (a little insulting). I told him that after the second cat, the car is ok, so why is my shop and not his cat? We don’t replace a cat just because we have a cat code; we go thru the diag procedures to insure that nothing killed the cat. We are now going to the dealer, RELUNTANTLY, to purchase our cats. I know there are many cat companies out there and this may not be a valid question, but has anyone else seen a rise in replacement cat failures?
  4. Since our expansion last year, our car counts have increased significantly, possible too quickly. We shot out of the gate like a race horse but stumbled a bit on the turn. Nearly doubling our weekly car counts from 110-120 to over 200 at times can be challenging. Although we had clearly defined processes and policy, nothing is like real-life. We pulled back on the reins and assessed the situation. We learned that we were understaffed in the shop and on the counter. We hired an additional service advisor and tech among other workflow changes. It’s no secret that I am a proponent of healthy car counts; car counts equate to opportunity, opportunity equates to increased profits. My advice to anyone looking to increase car counts: create a systematic plan and implement the process in stages. Attempting to climb a ladder too fast might cause you to miss a rung and fall to the ground.
  5. This article explains in detail all that is wrong with America today. The idea of OVERWHELMING THE SYSTEM clearly outlines Obama’s master plan. It’s scary to think that there is a hidden agenda to break the backs of successful small business people; we are the only hope for America. We truly do need to send a message to Washington, but we need the collective cooperation from all those who oppose the insanity that is occurring these days.
  6. I wll send to your email direct. You should receive it today. Let me know if you don't.
  7. Email and Internet marketing is not a fad, it's here to stay and will continue to explode in the coming years. If you're not already using the Internet and email addresses as part of you marketing and advertising plan, you soon will. If you not doing it already, start collecting email addresses from customers. If you belong to local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, get those lists too. There may be some restrictions, but get them. I have obtained email lists from all the local Chamber of Commerce's, clubs and business groups just by asking. Create email newsletter or a monthly car tips email. I use Constant Contact to create a professional looking email which has links back to my web site, it is great marketing and still free. Here's the link to Constant Contact if you are interested. http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp If you a sample of one of my emails, let me know...
  8. John, Welcome to ASO! You have wealth of knowledge that can only add great things to this site.

    Joe Marconi

  9. Years back all we did was replace boots, as long as the joints were ok. But as the price on axles came down it became more profitable to install a reman. More and more suppliers are selling new alxes at prices starting at $49.95. But, we have seen an ever increaseing problem with "new axles" lately and are considering going back to replacing boots. It is more labor, but at least the job will be done right. We really never had an issue with remans, just lately with this Chinese junk.
  10. Let me give everyone an update on the vibration problem after we installed 2 new Chinese axles in a 2005 Subaru Outback. After trying 3 different sets of new axles with no luck, we got 2 used alxes from the junk yard, installed them and the vibration is gone. I am not sure why or how, but these new Chinese axles were the prolblem. In my area, no other parts house stocked another brand and the dealer was off the chart with thier price.
  11. This has not been an issue for me, but I know other shops owners that have told me stories of theft.
  12. For me this is an on-going saga: how to hold accountable a tech that clearly makes a mistake and who pays for the mistake without creating animosity in the shop? We have enough issues with part failures, but we need to control the things we can control; and those are the mental errors we make. Time today is precious, and every hour lost due to a comeback kills our bottom line. I would like to hear from other shop owners, how they handle tech errors and what their policy is.
  13. It's not braggging, it's pride...and you should be proud, It sounds like you and your family have life in balance and really know was is truly important. I applaud you!
  14. Yes, take care of yourself first, then all other things will fall into place!
  15. It is true what you say. Labor guide is a guide, not the auto bible sent down from heaven. It is a delicate balance between being competitive and being profitable.
  16. Jeff...can't thank you enough for posting this. It's what we have been talking about. This form of advertising does not help anyone. Here is my comment I made and posted it on the autocarepronews site: "We all knew that this form of "false leader" would end of bad. Now this paints another negative picture against our industry. This is a clear case of poor leadership, listening to the wrong marketing people".
  17. The more I think about this case, the more I realize that there are missing pieces to the puzzle. Why did Jiffy Lube just agree to pay??? Was it to minimize any bad press? And, it's clear that the writer did not do his due diligence and fact finding to get at the root of the real problem.
  18. I also think the dealer used this situation to their advantage and to discredit Jiffy Lube. Another case where the writier does not get enough information to write a fair and balanced story. Your situation with the O2 sensor is totally different, those thing happen.
  19. Great article. We really need to understand the difference between women and men with repect to how both genders speak, listen and communicate.
  20. I am not sticking up for Jiffy Lube, however, I don't understand the connection. Putting in the wrong cabin filter is one thing. I have seen techs from other shops stuff the wrong size cabin filter in place and even caused water leaks on some vehicles. But, what happened to this car? Maybe I missed something in the article??????? Oh, by the way....did you get who the hero was?? They took the car to the "Saturn Dealer".
  21. I think people who are in a position to influence others have a responsibility to report the truth, not just give opnion. If it's an opinion, then they should state that. Freedom of speech is one thing, sensationalism is another.
  22. That's right, Gonzo. We do all we can to verify the repair and to check for pending codes. We will also keep the car over night to road the car another ddrive cycle and peform another scan. BUT, we all know that there are times when things will go wrong. I am just interested how other shops are dealing with customers. I have my policy and procedures, I want to see how they differ or are they the same as other shops.
  23. You will find a lot of useful information and you will get a lot of help from your fellow shop owners. Thanks for being part of ASO!


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