Joe Marconi

Great idea, thanks

You make great points. I don't think that a shop has to become part of franchise. But, while studying how to grow my business I looked at the franchise business design and a lot of their basic business principles work. Franchises promote an atmosphere where people are more apt to buy. There is something to be said about a clean, flashy environment. Franchises have a business plan; they practice consistency and do a lot of marketing. Our industry could learn a few lessons from them.

I got them too, works great

Now that we are close enough to pick a date for the grand opening, we need to start the promotion process and make plans for the day of the grand opening. We need to jump start this business with a big splash in the community. Having momentum right out of the gate will be important to the success of the project. To help promote the business I have greatly increased our advertising and marketing. Prior to this project the only advertising I did was in the local yellow books, sport sponsorships and ads with local charitable organizations. I concentrated mainly with my existing customer base through newsletters, emails, service reminder cards, promotional flyers and specials. In order to increase market share, we need to expand our horizons. We purchased mailing lists and started a post card campaign introducing our company to people who are not our customers. We target a five-mile radius from our shop. We also use a company to send offerings to all new residents in our area and we are part of the local welcome wagon organization. Last spring we shot a TV commercial and started airing the commercial the start of the summer. This has been a great success and is more affordable than you might think. We just shot a new commercial last month, which will feature the new facility. In January we started with radio. It’s too early to tell how affective this will be, but customers and friends tell us they hear us. And if they are hearing us, others are too. We hired a press agent to help us with getting some free press in all the local newspapers. It’s amazing how newspapers like to promote local businesses. I convinced my bank to feature us in their newsletter. This was a good move. I had a new customer just the other day that walked in for service because of that article. Six weeks prior to the grand opening we will start to invite people to the event. We will invite local politicians, bank officials, local businesses, local Chamber of commerce, all the people involved with the construction and, of course, our customers. We will also hold a series of consumer clinics as a way to showcase the new facility. We will use the clinics as fundraisers for local charities. This is great end around marketing. The day of the grand opening will be a daylong event. We will have food, door prizes and other products to give away. We will make sure that we obtain names and addresses for all who attend. We will cap off the day with a ribbon cutting ceremony and will drive the first car onto the first lift for an oil change. We will ask selected people to say a few words and I will also present a speech. Promotion is key. I want to cause a lot of excitement in the community. Stay tuned!

In tough economic time people get picking and frustrated easily. Don’t loose a customer over an overlooked service item or a grease spot on someone’s seat. Create a checklist where every aspect of the job is completed and reviewed. You can also go to the download section of AutoShopOwner and download some of these checklists.

Make this year the year to look to add more services to your sales arsenal and increase your marketing strategies. Be innovative. Here are few suggestions, let’s hear from other shop owners and add to this list: Create a lube bay and offer while you wait service. Purchase flush machines Start doing detailing work Consider buying an alignment machine Sell a few used cars Offer a late night for service work Carefully consider opening Saturdays Solicit to other shops and body shops for work they don’t perform. Let’s add to this list and make 2009 an banner year!

If you listen to the news reports, you might as well climb out onto a window ledge and throw yourself off. We know things are bad, but we don’t need to hear it 24/7. Is there no good news anymore? Of course there is. It’s more important now than ever before to remain positive and upbeat. I know it’s hard. I’m a shop owner too. But to focus on the negative news and things that can go wrong just may make you another causality of the recession. People want to do business with winners. People want to work for winners. In times like these, the difference may be your attitude.

Great advice and response, I totally agree. Have the passion to be the best. Understand both sides of the business, the mechanical side and the business side. Your success will be determined by how you run your business and your knowledge of business. I learned the hard way, but once I understood it, it changed my life.

Are there sales goals to reach? Do you consider your break-even?

I have my business set up in a way that all positions are taken care of. My role is to oversee the operation, work on growing the business and to coach the people around me. There was a time when I did everything. From service writing to working on cars, all the office work, road testing, etc. But I was killing myself. We are much more profitable now that I concentrate on running the business, instead of working in it. We have 4 techs, a service advisor, office manager, shop foreman and a clean up crew.

So, you find that offering specials increase car counts?