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Tracking the return on your auto repair shop’s direct mail marketing can be a challenge. One tool that can give you a tremendous amount of transparency into your direct mail ROI and that I recommend almost 100% of the time is call tracking. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what call tracking is and how it works, it involves putting a unique phone number on your direct mail that isn’t used anywhere else. When someone calls the number, it forwards immediately and seamlessly to your main phone line. This gives you the ability to track and record all phone calls from this special number, in turn giving you some transparency into how your direct mail marketing is performing. There are of course many other nuances, capabilities, and uses for call tracking that you can learn about from companies like CallRail or Conversa, just to name a few. That said, it’s critical you understand call tracking is NOT the be-all end-all when it comes to determining how well your direct mail marketing is working. If this were the case, you’d have to assume that 100% of every new repair order you get calls directly from your mailer. However, we all know this will never be the case. Here are a few reasons why. Your Online Presence Before they consider using you repair shop, many prospects will go online to check out your website. If a customer lands on your website – assuming you aren’t using a PURL (Personalized URL), which is almost never the case with most auto repair shops – they do their research and then call your shop from the phone number on your website. In this situation, you immediately lose insight on how they heard about you. Customers are also reading your online reviews, whether on social media or review sites. Sites like Demandforce, SureCritic, Carfax, Repair Pal, Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc. all have your shop’s contact details, including your phone number. Any call from customers who used these sites removes transparency on how they heard about you. Walk-Ins Our auto repair shop clients consistently tell us customers will just stop by their shop with their direct mail piece in hand. I’m not just talking about quick lube shops that are based on walk-in traffic. I’m talking about general and specialty auto repair shops. It’s great when customers have your mailer with them, because you can attribute these customers to your direct mail marketing. However, this won’t be reflected in your call tracking, which is another reason call tracking isn’t the be-all end-all when determining ROI. Online Appointment Scheduling More and more auto repair shops are offering online appointment scheduling. We like to position these shops as being easy to work with, and part of that is promoting their online appointment scheduling. We include verbiage on our direct mail pieces to inform customers they can conveniently schedule online, and most times we accompany this with a QR code that brings them directly to the appointment scheduling page. This is similar to my first point regarding your online presence and website. However, I also want to point out this specific example because in these cases, we’re actively pushing people to go online to schedule their repair or maintenance service, thus losing transparency from call tracking. All that said, call tracking is an effective tool that gives you a lot of transparency into your direct mail marketing ROI. However, you should also be running matchback reports that compare new repair orders during (and in the trailing months following your campaign) to your direct mail list. This helps you identify customers who were missed on call tracking or by your service advisor. You can then use your call tracking data in conjunction with your matchback reporting to get a clearer picture of your direct mail ROI. If you’re using EDDM® Retail or EDDM® BMEU, you won’t be able to execute matchback reporting because there’s no mailing list to compare your repair orders with. Josh Davis Mail Shark Executive Vice President of Sales Direct: 484-948-1611 Email: [email protected] www.themailshark.com/Auto-Direct-Mail

Hi! Do you know the "exact" search phrases people use in Google to find your repair shop? Would you like to know what those search terms are? On this video, I reveal FREE Tool you can download that shows you exactly what people are searching for in your market - it's a totally free download and I show you exactly where to get it - how to use it! Google hack - to get your shop found in search - and this costs NOTHING to do! Mind blowing FACTS about the most popular search in YOUR MARKET. Believe me - I was stunned when I saw these numbers - and you probably will be too! Hope you enjoy watching - let me know if the information is helpful! Matthew "The Car Count Fixer" P.S.: Don't forget to subscribe to Car Count Hackers on YouTube P.P.S.: Like and Follow Car Count Hackers on Facebook!

ENGINEERED PREDICTABILITY Arranging an event to occur creating consistent behavior and making it possible to know what to expect in advance I’ve just completed a new book, “Engineered Predictability” and I’m making a limited number (very limited number) of copies available for free. You can get on the “early bird list” now and you’ll be notified first when the book is available. You’ll even get notice before my list of 1,000’s of subscribers get notice! But there’s one catch – when these free copies are gone – they’re gone! There’s only two ways to get this information. 1) Apply to become a private client and join my mastermind group – (there’s currently a waiting list and $5,000 deposit required). 2) Get this book as soon as it’s released – $29.95 value – yours FREE! In the book, you’ll discover… The simple 3 step, 11 word formula that’s virtually guarantees car count before the end of the week The 6 Ugly Truths about your customers and why they don’t respond to your marketing The reality of your biggest asset (Caution: Some accountants have told me I’m crazy – read the book and you tell me!) Myths debunked: Discover the one misconception that keeps over 98% of repair shop owners from reaching the success, dreams and goals they went into business for originally. The advanced strategies, methods and tactics used by insiders of my mastermind groups to eliminate the stress and frustration of keeping service bays full and technicians busy. Disturbing industry statistics from the US Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics – this is not only disturbing – it’s startling and stunning! The number one reason why shop owners fail – and it’s probably not what you’re thinking When you get on the “Early Bird” List, please understand that you’re: NOT guaranteed a copy of the book – you’ll be on the “Early Bird” list and get advanced notice – even before my list of 1,000’s of subscribers and followers. In other words, you’ll be the first to know – before anyone else NOT going to be added to any mailing list. No sales force is going to “hound” you. In other words – no salesman will call. You will get notice form my private email. NOT going to opt-in to anything. This is just a list for advance notice only. That’s all. No tricks; No gimmicks; No strings attached (The last time I did anything like this – it was gone in a week! – You decide!) Get on the "Early Bird" List Now! Questions? Please post here - I will respond! Thanks! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" ENGINEERED PREDICTABILITY - Get on the "Early Bird" List Now!