Repair Shop Advice

Repair Shop Websites has recently completed its survey of more than 200 independent repair shops across the United States, and we can announce that shops are prioritizing online-related marketing activities in their budgets, and that they remain happy with the return on investment of these activities. The survey was conducted over April and May of 2018, and focused on the marketing activities undertaken by independent shops, the financial impact of those activities, and how they plan to adjust their spending for marketing activities in the coming years.

Shops were asked to rank how much they spend on each of seven categories of marketing, with 1 being the highest and 7 being the lowest.  Online related activities, such as website development, online review platforms and online advertising was by far ranked the highest expense among respondents.  Email platforms and social media activities ranked second, and all other non-online activities were ranked behind these two.

In terms of satisfaction, 60% of respondents report being very happy or mostly happy with their return on investment for activities in the Online Search category.  Ninety-four percent of respondents used some form of online search marketing for their repair shop, even if that was just a one-page website.  Only six percent reported being unhappy with their return on investment for those activities, with a further six percent claiming they don’t use online marketing at all.

It’s been two years since VistaPrint commissioned a study which found that nearly half of the public wouldn’t do business with a company that had a badly designed website, including 95% of Millennials.  An online presence that checks the basic boxes (such as the shop’s location, the services provided and usability on a mobile device) has become an essential part of attracting new customers.  While it’s still easy to spend too much on Google Ads or custom design services, great organic search results are extremely valuable for any shop who needs to increase their car count, and there’s no better way to do that than having a great website.

The National Independent Automotive Repair Shop Marketing Survey covers many more topics, including most commonly marketed services, differentiators used in marketing, and seasonal marketing trends. Stay tuned as we release more information on how independent repair shops market their services!

To learn how Repair Shop Websites can provide a powerful and affordable way to attract new customers to your shop, call us at 866-665-1605 or email us at Team_RSW@RepairShopWebsites.com.

As much as people complain about differences in the values held by each generation, in reality it has more to do with their age.  As generations grow older, they find themselves interested in the same things as their parents were – for millennials, this means leaving the big city and moving to the suburbs, where they can raise a family.  (And if they didn’t already, they’ll need a car to get around, too.)

Even though generations end up valuing the same things, however, they don’t live life in the same ways.  Most importantly for shops, generations don’t consume information in the same ways.  You can’t market to people unless you can reach them – here’s how to reach each generation needing auto repair.

Baby Boomers

People born in the mid-40s to the mid-60s made it all the way through college without having to use a computer.  They were advanced in their career before the internet or smartphones were required to be successful.  As a result, most baby boomers don’t rely primarily on the internet for their information.  Boomers are more likely to prefer to communicate via phone or email rather than text messaging or social media.  They respond to traditional media such as mailers and television or radio ads, and respond well to discounts.  Internet advertising is less effective for most boomers.

Generation X

Generation X are those born from the mid-60s to the early 80s.  This generation was exposed to technology earlier in their careers, but spent more of their formative years without the internet, which wasn’t widely available until the late 90s.

The good news is that this group can be reached either through new or traditional media – although internet advertising is more efficient, they also watch TV and respond to mailers.  The bad news is that this group was exposed to so much marketing during their lives that they became very cynical and distrusting of it.  The more “sales-y” your marketing is, the less effective it will be.

Millennials

Millennials were born from the early 80s to the early 2000s.  Many of them have never known a time when the internet wasn’t their primary source of information and entertainment.  Most have been using social media since they were old enough to drive, and they use it regularly.  Traditional media is mostly ineffective for this group, because they don’t use it – even if they watch TV shows, they’re more likely to stream them over the internet than to tune in when the show first airs.

Like all generations when they were young, they are also more idealistic than older people.  They want to support responsible businesses who help their employees and contribute to their community.  They won’t do business with people they think are uncaring of their employees or their community, even if it will save them money.  To attract Millennials, be honest, be positive, and most of all, you need to be marketing your services online.

To learn how Repair Shop Websites can help your repair shop gain more business, call us at 866-665-1605 or email us at Team_RSW@RepairShopWebsites.com.

It’s hard to set a quarter on fire.  But it’s not hard to set a quarter of your revenue on fire!  In fact – auto repair shops do it all the time.  According to an American Express survey conducted several years ago, each year 55% of people intend to make a purchase but then decide not to do it based on bad customer service.

How confident are you that poor customer service in your shop isn’t preventing your customers from coming back?  Maybe one of your techs was pleasant, but distracted.  Your service adviser may have put a customer on hold for too long, or not given a thorough answer when asked.  None of these are cardinal sins of customer service such as being rude or hanging up on customers. But they could be enough to scare a customer off from an oil change – or a transmission overhaul.

We’ve talked about the importance of phone skills before, and even provided some of the most important ones in an infographic.  But if you’re not making all of the calls yourself, there’s no way to know whether attention, focus and helpfulness are consistently shown over the phone except by listening to the calls yourself.  This is especially true if the person answering the phone is also responsible for customer service inside of the shop – it’s difficult to do two things at once, but that doesn’t stop the most well-intentioned service adviser from trying.

Take an hour in your shop to listen to your employees answering the phone and communicating with customers.  You may be able to do this from your office – if not, Repair Shop Websites offers a call-tracking service that will record inbound calls from  your website.  Ask yourself “If I had called about something I didn’t understand and asked for help, would I trust this shop to take care of me?”  If not, it might be time for some customer service training!

To learn how Repair Shop Websites can help your company gain more customers, call us at 866-665-1605 or email us at Team_RSW@RepairShopWebsites.com.