Repair Shop Advice

In our recent survey of independent auto shops, we asked what the most cost-effective tools were to bring existing customers into a shop.  The most popular tool wasn’t online search or social media (although they did place second and third, respectively).  It was customer loyalty or referral programs.  If your shop doesn’t have a formal program to reward your most loyal customers, you may be missing a great opportunity for sales growth.  Here are three reasons why.

1. You don’t pay for them until the customer buys from you

Most marketing requires money upfront.  Whether it’s buying AdWords, paying for website services or sending postcards all over the city, you’re paying for “eyeballs” (customer attention) rather than sales.  Some providers and some services do a better job of converting that attention into visits to your shop.

With a loyalty program, however, you don’t have to provide a discount until they’re loyal – meaning they’ve visited you again.  This is a major advantage – since you don’t have to pay to advertise to a large number of people who will never visit your shop, you can afford to give a better loyalty bonus away, which inspires more loyalty.

Similarly, customers don’t receive referral bonuses unless they’ve visited your shop and they refer someone else who also needs work done.  The cost of customer acquisition, therefore, is only what you give away as a referral or loyalty bonus.

2. They are more likely to be your best customers

Customers that are only interested in the best deal aren’t likely to visit your shop again unless you really do have the best deal in town.  That means that the customers most likely to appreciate a loyalty bonus or referral bonus are customers who are visiting you again for your service or their belief that you do high-quality work – exactly the kind of customer most shops prefer.

By providing these customers with a ‘thank you’ for their loyalty, you’ll inspire even greater loyalty.  On the other hand, continually sending out postcard coupons will attract the worst kind of customer – those who will visit whoever gives them the best deal.

3. Loyal customers provide referrals and reviews

Because these customers are your best customers, and because you’re acknowledging their loyalty with a special benefit, they’re the ones that are most likely to leave positive reviews and refer friends and family to your shop.  And because their referrals are likely to be people who think similarly to them, their referrals will likely be valuable customers as well.  This is how a referral program not only increases sales, but increases the average repair order value for your shop.

One other note – a loyalty or referral program doesn’t have to provide a cash incentive.  There are plenty of ways you can thank great customers – whether its tickets to a local theater, free ice cream cones from a locally owned dessert shop, or even a mini-detail, unexpected gifts inspire more loyalty than discounts.

To learn how Repair Shop Websites can help your business get new customers to your shop, call us at 919-779-0954 or email us at Team_RSW@RepairShopWebsites.com.