Marketing

The research tool known as the Focus Group has been around for many years. The idea is to assemble a small group of individuals to discuss specific topics, view advertising concepts or, otherwise, offer their opinions.

When it comes to customer follow-up calls, let’s first talk about “who” you should call. You should call all first time customers (even if they just came in for an oil service) to thank them for choosing your facility. Secondly, you should call all “repair” customers to confirm that the repair, and the quality of your service, met with their expectations.

For decades, shop owners have had the luxury of being able to rely on a short list of traditional media to bring in new customers. They’ve primarily utilized directory ads, print media, radio and TV, and, to some extent, local grassroots marketing programs.

We know that women are the majority purchasers of all automotive items in North America today, so if you’re looking to step up your sales figures, you’re going to need to reach women. And in doing so, you’ll gain favor with all customers.

What is mobile marketing and why do you need to know about it? That’s a question I have been asked a lot lately. In this column, I want to give you an introduction to the world of mobile marketing.

Although most shops have sales goals, very few have car count goals. In all of our service advisor training courses, one of the things we teach the advisors is to establish daily car count goals that are based on sales goals.

During these tough economic times, you need to watch every dollar. One way of controlling your advertising costs is by implementing what we here at Elite refer to as “Grass Roots” marketing campaigns. These are any campaigns where you reach potential customers while they are outside of their homes and workplaces. Little league games, charity drives, local fairs, etc., are all good examples.

The term “guerrilla marketing” is used to describe marketing methods that allow small businesses to compete with larger businesses, and they typically include grass roots marketing campaigns. Participating in Chamber of Commerce meetings and local events are a couple of examples. Although there are hundreds of methods, there’s one auto repair marketing goldmine that is overlooked by most auto repair shops and dealerships. It’s targeting what we here at Elite refer to as “communities within communities.”

The great thing about a strong brand is that it works very hard in portraying exactly who you are and what your unique offer is. Ideally, when customers quickly see your logo, they should get a quick take on who you are as a business. So, yes, a logo is a real workhorse. But it does not work by itself. Designed well into your marketing materials, it should complement your message.

The most successful advertising investments target high-traffic customer locations – and, these days, that means shifting at least a portion of your ad spend to a growing list of on-line channels. To make the right decision, shop owners need to research potential return on investment and other factors before committing to any ad buy, and base their advertising investment decisions on a thorough understanding of the options.

Far too many shop owners are failing when it comes to properly branding their shops. In the world of advertising, unless the name of your company is a household name, your name means nothing to the general public. No matter how great your business is, the name itself isn’t going to make people want to learn more about you or your company.

Recently, I was having a discussion about female customers with my advertising/marketing partner LeeAnn Brook from Brook Design Group. She was sharing statistics as to the purchasing power of women and asked me why I thought female customers comprised such a high percentage of our customer base. We discussed the shift in purchasing power in many different sectors, including auto repair.