Business

Anyone who has been selling service for any length of time will agree that there are two kinds of customers. The first is the customer who has a history of making good decisions, not just with auto repair, but with most decisions. And then we have the other type of customer: the kind of person who more often than not makes the wrong decisions.

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.

In order to prevent maintenance service sales objections, you need to make sure that your customers fully understand the benefits of these valuable services.

You need to understand the products you sell, the features and benefits of the service, and the importance of being honest. But if you really want to go to the top, you need to build relationships with your clientele. Customers must be greeted and treated as close friends or a family member.

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.

I love Amazon! Over the past five years or so, I’ve purchased countless items from Amazon: books, DVDs, office supplies, electronics, coffee, assorted gifts and a lot more. In fact, rarely does a week go by without at least one Amazon package arriving from UPS.

In the September/October issue of Shop Owner, I provided a step-by-step guide to opening a new location. While I covered a lot of ground, there are always issues that can pop up during the expansion process. Anything from landscaping requirements to a permitting mishap can delay or, sometimes, squash your plans.

With the current economic conditions, the collection of accounts receivables is becoming more and more of a challenge. Strengthening your collection procedures may allow you to improve collection rates and shorten the aging days of your accounts receivables.

When a customer shows up at 10:00 a.m. and asks “How long will it take for an oil change?” what most service advisors will do is answer with a specific time estimate. The superstar service advisors know better, so they’ll ask the customer, “How soon do you need it?”

Your customers are far more likely to believe what they see than what they hear, because being able to visualize a problem and solution provides them with verifiable information that makes their decisions easier.

In the July/August 2011 issue, we reviewed the value of developing a brand for your company, built on the “promise of an experience.” Oftentimes, people assume that a brand is just a logo used on marketing materials. A brand goes far beyond having a logo.

This article is the first of a multi-part series where we will discuss shop signage and image. We’ll talk about what message you’re communicating without even uttering a word to your customer. We will look at ways for you to improve on the message you’re sending and help you set your shop apart from your competition.