The start of a new year is a great time for shop owners to review their marketing strategy for the year ahead. Perhaps it’s time to revamp a few things or time to try something new. In a recent episode of The Busy Bays Podcast, a marketing and business resource for auto repair shop owners, five things that shops should think about right now and plan to do in 2022 were highlighted.
Update your website
Oftentimes, once a shop sets up their website, they tend to just leave it. It’s important to keep up with it as much as possible. Whether it’s adding or updating your employees, photos, or adjusting your service hours, big or small changes are helpful for customers and, not to mention, great for search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines like Google love active websites, so the more often you make updates, the better your shop will appear in search results.
Actively ask your customers to review your shop online
“You should not let a happy customer leave your shop without asking them to leave a review,” said Martin, one of the podcast hosts.
People like to leave reviews to those who gave them great service. Don’t feel you’re opposing on them or giving them a task that they don’t want, he said.
If possible, provide customers with the link to leave a review via text or email after their visit to make it easy for them. It’s not uncommon for customers to forget once they leave the shop.
When a customer does leave a review, make sure to acknowledge their comments. If a positive review, thank them for leaving a review. If a negative review, respond by asking to take the conversation offline to resolve the issue.
Participate in community involvement as a shop
Getting involved in local community groups or your town’s Chamber of Commerce is key. It’s easy for your shop to get involved with and it’s a great way to give back to the community. It also helps getting your name out there and to build trust.
The more ways you can create a relationship with your community, the more opportunities for you to build business for your shop.
Employ your branding
When you think of branding for your shop most often you think about it in terms of attracting new customers or bringing back current customers. Most shops don’t think about employer branding or think to market themselves as employers. Think about how you are going to make your shop attractive to new employees.
Whatever you do to attract new customers, do the same to attract employees. Position your shop as a great place for employees to work.
“You may think it doesn’t necessarily fit under marketing, but the truth is when it comes to hiring and retaining those great employees, it’s just as much sales and marketing as it is to recruit and retain the customers,” said Bekah, another host of the podcast.
How do you attract employees? Provide PTO, holiday time, insurance benefits, attractive work environment, food/drinks, teamwork, mentoring, and training were some ideas noted.
Customer experience
Is your shop clean? Do you have Wi-Fi? Do you clearly display the services you provide within the shop? What is the customer’s experience like online or over the phone?
Every experience a customer has is a chance for you to solidify that relationship, or completely ruin it.
Look at what the customer is experiencing. If it’s too hard for you to do yourself, have someone else help you.
Look for ways to help enhance your customer’s experience. You need to offer a good experience, or they’ll go somewhere else (and may leave a bad review).
