INTRO
We've been creating better solutions for mechanical workshops for over 21 years and we've picked up a thing or two over that time.
And while it may be a bit cliche: "When your business does well, our business does well", it's still a fact, so we've put together a range of plain-english workshop specific business and marketing tips.
We're not trying to teach anyone to suck eggs, you might well be on top of your business, but have a read through, there might be a little nugget or two that gets you thinking.
THE
BASICS.
Keeping up appearances
Logo tips:
If you want feedback on your existing logo, try to get opinions that are a step or two removed from your immediate friends and family. These guy's tend to want to be supportive and may be less critical than you actually need.
Keep to 2 or 3 main colours. A logo (and the corresponding branding) will have more impact if it has a strong colour association.
Don't try to encompass 'everything'. The logo is just the iconic reference that people associate with your business. The more you try and 'say' in a logo, the less effective it's likely to be. ...BUT it's ok to make it personal. Having said all of that, sometimes a caricature can work really well, particularly if the business is named after a personal such as "Kenny's Auto Services".
If you're looking to get a new logo or update an existing one, firstly create a brief (list) of what you are after, what you want to acheive, and find examples that resonate. This will speed up the design process, reduce frustration, and designers will love you for it.
A great logo should catch the attention of a viewer while zipping past. This means it needs to be clean and provide an iconic visual reference to your business.
And once you have the perfect logo you need to make sure it gets displayed consistently and regularly. Your business cards, signage, web page, basically every visual touch-point of your business needs to show the same image with consistent colouring and layout. This will build customer recognition quicker and more effectively.
EVERYTHING
SPEAKS
Subliminal Messages That Speak Louder Than a Set of Open Pipes
The cost and effort you put into getting your message across can easily be tripped up by little things that we don’t often take notice of but can actually have a big effect on how your business is perceived by customers.
Unfortunately there’s no step by step guide or instruction book (who reads those anyway) that lead you through a process. Rather, this is a way of looking at the small things that reflect on your business and making small improvements on a regular basis.
Luckily, the process of improving your subliminal messaging is often cheap, easy and the benefits can be seen quite quickly. Here’s a few examples to get your thought processes started.
VISUAL
- How does the customer parking area look?
- Are there weeds growing around the building?
- Is that ‘project car’ quietly rusting away in the corner cluttering up the site?
- Do customers have clear instructions on just where to park or visit reception?
- Do your staff have clean, professional looking uniforms?
LANGUAGE
- How do staff who communicate with customers talk?
- Does it show when they are having a bad day?
- Do they moderate language to suit the customer type (ie. farmers vs accountants)?
- Is it always ‘service with a smile’?
- Do they project a competent, professional expert dedicated to their task?
The above relates to both verbal and written language such as emails.
ATMOSPHERE
- Are your staff happy and engaged?
- Does your work environment reflect a busy professional and organised workshop?
If your team love what they’re doing, customers will pick up on this and go away feeling good. Exactly the response you want if you’re aiming to turn ‘customers’ into ‘raving fans’.
MAKE IT
EASY
One of the best ways to get new customers and turn your existing customers into fans, is to simply make it easy to do business with you!
Sounds like a no-brainer when it’s stated so simply, but a large percentage of business owners create artificial hurdles that limit growth potential.
Quite often it’s because business owners or managers are working ‘in’ the business and, as long as enough customers keep showing up at the door, they continue with the day to day without taking the time to review their customer processes and interactions.
There’s no hard or fast rules around achieving ‘easy’ because it will largely depend on how well you are already doing this, consciously or by accident. And sometimes it takes an ‘outside opinion’ to really see the good and not-so-good points.
THERE ARE A FEW STEPS TO TAKE THAT CAN BE HELPFUL IN IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES
Take some time out from work and have a good look at your business from a ‘prospective customers’ point of view from start to finish.
This includes working through how customers might find you, how they get in touch, are they well informed, is your website easy to navigate etc. Once they arrive is there a clear process to follow and what issues are they likely to encounter? And when the job is completed is there a follow-up? Would they refer friends or give you a great rating?
The key to making improvements is looking for problems or ‘sticking points’. These are actually opportunities, so the more you can find the better. Usually the fix is obvious but a great option would be engaging your team to help provide solutions. This increases the likelihood they will take ownership and be on-board with any changes.
FREE TIME
Giving back to your community can be rewarding in many ways and doesn’t need to be limited to the ‘feel good’ factor.
As an alternative (or in addition) to donating to charities, volunteer or non-profit organisations, you have the very valuable expertise to make a difference to these groups by reducing some of their costs.
Offering to do the vehicle servicing for a local charity at no cost not only provides the 'feel good' factor to you and your team, you may well experience an increase in customers as word of your awesomeness spreads.
People tend to trust those that are associated with charity or volunteer organisations so a referral from these individuals is worth it’s weight in gold. This is one of those true win-win combinations.
TIPS
Keep it local
Stay connected to your community
Keep it personal
Choose an organisation you feel some connection to.
Bang for buck
Smaller non-profits run on the smell of an oily rag and the goodness of volunteers, your assistance can have a BIG impact.
Take pride
You're using your skills to help others, never under-value that
Front up
Don't wait for an organisation to approach you, go out and find one that meets the above criteria and make the offer.
Silver Linings
Find the silver lining, because sometimes 'stuff' just happens.
How we react to stuff happening can have a big effect on the down-stream outcome. Sometimes bird poop is bird poop but it can also be guano (worth it's 3x it's weight in gold)
Don't get fixated on negative aspects, instead look for ways these can be utilised in some way to improve the business.
A common example is ‘The building lease is not being renewed (or has become too expensive) requiring a change of premises. How can this be turned into a positive that will help grow the business / improve profitability / refresh work environment etc?
Use your print, web or social marketing to announce your move and sell the benefits of the new location: Easier road access, bigger area, closer to the Mall etc.
Talk to the new locals to look at co-operative marketing or deals (see tip 9). Create a clear map to put on your facebook and your business card.
Another example could involve replacing staff. Sometimes a good thing, sometimes not, either way, it’s an opportunity to ‘introduce’ the new team member and sell the positives that they bring to your business.
If they are younger, they bring ‘up to date’ technical expertise. If they are older, they bring ‘30 years hands-on experience’.You get the drift.
In marketing terms (or politics) it’s called spin, but ultimately, and at the risk of sounding new-agey, you get what you focus on, so focus on the good, great or the awesome.
Create
Good Habits
Habits are easier to make than break. So if a customer gets into the habit of coming to you for their automotive issues and they go away happy, chances are they’ll ALWAYS keep coming back to you.
A good target would be to have each customer visit your workshop 2-3 times a year (with good reason). They’ll be a lot closer to becoming a loyal repeat customer going forward.
The important thing is that the reasons for repeat visits have to be positive ones, so use your existing assets to provide ‘customer benefit’ deals or offers (see tip 7).
Here's a few possibilities
Seasonal Deals
Winter is on the way, use your print, online or social media marketing to invite customers for a Free Battery Check. You’re essentially providing a ‘service’ but chances are you’ll also pick up additional battery sales. Same applies for Summer - Air con check.
Pre-purchase Inspections +
Offer pre-purchase inspections. Customers will come to trust you when they’re looking at new vehicle purchases. You’ll also get to see what your customer is about to buy, so if it’s a lemon, make sure they know, otherwise it becomes your problem!
Air Fresheners +
If you’re installing Air Fresheners to your customers vehicles, let them know they can come in after 3 months and pick up a free scented re-fill any time. This creates additional value to your original job AND it gets twice the use out of your Air Freshener.
Sell your
upgrades
Buying new plant or equipment?
Hopefully you’re seeing new purchases as ‘Investment’ rather than a ‘cost’. It’s an important matter of perception that is likely to affect how much value it adds to your business because the next step is maximising your ROI (return on investment).
By budgeting in a marketing component of your spend (and this could be as little as 5%) you’re giving yourself opportunity to spread the good news and putting your investment to work.
So you’ve laid down some hard cash to improve the versatility of your workshop, now you need to let everyone know about it so it starts improving your business! Here’s a few tips.
EXISTING CUSTOMERS:
Create a value-added special that features your new/improved service and offers a ‘loyalty discount’ or even a free ‘bonus’ as part of a package, with a clear call to action such as: “Half priced brake and alignment check with every service before Dec”. Then use your existing client database to send it as an email, print and distribute flyers by mail, post it on your social media, basically share it with every touch-point an existing client has with your business. You could also print some ‘50% OFF a radiator flush on your next visit’ vouchers and have these at your reception counter to give customers when they pick up their vehicle. In summary, this is essentially about making your workshop work for you. If you’ve invested 18k (plus marketing budget) into new equipment that has a low usage cost, you need to have it cranking!
Potential customers:
The same ideas above apply but you just need to get in front of potential customers. This can be done by creating an adwords campaign that targets both your immediate location (10km radius) and your specific service. Focussing on tighter parameters will be cheaper and far more effective than a generic ‘Mechanic in Sydney’ campaign. A printed flyer version can also be delivered through a Post-box drop in your immediate area.
If it’s not flat out making profit directly, then use the surplus capacity to create customer goodwill. Clients that leave your workshop feeling like they’ve got a great deal on top of awesome service will talk about it. That’s investing in the future.