We understand the hassle in your auto repair shop. It keeps the technicians busy constantly. They are involved in repairs, inspections, and maintenance sessions; however, an auto repair shop business owner must find time to think about its health.
Between getting repair orders, managing inventory, cleaning up, and other chores, you need to get customers through the doors. And that’s where growth comes in, and your business can flourish.
You might be thinking that it’s going smooth, you are getting repair orders, fixing up damaged vehicles, your expenses are being fulfilled, then what’s more? So, let us tell you. You are probably not the only garage in the town that is expert in dealing with vehicle repairs and servicing automobiles. There’s a lot of competition out there. And in the highly diverse and continuously changing automotive industry, you can’t just keep doing the old things. You need to change and keep up with the changing technology, upgrading trends, and molded customer expectations.
In the off-season, the auto repair business can become exhausting when you have to struggle to get more customers. Also, another aspect is that now many repair garages promise to offer quality services but then scam people. So, with so many repair shops lacking integrity and giving the industry a bad name, you need to show your quality work to get the audience’s trust.
Well, dealing with declines and knowing how to run a successful automotive repair garage doesn’t come easily, but that’s not impossible too. If you have the right advice and a fair bit of elbow grease, you can keep your business in the fast lane.
So, let’s now discuss things to keep your garage business growing in 2021:
Strategy 1: Display online reviews
If you are doing great work with dedication and hard work, you need to tell people about you. And it’s not about saying good about yourself but let your satisfied customers do this thing. You genuinely need reviews online to grow.
In this digital age, before someone opt to do business with someone or rely on them for their possession, they want to know your credibility. It is applied to all types of small and big businesses. Getting a car repaired is kind of emotional for the owner because many people care for their vehicles like a baby. You need to ensure that you are a fair deal for them and are not getting scammed.
Reading reviews by real people online can make a significant impact. Similarly, featuring online reviews can show you care and are trustworthy. You don’t have to ask for reviews right at the time of repairs, but you can use your auto repair shop invoicing software to send emails to get feedback for the repairs after a few days of job completion. Easy and successful!
Strategy 2: Connect with local businesses
Your auto repair garage can do wonders if connected with the right businesses. Yes, you can get successful by working independently, but there are exponential chances of growth when you collaborate with similar businesses.
These can be used car dealers, automotive stores that sell repair parts, or a warehouse that keeps heaving machinery for complete car inspection and other services. How will it help you?
For example, if someone steps into your repair garage with a damaged car. It can be fixed temporarily but doesn’t have a long life. You can ask them to make up their minds to sell their used car to a dealer with whom you are partners. Your customers can buy used cars from there at a discounted price. That’s one benefit, and the other advantage is that you’ll be earning a good reputation with the local community. Look around and see which businesses are ready to do partnerships. You’ll have opportunities to expand your network just around the corner.
Strategy 3: Create incentives for referrals
Along with online reviews, word of mouth still works best for service-based businesses. It never fails. Not because it is an old and effective way of getting more customers, but it creates a sense of trust and authenticity for new customers.
With thousands of other marketing methods, 92% of the consumers are still convinced by a referral. Therefore, to award your loyal customer who brought a new lead, you need to have something special. This special reward can be a free oil change on their next visit or a discounted regular maintenance session.
Whenever a customer says good about you, tell them about your referral rewards. You can either set up a referral program within your repair shop management system or verbally tell them. It should be simple and easy to get. You can always be fun and creative with this idea, but don’t forget the underlying cause of bringing more customers to your repair garage.
Strategy 4: Send customer reminders
With everything going on right now, everyone is busy. Some of us keep a record of things that need to be done, while most of us just forget them. So, it is the best idea to be helpful for your customers. Remind your regular customers about checkup due dates. Sometimes, a repair needs to be overlooked after a specific time. Record all the repair details in your vehicle repair shop software and set due dates for the next visit. It works both ways, they’ll get their vehicle checked, and you’ll get the business.
You can always try different mediums. Use email, text messaging, online contact (like Facebook Messenger), or phone calls to let customers know that you are open and ready to handle their auto body needs.
Additionally, it is always more profitable to have old customers back rather than acquiring new customers. To keep customers’ vehicles coming in the door, you need to be in their minds. You can do this task weekly or assign your system to send an automatic reminder to the customers whose regular sessions are coming up.
Remember: Automating your duties will keep you ahead of your competitors.
The Bottom Line
You can pick from the strategies discussed above based on your repair garage type and business model. You can always think of different ways and come up with ideas to grow your repair shop. Because one can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth: choose wisely!
