Having published Motor Equipment News for over 20 years, we have seen a few economic cycles come and go. We have also seen that repairers tend to get busier when economic times are not so good. Whilst this might at first appear counter-intuitive, in fact it makes perfect sense.
New car sales drop and owners keep their existing vehicles longer, hence the need for more maintenance – and more importantly more maintenance work for independent workshops who tend to get most of their business from cars that are out of their manufacturer warranty period (a higher percentage as new car sales dip).
However, competition is also likely to become stronger, new car dealerships know these dynamics as well and when their vehicle sales business declines they put more effort into promoting their aftermarket – repair and parts businesses.
If you want to make sure you are getting your share of the pie it is a good time to upgrade your marketing rather than cut back.
This does not necessarily mean spending up large on advertising but rather looking at utilising your businesses strengths and maybe upping your game in areas that you are not so strong
Referrals – make it worthwhile for existing customers that refer a new customer to you – maybe a discount voucher (or better still a discount for the new customer and the referrer – these might be straight monetary or an add on service.)
Waiting room/courtesy cars – this is what your customers see and interact with – they generally don’t see the workshop or technician, so keep them clean, get some new magazines, maybe even a new coat of paint in the waiting area or some good coffee!
Booking – make it simple for the customer to deal with you – online booking or simple check in and collection processes can help create a good impression.
Website – keep it fresh, add content (change images around for instance), go to it yourself from time to time to make sure it is working as expected, this will often be a customer’s first point of contact.
All of this will help you maintain your workflow.
