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Photo by Tim Mossholder On Unsplash

We will soon bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new. Now is the perfect time to reflect on your auto repair business and set some realistic auto repair New Years resolutions. At You Net Results, we understand the unique challenges auto repair shop owners face. Hence, in this blog, we’ll guide you through some key goals that can change your auto repair shop and set you on a path to long-term success. Let’s examine them.

Auto Repair New Years Resolutions #1: Streamline Operations

One of the most crucial resolutions for an auto repair business is streamlining operations. This means optimizing your workflow, reducing unnecessary downtime, and ensuring that your team operates efficiently. Consider automating routine tasks, implementing a reliable software system, and providing regular training for your staff. Our Auto Service Advisor Training can help you achieve these goals, so your shop will be more efficient and profitable.

#2: Invest in Training and Development 

Your team is your greatest asset. In the auto repair industry, staying updated with the latest technologies and repair techniques is essential. Resolve to invest in training and development programs for your service advisors, technicians, and customer service staff. You Net Results offers comprehensive training programs in order to improve your team’s knowledge and skills, which will enhance the customer experience.

#3: Enhance Customer Experience 

Customer satisfaction should always be a top priority. Make a resolution to go the extra mile in providing excellent customer service. Encourage your service advisors to communicate clearly with clients, explain repairs, and offer honest estimates. Happy customers not only return but also refer others to your shop. Our ARA (Auto Repair Advisor) program equips your team with the skills to exceed customer expectations.

Auto Repair New Years Resolutions #4: Set Clear Financial Goals 

Financial stability is key to the long-term success of your auto repair business. Set specific financial goals for the year, such as growing revenue, reducing expenses, or raising profit margins. Regularly monitor your financial performance, then make necessary adjustments. You Net Results offers financial coaching to help you navigate the financial aspect of your business successfully.

#5: Embrace Technology 

The auto repair industry is constantly evolving with new technologies and diagnostic tools. Staying up-to-date is essential for providing high-quality service. Resolve to embrace technology and invest in the latest equipment. You Net Results can help you select the right tools and technology in order to improve diagnostics and efficiency.

#6: Implement a Marketing Plan 

Effective marketing is important for attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. Make a resolution in order to create a marketing plan for your auto repair business. Utilize online marketing, social media, and email campaigns so you can reach your target audience. Our website has a dedicated blog on “Auto Service Advisor Marketing Strategies” that can provide more info.

Auto Repair New Years Resolutions #7: Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

In order to track your progress, establish a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for your business. This can include metrics such as customer retention rates, average repair order value, and technician productivity. Regularly review these KPIs so you can use the data to make informed decisions and improvements.

We Can Help You Reach Your New Years Goals!

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to set goals for your auto repair business. By following all that we have mentioned in this blog, you can position your business for growth and success in 2024.

At You Net Results, we’re here to help you keep these resolutions. Our Auto Service Advisor Training and other programs empower both auto repair shop owners and their teams. Make 2024 a year of prosperity and excellence for your business by taking the first step toward improving. Contact You Net Results today, so we can help you get started. Book a complimentary consultation. Brian Gillis and our team will help you create the best marketing strategy for your business. Build trust, showcase expertise, and ensure repeat business. Let’s make 2024 the best year of your business life!

Photo by Kenny Eliason On Unsplash

The auto repair industry has seen tremendous shifts over the past few decades. Technology evolves, as customers become more tech-savvy. The online marketplace dominates. The strategies needed for marketing your auto repair shop have also had to adapt. How do you get the wheels turning to effectively market in this competitive landscape?

At You Net Results, we’ve coached and guided auto repair shop owners like you. This blog will shed light on effective marketing strategies just for your business. 

1. Marketing Your Auto Repair Shop – Understand Your Target Audience

Before you jump into marketing strategies, you need to understand who your customers are. Are they millennials looking for quick fixes? Are they families needing regular maintenance? When you know your target audience, you can create a message that speaks directly to them.

2. Strengthen Your Online Presence

In this digital era, having a robust online presence is no longer optional. Your online presence involves a two pronged strategy:

• Website Optimization: Ensure that your website is user-friendly and mobile-optimized, as well as filled with valuable information. Use keywords organically in order to improve your search engine ranking.
• Social Media Engagement: Create profiles on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Post regularly about services, promotions, as well as customer testimonials. Engaging visual content can work wonders here.

3. Offer Promotions and Loyalty Programs

Promotions attract new customers, while loyalty programs retain existing ones. Consider offering discounts for referrals, or setting up a point-based system where frequent customers can earn rewards.

4. Seek Reviews and Testimonials

Positive reviews on platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, and even your own website can significantly boost credibility. Remind satisfied customers to leave you a review. Make sure you always address negative feedback promptly and professionally.

5. Marketing Your Auto Repair Shop by Hosting Workshops or Webinars on Zoom

Knowledge is a powerful marketing tool, so why not invite customers to in-person workshops or online webinars via Zoom? Share your expert knowledge about basic car maintenance, understanding car parts, and safe driving tips. This can position your shop as a thought leader in the industry. You can educate your audience, while also building trust.

6. Local Advertising and Community Involvement

Never count out the power of local advertising! Posting billboards, producing local radio ads, or sponsoring a community event can reinforce your presence in the community. Fostering goodwill is never a bad thing!

7. Network with Related Businesses

Forge partnerships with businesses that complement yours. When you collaborate with car dealers, car washes, or even gas stations, the cross promotional opportunities can be huge.

8. Implement a Referral Program

Word of mouth is still one of the most potent forms of marketing. Incentivize your current customers, so they will refer their family and friends. A simple discount or a free service can be tempting.

9. Stay Updated with Industry Trends

The auto repair industry, like all others, evolves. Staying abreast of trends, tools, and technology positions your shop as both innovative and up to date. Plus, integrating the latest techniques into your services can serve as a unique selling point.

10. Measure, Analyze, Repeat – Marketing Your Auto Repair Shop

Lastly, always track how effective your marketing strategies are. Use tools such as Google Analytics to understand website traffic, or Facebook Insights to gauge social media engagement. Based on the data, you can then tweak your strategies for better results.

Marketing Your Auto Repair Shop – What’s Next? 

Marketing your auto repair shop effectively isn’t just about drawing in a crowd. It’s about building trust, showcasing skills, and ensuring repeat business. And as the saying goes, it’s not just about working hard, but working smart. Effectively marketing your auto repair shop requires a mix of both traditional and modern strategies. It’s about understanding your audience, while positioning your brand strategically, and offering genuine value.

When you find yourself at a fork in the road, unsure how to leverage marketing for your auto repair shop, remember that our expert help is just a click away. We’re here to guide you every step of the way.

You Net Results Is Here For You!

Contact You Net Results today, so we can help you start the process. Book a complimentary consultation. Brian Gillis and his team will help you create the best marketing strategy for your business. When you build trust, showcase expertise, you ensure repeat business. Let’s make November the best month of your business life!

This clip is from our Clear Counter Communications Zoom video series. You Net Results Guide Brian Gillis explains the important and underutilized concept of Payoff Gestures to YNR members. Your Automotive Service Advisors can use these subtle, yet powerful, techniques in order to help them increase their repair job sales. They also help your Service Writers to explain regular maintenance and needed repairs to your customers.

Your Service Advisors Need To Learn Payoff Gestures

Whether your auto repair shop’s Service Advisors are on the phone with a client, or speaking with them face to face, their physical gestures can and will make a difference. Some examples of these payoff gestures can include standing up and sitting back down in their chairs while speaking. Using their hands and employing various facial expressions while talking with customers is also helpful. Small inflections can result in big results for your independent auto repair shop!

Each and every one of these payoff gestures can tell their very own unique story. Additionally, these methods will give different signals to each one your valued clients.

Some customers may respond better to certain payoff gestures than other ones. It is all in the process of getting to know them better. Guess what? That is also a key component in converting first time clients to loyal repeat customers!

Ready For The Next Step? Then Book Your FREE Strategy Session!

Your independent auto repair shop is lacking in its overall direction. Maybe your shop’s business plan has stalled out. You definitely are not meeting your goals for growth. Face it, you are in need of an experienced, skilled automotive industry coach that can help you. Then why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with You Net Results Guide Brian Gillis? You have got nothing to lose, so sign up today!

What is the one thing that every successful auto repair shop has in common? All of them provide their customers with a detailed Preventive Maintenance Inspection form, or PMI. How important is this form? YNR Guide Brian Gillis discussed the ins and outs of the PMI with Service Advisors on a recent Advisor Results Academy meeting. Watch and learn how this vehicle “bill of health” makes a difference in cultivating repeat business. This form effectively helps customers budget and create a game plan for needed future repairs and services. See how it builds trust yet?

PMI – The Name of the Game

Preventive maintenance is the name of the game when it comes to making a vehicle last longer. Do your customers want proof of how thoroughly you have inspected their vehicle? Then you need to provide them with a detailed Preventive Maintenance Inspection form. In short, a PMI.

This gives them the peace of mind that your Technicians have gotten to closely know their vehicle, both inside and out. Your Mechanics and Service Writers will recommend the services that they would perform on it if it were their own. Your front of house staff can then confidently present and review this PMI form to customers. This gives them the chance to either sell customers additional repairs on the spot, or plan out a timeline for those services to be done in the future.

Ready For The Next Step? Book Your FREE Strategy Session!

Your independent auto repair shop lacks direction. Maybe your business plan has stalled out. You definitely are not meeting your goals for growth. You need an experienced automotive repair industry coach to help you! Then why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with You Net Results guide Brian Gillis? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!

Want to Sell More Repair Jobs? Learn From Tom Brady and Metallica (Really)

During the off season, as well as between games, NFL football superstar Tom Brady still trains and reviews game film. He is not required to, but he knows he has to in order to be the best. This is why Brady is a household name.

Brian Gillis and the You Net Results group discuss the concept of auto repair speed of service – or SOS. What systems can you put in place to quickly identify the “one thing” that needs repair on the customer’s vehicle? How quickly can you fix it so they are safely on their way?

Speed of Service  Concept – What and How

Brian starts the clip by breaking down the SOS concept. We have to have all of our systems in place in order to quickly resolve customers’ needs. We must properly train all staff on their duties in order. Only then can we process cars more efficiently, while not missing opportunities.

Eric clarifies that the heart of the Speed of Service concept is how quickly we can return our customer’s vehicle to them. He likens it to a visit to a doctor’s office. Normally, we come in and fill out our pre-visit paperwork. Then, we wait to be called back to the doctor. What if we came in and were immediately called back without filling out the proper paperwork first? How strange would that be? We would doubtless feel uncomfortable in that situation. In the same way, Eric doesn’t want a customer to even sit down before his staff have identified “one thing” the vehicle needs.

Joe adds that we ease customers’ minds with our ability to quickly identify that one thing. Brian then presents the secret move to starting the Speed of Service chain of events – get the customer’s keys and hand them off to a General Service Technician before you even start data entry. By the time you are done entering data, your GS has performed a thorough visual inspection. The customer is still at the counter, and you can share information on an issue you can help them with.

Finally, Brian adds another helpful hint. We need to take inventory of all of our key to key systems. When we do this, we will find areas that are costing us time. Shaving down a few minutes here and there will make a huge difference in improving Speed of Service.

Learn More – Book Your FREE Strategy Session

Does your auto repair shop lack direction? Perhaps your business plan has stalled out, and you need an experienced automotive industry coach to help you. Then why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with guide Brian Gillis? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!

Here is a great discussion on how we can document an auto repair invoice. In this clip, Brian and our guest Keith begin the process of writing a ten step SOP on building automotive repair invoices.

Auto Repair Invoice – When And How

Brian starts out the segment by setting the ground rules of the SOP. The front of house staff, specifically the Service Advisor at the desk, is responsible for writing the auto repair invoice. When you write a Standard Operating Procedure, you number the steps in order to clearly describe how the job is done. In this case, your front of house staff will have  a handy guide to refer to when questions come up.

It is also a great idea for you to review this and other SOPs regularly when in team meetings and one on one’s in order to keep everyone sharp. Sometimes, it will help for individuals to taylor certain steps and scripts to their own strengths. However, when you have one standard form on hand for the whole team to reference, it makes a huge difference.

Auto Repair Invoice SOP Step 1

Next, Brian called on Keith to provide step one. Before we fill anything else out, we will need to gather the customer’s contact and vehicle information. The first question we always need to answer is “Why is the vehicle here?” Then, from there, we can fill in the rest of the blanks on the SOP.

Learn More – Book Your FREE Strategy Session Today

Does your independent auto repair shop business lack direction? Maybe your initial business plan has stalled out. You need to hire an experienced automotive industry coach who can help you. So why not schedule a FREE business strategy session today with Brian Gillis? You have got nothing to lose, so sign up today!

Do you know when to write an auto repair estimate? Brian and the YNR group talk about identifying the “one thing” – i.e. the first major item of concern on a vehicle – and alerting the customer to it. Then what? We go through a quick scenario with reassuring a price shopper that we will get the job done quickly and affordably. It’s not about money, it’s about their safety. Get the customer on their way via your shuttle, and give the rest of the vehicle a thorough inspection. Then and only then is when to write an auto repair estimate.

Auto Repair Estimate Writing – When And How

Brian starts the conversation by reminding us not to rush into repairs before talking with our customers. Remember, the customer will tell us everything we need to know, and often will ask questions to steer us in the right direction.

Eric chimes in to walk us through his process of finding “one thing” during initial inspection that customers need to know about. Then, the Service Advisor will walk the customer back to their vehicle to explain the issue. After that, just listen to the customer. When they let you know their concerns about cost or time, let them know you can get right to work on the repair and provide them a shuttle to work. Make sure the conversation thoroughly addresses vehicle safety. You have yet to completely inspect the vehicle, so assure them you will call them shortly to let them know if there are any other concerns. You should only provide an auto repair estimate after reading the customer their vehicle’s inspection results.

Brian wraps up by remind us that both front and back of house staff should understand the “one thing” concept. Make sure you clearly mark what it is on your repair orders, so everyone knows.

Learn More – Book Your FREE Strategy Session

Does your auto repair shop lack direction? Perhaps your business plan has stalled out. You need an experienced automotive industry coach to help you. Then why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with YNR guide Brian Gillis? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!

Here’s one of our handy Service Advisor tips. Are your service advisors asking the right questions up front? This is mission critical to avoid having to call customers back when your Technician finds something unexpected with a vehicle and has questions of their own. Don’t risk painting your staff as incompetent. That’s a recipe for wasting time and money.  Ask the right questions up front!

Service Advisor Tips – Call Recap

Brian opens up the clip by presenting Step G in the Getting Acquainted / In Person Counter Contact form. This is probably the most important step in the process. All the Service Advisor Tips and voice tricks mean nothing if you are not listening, asking questions, and verifying the customer’s vehicle problem. Remember, at the end of the day, our customers have problems, and it’s our job to solve them.

We must gather as much information as possible from the customer. Brian confirmed this to be true with our guest Nick, who is an A Tech. When a Service Advisor doesn’t gather enough information and pass it all on to the Technicians, we’ve got big trouble.

Repeating the customer’s problems back to them builds their confidence in us, as well as helping us avoid missing an issue later. Nick verified that he has had many questions for Service Advisors immediately after receiving work orders. For example, he may not know how long a car’s transmission has been slipping. This question should have come up when the Service Advisor initially talked with the customer.

Learn More – Get Your FREE Strategy Session

Does your auto repair shop lack direction? Perhaps your business plan has stalled out, and you need an experienced automotive industry coach to help you. Then why not schedule a FREE business strategy session with Brian? You’ve got nothing to lose, so sign up today!