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Marketing your auto repair shop on social media - reach new automotive customers.

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!

How can your auto repair service advisor sell more jobs? Brian and You Net Results members discuss a method to help automotive service advisors sharpen their phone skills and sell more repair jobs. One of the cornerstone teachings we stress is PARP: Prepare, Audit, Rehearse, Present.

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

You can sell more repair jobs when you work as a well oiled teamDuring 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.
Metallica is one of the biggest arena rock bands in the world, but they don’t just step on stage cold. They put in thousands of hours when they rehearse and write. They employ a crew of over 100 roadies, sound engineers, and lighting technicians, who also have to test everything over and over to make sure the show goes smoothly. Not to mention the pyrotechnics crew who ensure all of the fireworks, fire, and explosions are done safely and up to code.
Your auto repair staff is just like a group of star athletes and musicians. If your team wants to win big and sell more repair jobs, then they have to put in the time. This means writing phone and in-person scripts and role playing them repeatedly, until they can present them in their sleep! Soon, you will have more happy customers and more money in the bank. Practice makes perfect!

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

Brian Gillis - You Net ResultsYour auto repair shop lacks direction. Maybe your shop’s business plan has stalled out, and you aren’t meeting your goals. You need an experienced automotive 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!

People in Overdrive

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We discussed the Hexagon and the 6 triangles that make up the Hexagon, specifically focused on the People Process today.  We formed the top three gears that will drive that process forward.  We also spent some time specifically discussing recruiting technicians.
  1. Recruiting and Retention
  2. Ongoing meeting (STS, SMS, SBS, SPS) along with ongoing skills training.
  3. Incentives and Pay Plans.

People Process

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SOP Formation and Review

WOIT Discussion and Notes Formation and Review

Today’s Agenda Topic

Creating an Onboarding Process for New Hires (SOP-617)

To create a comprehensive onboarding process for new hires, so they will feel part of our team, while retention and productivity improves. There is nothing like knowing all the ins and outs of the new position.

Downloads

Powerpoint PDF

 

What Are YOUTOOLS?

Auto Repair Shop owners getting hyped about Automotive Processes and Systems

Photo from the June 2021 Automotive Training Conference

Do you agree with these FOUR statements about Automotive Processes and Systems?

  1. Automotive Processes and Systems run your business, whether they are written or unwritten.
    __Yes__No
  2. Your People run the Processes and Systems.
    __Yes __No
  3. Making your business process and systems dependent, rather than people dependent, is the major objective of the Manager
    __Yes __No
  4. Your Daily Operations Silver Bullets do not exist.
    __Yes __No

At You Net Results we utilize what we like to call “YOUTOOLS.” They are a set of automotive business tools that can help you manage your business better as you grow it.

Online and In-Person Training

Throughout COVID, we have been meeting together online. We review processes and systems that help businesses operate smoothly and thrive. We have all gone through many changes during the pandemic. Online learning has helped our businesses pivot and grow during these challenging times.

In June 2021, our 360 Full Circle Group met in Atlanta, GA, in order to share our auto repair businesses’ methods. Look at all of those smiling faces in the photo above after we saw each other in person, shared hugs, and broke bread together. What a great event!

We see such great success among the auto repair shops we coach at You Net Results! Because of that, we are, of course, continuing our online and in-person educational programs.

Now, let’s look at the answers to the questions asked above about automotive processes.

Yes, processes and systems help run your business. However, they are clearer and easier to reproduce when you write down those Standard Operating Procedures down. Congratulations if you have all of your processes documented. However, you are in trouble if they are stuck on a shelf in a three-ring binder collecting dust. They need to be living, breathing, updated SOPs in order to work effectively.

Yes, your people run the processes and systems. But the question remains, are they doing it correctly? If you’re not sure, take a look at what your customers say about your business — both good and bad. Can you identify what must be improved? Can you determine if anyone within your team is sabotaging your systems and processes? If yes, then we can help you determine how to regain control.

Yes, the Manager’s main objective is to make your business process and systems dependent, instead of people dependent. If you focus on the systems and processes, then your business is more scalable. Imagine if McDonald’s could only run if one specific person were present. Would the restaurant be able to stay open as long as needed if it was entirely people-dependent? We think not. Because of well-documented systems and processes, McDonald’s has evolved into a multi-billion dollar, worldwide operation.

Yes, your Daily Operations Silver Bullets do not exist. You simply cannot write down your daily operations once expecting them to hold for a decade. Things change. Systems change, software changes, people change. It is crucial to treat your Standard Operating Procedures as living, breathing entities. “Silver Bullets” imply “one and done”, or “set it and forget it”. If you want your business to be successful, then that’s just not the case.

Take the YOUTOOLS Automotive Processes Journey with Brian Gillis

At You Net Results, we host coaching groups just for auto repair shop owners. Together, we can all reach our own turnaround points. You will move from a business owner to a confident business leader. Then, and only then, you can eliminate everything that is holding you back.

Are you ready? Let’s do this!

Don’t keep hiding in the weeds! Let’s Maximize our Daily Operations.

To find out more, contact us for a complimentary consultation. Brian Gillis will discuss your business strategies, and then find ways to improve both your annual revenue and company culture.

People Process Webinar

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SOP Formation and Review

  • 0614 – SOP –  Training Technicians How-to Write Tickets

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Transolution Bid Sheet

General Manager Process Webinar

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SOP Formation and Review

307 – SOP – Top 10 Things a GM you must do well #7-10

7. Diplomacy
8. WOIT: Working-On-It-Tuesday
9. Training, Teaching getting Buy-In
10. Motivating other

Downloads

Powerpoint PDF

General Manager Clip - Coaching Groups Build Confident Leaders
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General Manager Clip - Coaching Groups Build Confident Leaders

Check out this clip from our members only live General Manager Process meeting, which originally met on Zoom May 12, 2020. Firstly, Brian sparks a lively roundtable discussion. Our veteran shop owners then reveal what it means to be a confident leader in an automotive repair shop environment. Each member agrees that when you regularly participate in an auto repair coaching group, it is one of the major keys to building your confidence.

Coaching Call Recap

Auto repair coaching groups will build your confidence, and your staff will be confident in you, too!

Both automotive owners and general managers participated in the call. They chimed in to stress what modeling systems looks like to their employees. Thus, automotive staff members respond best when leaders are both confident and consistent.

Afterward, our auto repair coaching group reads the bullet points in the You Net Results brand script. This script exists in order to outline our focus and mission as an automotive industry company. It also ties into this clip’s theme of repair shop owners and managers who train together, as well as support each other.

Finally, Coach Brian closes with a discussion on the abstract concept of silent thieves. When you do not put the right processes in place, chaos is bound to sneak in. When that happens, then your money will inevitably run out. If you do not activate the right systems and processes, then you will eventually find yourself powerless to prevent these thieves from robbing your shop blind!

Auto repair coaching group for general managers

Would you describe yourself as a directionless shop owner or general manager? Silent thieves might just be bleeding your beloved business dry! Don’t worry, though – there is still hope for you! Learn how to master finances, daily operations, phone skills, service advisor training, as well as intangibles that only experienced pros know. Sign up for one of our auto repair coaching group today!

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