They talk about how shops can build customer loyalty by doing events and promoting their brand. The idea is to show up in the community and tell your story.
The technician shortage means there aren’t enough trained mechanics to meet demand. That can make it harder for shops to staff up and keep up with repairs.
The Chevrolet Trax is a small SUV made for regular driving, like commuting and errands. It’s meant to be easy to live with because it’s not too big, and it’s designed to be efficient. People talk about it because it’s a practical option when you want SUV space without a large vehicle.
A shop management system is computer software that helps a repair shop keep track of cars, repairs, and paperwork. It’s basically the shop’s “operations dashboard.”
A career day is when students visit and talk to people who work in different jobs. A car shop can use it to show what mechanics and technical careers are really like.
Social media is how people connect online. The speaker’s saying it can make you feel like you know someone, but it’s still not the same as meeting them in person.
“Bays” are the garage spaces where cars get serviced. Bringing people inside helps them see what the shop is like and makes the whole process feel more understandable and trustworthy.
Term
8S equipment
They mention “8S equipment,” which sounds like a special tool or setup in the shop. The speaker treats it like something cool you can show off, but they don’t explain what it is in this clip.
They’re talking about the car itself—your own vehicle. The idea is that people are more interested when the information connects directly to their car.
Word of mouth is basically when people tell their friends about a business because they had a good experience. If a shop hosts a fun event, customers are more likely to recommend it to others.
They suggest bringing an old car part to show people what it looks like when it’s worn out. Seeing the actual piece helps people understand what the shop is talking about.
A community class is a local event where a business teaches people something. In this case, it’s likely about cars—so people feel more confident and connected to the shop.
“Smoke signals for new drivers” sounds like a safety-focused class that teaches what to do when something goes wrong—e.g., when to pull over, call for help, or contact a tow service. It’s essentially driver education framed around real-world roadside decision-making.
This is a program where Girl Scouts earn a badge by learning about car care. It’s basically a kid-friendly way to teach safe driving habits and simple vehicle basics.
Topic
tiny tech event
A “tiny tech event” is a hands-on community event hosted at the shop, bringing in kids to learn automotive-related skills or concepts. In this context, it’s used to grow engagement and build a pipeline of future customers.
Brand building just means getting people to notice you and remember you. For a shop, that can be your name, logo, and where you show up so people think of you when their car needs help.
“Best bang for your buck” here means measuring which marketing placements actually drive repeat visits (“footsteps”) and attention. For auto shops, this is about ROI—spending money where it leads to real customer traffic, not just looking good.
A “PR game” means you’re thinking about how people hear about you and what they think of you. In business, that can be done by showing up in the community and getting your name seen.
Finding your difference means figuring out what makes your shop stand out. Instead of being “just another auto place,” you want a reason people choose you.
Most people don’t get excited about car repairs. So the shop has to make the overall experience feel better—like trustworthy service and a place people want to go.
They’re saying there are often many auto shops near each other. So you can’t rely on being nearby—you need a reason people will pass other places to come to you.
Curbside service means the shop makes it easier for you by handling your car without you having to do as much. It’s basically about saving you time and hassle.
A four-day work week is an operational schedule that can improve customer experience by offering more concentrated service availability. For car owners, it can mean easier scheduling and potentially faster turnaround if the shop aligns hours with demand.
An alignment rack is a machine that helps a shop set your wheels to the correct angles. If a shop has it in-house, you usually don’t have to wait as long or send your car to another place.
A tire balancer is a tool that helps make sure your tires spin smoothly. If it’s done right, you’re less likely to feel shaking or get premature tire wear.
This is a program from Napa AutoCare that trains new mechanics step-by-step. It helps people learn the job with classes and real shop experience, so shops can hire skilled technicians.
ASE certifications are like a professional test for mechanics. If someone earns them, it generally means they’ve proven they know how to do certain types of car repair work.
Term
G1, A4, A5
Those letters and numbers are different ASE certification tracks. The point is that the program helps apprentices earn multiple credentials, not just one.
Carlisle makes tools, and Napa worked with them to create a toolkit for apprentices. The benefit is that new techs get the tools they need without paying the full cost upfront.
Napa Tracks sounds like software that helps a car shop organize day-to-day work and keep an eye on money. The big point here is that they also train your staff and offer support after you buy it, not just the software itself.
A Facebook community refers to using Facebook groups/pages to build ongoing engagement with customers and local enthusiasts. The hosts mention joining a Facebook community as part of maintaining visibility and trust, which can support retention and referrals for an automotive shop.
A logo is the shop’s main visual symbol. The point they’re making is that if your logo and branding look sloppy, customers may assume your service will be sloppy too.
A “360 approach” means thinking about the whole experience, not just the work being done. For a car shop, that includes how you’re treated and how easy it feels from start to finish.
They’re talking about being clear about car problems and what could happen if you don’t fix them. That way, customers can decide with less confusion and less pressure.
Customer loyalty in an automotive context is the practice of building repeat business through consistent service experience, communication, and relationship-focused perks. This segment highlights how staff training, a welcoming environment, and recurring “touches” (like gifts and kids’ amenities) reinforce trust and retention.
A service advisor is the person at the auto shop who talks to you about your car’s problem. They help set up the repair, explain what’s needed, and keep you updated while the work is being done.
Here, “client advocates” means the people at the shop whose job is to make sure customers feel supported. They help with communication and make the experience smoother, not just the paperwork.
CSR usually stands for Customer Service Representative. It’s the person who helps customers directly, and in this shop they’re also involved in things like marketing and content.
Guest relations means making sure customers are comfortable and taken care of while they’re at the shop. It’s about the experience, not just the car repair.
A “car care gift” is a small item the shop gives customers to make them feel appreciated. Doing it every month is a way to build loyalty and keep the shop top-of-mind.
The “Schmidt Lantern” sounds like a small branded safety item the shop gives out. The point is that it keeps the shop’s name in customers’ lives and sparks conversation.
A “brand builder” is something that keeps a business memorable. Here, the idea is that small gifts and community activities make people talk about the shop and remember it later.
The “Schmidt Cookie” is a seasonal treat the shop gives out. The hosts are using it as an example of how simple, friendly extras can make customers feel valued.
Schmidt's AutoCare is a local auto service shop. The episode is using it to show how a business can keep customers coming back by doing community-friendly things.
LIVE
This is the Automotive Repair Podcast Network.
Please get that app. It's the ultimate playlist and listen, we've got a great episode on event planning
and branding with one of our industries, actually smartest person when it comes to doing all this
stuff. Lola Schmidt, she's here and we'll have Lola up here in a second after we think our partners.
Hey, you know the technician shortage is real, but Napa AutoCare has a solution
at no cost to members. The Napa AutoCare Apprentice Program builds tomorrow's technicians through a
two-year nine-stage curriculum. Learn more at member.napaautocare.com or talk to your Napa
representative today. Hey, for over 30 years, Napa Trax has made selecting the right shop
management system easy by offering the best, most comprehensive SMS in the industry. We'll
prove to you that Trax is the single best shop management system in the business.
Find Napa Trax on the web at NAPATRACS.com. Hello, Lola. How are you?
I'm great. How are you? I'm super duper. Event planning and branding, I have to tell you,
I'm not sure in our industry that we're doing enough events. I know some great companies at
R, and I actually go with a group and I raise your hand if you've done any events this year,
be it community, you've gone places, you've done things, you've brought a booth.
There's not a lot of that going on. And in my mind, don't ask me why I think it's so important
more than you can possibly imagine not only being involved in community, but getting yourself
up and out there telling the stories. That's it, telling the stories.
Talk to us, man. Motivate us as to why we got to do this.
I would agree that there is not enough going on. Now, I feel like there's probably
numerous amounts of reasons why shop owners and staff aren't doing this, but
if you want to be involved in your community or if you feel like you don't have enough
footsteps in your door, getting involved in your community is such a good way to do this.
You do need to do it authentically, not just begrudgingly. So find what your passions are
inside of the business and what the things are that you guys care about as a team and start
joining those. In our shop, we knew that educating the youth was a huge focus for us. So anytime
there is a STEM situation that we can get involved in or a career day that we can get
involved in or anything mechanical or technical going on in town that we can get involved in,
we interject, whether that's donation sponsorship, but physically showing up,
like you said, getting the booth, getting the table, being there to talk to the people,
you are your best asset. So telling the stories, why should they come to you? What can you
offer them? Getting their children excited about things for the future. So that's really how
we kind of pick and choose what we're going to be involved in. We're involved in a lot now.
We're very embedded in our town, but even if you don't want to go out and you don't want to go and
like rent the booth, maybe you're more shy about that kind of stuff, bring them into your shop.
You can bring people in, host some classes, host an event, host an after hours for your chamber.
There's all kinds of really cool things that you can do to get bodies in your shop,
to see your shop and show off your shop that doesn't have to do with them bringing a car in.
And for us, those little moments that only take a couple hours and very little money
are such big wins. People need to know who you are. And sometimes social media,
like it connects us like a little bit, right? Like we all feel like we know each other,
but you don't really know. You're a three second scroll.
Yeah, you are. So getting them in your bays and shops and to touch and play things is so
welcoming and interesting. We have a very interesting industry. People don't even realize
how interesting, but my shop's cool, man. If you go into it, it's clean, it's bright,
it's open, it's accessible. We want you to ask questions. We want you to see things and
that's what we try to do.
And you could show off your 8S equipment.
We could. I'll have to roll it out of the corner.
That was an inside joke, everyone. But what I'm hearing you saying is showcase you.
I have a poster on my website on my downloads page and I really want people to download it
and print it in color and put it up on their counters. And it says that we are a high
tech industry that we're looking for young people to join it. And I want that poster to
be out there to incite discussion. And who says you can't showcase your shop by saying
to your chamber, to your BNI group, to your local community. I don't care,
even if it's the Girl Scout Trooper, the soccer moms that you go to says we're having
a high tech showcase and it's all about your vehicle. And they may just go on and say,
yeah, I know this thing is pretty fancy and I got all these screens and all this stuff,
but we're going to take a deeper dive for you so you can appreciate what's going on.
How many times people, what's underneath that laptop you'll never find out? Well,
we can talk to you about your vehicle. What a great idea.
And people like to talk about their stuff. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I'm proud of my beautiful new
BMW here, but it makes noises when I go left. Listen, I've had my car for five years now
and it's old. We got it used and Eric showed me something on it the other day that I literally
had no idea that I did. And I was like, well, that's awesome. I was like, thanks for showing me.
But yeah. Oh my God, showcase you. Find out something about your vehicle that you did not
know. That's the title of this thing. Find out something about your high tech
view that you did not know. And what do you get 2025 people to come in? The beauty of
that is if it's word of mouth or, you know, it's the second generation that's
what a blast that could be. And how much prep do you have to do? Clean the place?
Yeah, maybe get some snacks. I don't know. Maybe you get some snacks. Maybe you have
a little mini presentation or maybe you take an old part. We have seen people do this and
start to small five or six years later. They've got one hell of a gorgeous event
going on because they continue to improve it. In 2018, we did our very first community class
and we only had two employees at the time, right? So we were a little baby shop still.
We were in our old shop, which was way small and kind of grimy. We did a little class called
smoke signals for new drivers. Like if they're whatever you smell or see, like this is if
you should pull over, if you should call mom and dad, if you should call the tow truck.
In that class, I think we had 12 kids in it and their parents stayed.
And so that was our first entry into like tiptoeing into classes. And now we,
in like two weeks, are going to be giving 30 girls their car care badge for Girl Scouts.
And our tiny tech event, we had 300 kids come through our shop
in a two hour or a three hour increment every fall. There's so much power in growing
this community involvement if you just put a little effort in.
What is it like reaching out to other small business owners in your town? Do you involve them
at all in what you do? Do they know who you are? How do you involve them?
Okay. So I'm really loud and involved in town. Everyone knows me.
During COVID, I was like so pent up with like everybody saying, you have to be home,
you have to be home. And I just didn't want to be home. And we had all the majority of small
business in my town are owned by women. So I knew this right off the bat. So I just like
got in all their DMs and I was like, we're going to low key meet for like marketing meetings
and like business meetings. Can you meet us here? And we have this like secret location
we all met at like every two weeks all through COVID. And that's when we kept our businesses alive
and that we knew right then we had to pair with each other to stay alive. Like we weren't going
to get around this like individually as businesses. It had to be my business is going to serve
coffee at your business. Can your business send people over here? Can you put our candles in
your shop? Like we had to support each other. So I have a community that will rally very nicely
around us if we just ask. But we also give back we answer the call when they meet us too.
You know, I sit on the Chamber of Commerce board for three years. Eric says on it now
we're very heavily involved in our community. So it's very easy to do business to business,
but we had to cultivate those relationships just like every other relationship, right?
Mine just happened to kind of like happen during COVID.
Talk to me about fundraising. Some people think it's a, oh God, here's somebody else.
They want me to put up a sign in the backfield of the baseball diamond. Is all of this worth it?
I mean, let's go back to maybe part of that fundraising thing is about brand building
and getting your name out, your logo out. I think it does depend on where you want to
play and how you want your business to be presented. When we moved into our bigger shop,
we were looking for many more footsteps in a different place. So we did put our name
in areas that like we normally wouldn't like, I normally wouldn't spend $4,000 to my name on
your wall at the gym. But there was like some schools that we really wanted the attention
of. So that's what we did. I never have found that has been our best bang for our buck
as far as attention and actually getting footsteps to come back. It looks good.
It feels good. Sometimes I think you have to do that in business.
There's a PR game to play as well, right? So
Branding, you're passionate about that. And I've heard you get up and speak
about finding your difference. Talk to us about that.
You have to have something different in your shop to be interesting.
Car care is not interesting. Auto shops aren't interesting. Nobody gets up in the morning and
is like, I can't wait to go to Schmidt Auto Care today. I'm so excited about that.
They know that they're probably going to have to pay us some money. They don't want to come out
of pocket on and as nice as we are and as nice as our facility is, it's not fun.
Also, if you're anything like me and I imagine most shops are, they kind of stuff you in an
area where there's other auto shops around you. So rarely is an auto shop sitting by itself.
So what makes people drive past those shops to come to you? I'm the farthest one away. They've
done show me all the way in the back end of town. So you got to drive past like nine shops to get to
me. You have to showcase what makes you different, why people should spend money with you,
why they should listen to you at all. Dig deep into what those differences are,
because you are doing more than just fixing a car. Are you providing some form of care
that's interesting? We do curbside service and that's a huge difference maker for us.
We have an app that's a huge difference maker where the four-day work week, we stay open later
than other shops. We have quite a few differences. I have all of the top technology in town. Your
car is coming to me whether you want to or not for some things. Do you promote that? I mean,
you're talking to me about your differentiators. I just love that word. How do you get that
out, Lola? Oh yeah, all of those things are different stories we tell. See, that's the key.
I got to stop you right there. And I'm so glad you said stories, because that's how you get that
out. If it's not in social media, it could be through an interview for a small town paper.
Who knows if it's on the radio, but just telling your story amongst your peers
in the business community. And then getting up that these young people that come in
to your place, and all of a sudden you're starting to tell a story about your differentiate.
You may not know it, but I've got every tool over here that can do every Japanese car and fix
every computer, blah, blah, blah. No matter how someone repeats it, they can't repeat it identical,
but they're going to say, wow, Schmitz does everything Japanese. You got to go there.
Yeah. I mean, and we try to keep it easy. So we are blessed. We have a bigger shop. We've
been able to tool up a lot of really great equipment. I don't have to outsource anything.
That is also a difference maker because there are some shops locally. They don't have an alignment
racks or they don't have tire balancers and stuff like that. So you have to send your car from
shop to shop. We have it all in-house. And you do need to tell that story. We tell it in
a variety of different ways, whether it's that we're doing it on a podcast or we're doing it
on just a quick video or maybe we're doing a cute TikTok or maybe we're having a long-term campaign.
This year, the entire area of the world is going to hear about alignments from us because I have
a new alignment rack to pay for. So the story is all about alignments, why you need them,
how to do them, when to do them, the cars that we're going to be doing them. We're
going to have unboxing videos like it is planned. There is campaigns planned.
And it can't be fly by the seat of your pants. This is planning. Branding is planning.
Hey, you know, it's no secret the automotive industry is facing a technician shortage,
but Napa AutoCare has stepped up with a powerful solution, the Napa AutoCare Apprentice Program,
and the best part, it's completely free for members. This program was pioneered by shop
owners Pete McNeil and master technician Jake Sorenson at McNeil's AutoCare in
Sandy, Utah. They recognized that waiting for skilled technicians to appear wasn't an option,
so they built a program to grow their own. By recruiting motivated individuals with the right
passion and attitude in providing them with structured training, they approved that apprentices
could become the next generation of skilled certified technicians. The program features a
comprehensive nine-stage curriculum with in-depth classroom videos, instructor-led Napa
AutoTech classes, web-based courses, and hands-on training with a mentor. Apprentices move at
their own pace, typically completing the program within two years. Graduates earn four ASE certifications,
the G1, A4, A5, and air conditioning, and are officially registered with the Department of Labor
as Journey Workers Automotive Technicians. And here's the business benefit. As apprentices
gain skills, they generate billable hours, often boosting shop profits as early as stage five.
Plus, Napa now offers a new apprentice toolkit, developed with Carlisle tools at an exclusive
price, helping break down one of the biggest barriers for new technicians, the cost of tools.
Together, Napa AutoCare and your shop can tackle the technician shortage head-on.
Start now. Grow your own talent and build your bench for the future.
Visit member.napaautocare.com or contact your Napa representative today
and get started with your apprentice program. Let's face it, your shop management system
is the single most important tool in your shop, period. Napa Tracks was built from the ground
up to make your business more profitable and efficient. We provide an extensive set of tools
to increase and track profitability in real time. Napa Tracks offers the industry's best
post-sale support hands down and we train your people onsite. Yep, onsite and we offer remote
refresher training 10 times a week and customer support is open six days a week. Give us a call,
visit the website or join our Facebook community today to learn more. We'll prove to you that
Tracks is the single best shop management system in the business. Napa Tracks is always
customized and tailored for you whether you're a one-man shop or a large multi-bay or multi-location
company. After all, it's your shop, so it's your choice. Visit us on the web at Napa Tracks,
that's N-A-P-A-T-R-A-C-S dot com. If you're finding it difficult to find your own differentiation
then pull the team together and say what do we do that no one else does without saying the
word we're different? What do we do that no one else does? And you may just discover
things you never knew about how your people feel about your business.
It's true or just what they like to do. We ask them every year, what do you think we do well?
That's one of the closing things at the end of our year meeting that we talk about.
I've never had a technician before speak up and be like my welding skills are underused.
We can tell people how I weld. This can be a thing that can be beneficial.
Why didn't you realize that you could even weld? Now we're able to lean into a different
sector of work in a different way and tell a different story because we asked our people,
we involve them in what they wanted to be, how the brand should look and what it should feel
like. And they can. They can tell you things that you don't think about. I didn't think
about that. You got to be a positive public partner, but you also have to be sure logo is nice,
the images that you're putting out are nice and clean and not thought as a secondary thing.
Ah, yeah. Okay. It's a little blurry, but post it. No, no, no. It's your image.
If you're posting messy images, your clients are probably going to think you're going to do
messy car care, messy service. Also, some of us have nice cars and we don't want our car in
your messy shop with messy pictures. The whole entire image matters from front to back. It's a 360
approach, right? Like what you say, how you look, how you present it from the time they walk in
the door. People know if they're going to spend money with you very quickly and it
doesn't have anything to do on what you say. You ever stop and ask your clients, why do you come here?
All the time. Okay. Perfect. And so that helps gain you confidence in the direction that you want
to continue to build your brand because people are out there talking about this stuff. What are
some of their great reasons they come there? So it's going to depend on who you talk to.
If you're talking to a woman, they're going to tell you that they like that there are women
in the shop at all times. They are going to tell you that the curbside service is very valuable to
them. They're going to tell you that they appreciate the fact that my guys pick up their bags and
carry them to their cars when their hands are full of children. So they're going to tell you that.
But my men who come in, they're all very happy with the fact that they will always say
it's honest and direct. There's no games being played. If your car sucks, it sucks. Jake's going
to tell you it sucks. He's going to do it in the best way he can and just lay it out. But there's
no pressure if you don't want to fix your car, then don't fix your car. But don't be mad if it
falls apart further. Madness. So we just try to do what's right by people when it's authentic
and you can feel that. That's what they're looking for. But we just had a journalist
in our shop the other day who's writing an article on us and my customer was at the front desk and
he asked my customer, he said, why did you come here and how far did you come? And that person
had drove an hour to come to our shop. They passed a lot of shops to come to me. And he was
like, they don't waste my time. And that was his answer. That's pretty powerful. And I
thought that was great because there was no answer I could give a journalist that was going
to be better than my own customer who drove an hour and then still thought we didn't waste
their time after being there and like driving the hour. What's the trend on making sure and I'm
going to say this gently and nice that we have women on our counters, okay? Not that our guys
that our legacy people are doing their job and they've got the feel they've got the knowledge
of the self-awareness to make this thing work. But I'm hearing more and more that
women are joining our ranks and the training for service advisors or client advocates that I like
to call them are really kicking it up a notch. Maybe we're a safer space. I don't know. I hate to
say that. More relatable, the majority of the people that come through my shop are women.
I feel like they want to relate to a woman or at least feel like a girl's around like our
shop smells good, you know, like Savannah's around coming and seeing if you want some coffee or if
you need a snack or whatever it might be. I mean, she's the one that's going to drive you around
like if you have to go back home. So it's a nice connection piece, I think. And it's just a little
comfort. I don't know. I think it feels comfortable. Is Savannah your CSR? Yeah, she's my in-house
content creator slash marketing girl. Cool. Okay. All right. Is she's not the first one
they agree? No. At the front desk, you would meet Jake and Rick. They said at the front desk,
that's my two front of the house, but they're both like extremely personable and they're going to
agree to you with a big smile. But when it comes to anything guest relations, like if a guest has
to move around or be hosted in any way, Savannah steps in and she takes ultimate care of excellent
care of our people. You do any kind of handouts? What do you do to the client when
they get back into their vehicle? Any waters, anything like that? Every month we have a car care
gift and that rotates. I mean, we've done that for years and years and years. At this point,
I have a storage unit because of them. It is a whole beast on its own and Savannah manages
that whole thing. Like it's literally, it's like a job in itself now. So we have something that
rotates every single month and we have little gifts that go in car seats for little kids.
We've got coloring books at the front of the house in case kids are there a long time.
We've got balloons to blow up, Hot Wheels cars. I don't know. At this point, if you name it,
we've got it there, I think at this point. Yeah, we've done shows on that little stuffed
animal in the back car seat. It was Matt Lockowitz who brought that to me back in the day
and we were on the car cruise with him and he actually started a company to make these.
Oh, I wanted to get with his company then. Yeah, you should get with Matt and he's a great guy,
multi shop owner out in Minnesota, 10 operation. He's got a lot going on. He's a
very impressive young man who's got a great business. But yeah, he started the,
every year there's a new stuffed bear. Oh, I would rave whether to get my bear from him.
Yeah, Matt, the cool thing about developing this over all these years is people come in and says,
what's the bear like this year? So they anticipate coming in and wanting to get the latest, or if
you will, you have a monthly thing, but his bear changes on a yearly basis.
Well, people start to know because there's some things that we do
like the Valentine's Cookie. We have this branded cookie sent in and it's so good. I swear
people will like wait till February to get their car done and like
not do it in January if they need to do it just so they get the cookie.
Same thing for the candle in November. Everybody will wait to get the candle.
It's interesting sometimes. Well, I love this whole thing about event planning, branding ideas,
and of course the things that you provide for your clients that probably they've come to
expect of my guests. That's my point. They have their little spoils.
Yeah, but when you get a brand new client in and they say, this is for me,
I mean, you talk about a, yeah, here's my card swiping for that $1,800, but oh, I have a cookie.
Well, my new guest gets a gift. So I have this like new car care gift. So if you've never
come to us before, you get something special and Savannah leaves it in the box. So you get
like a whole unboxing moment. All right. I love it. Okay. So it comes like this
and she puts it all together for you and this one doesn't have the batteries in it. She literally
opens every one of these and puts the batteries in. Yeah. So it's done. She does it for the client.
So you can't walk out with it. You have to unbox it in front of me. Yeah. So like,
and then you open it up and it's like a light that they can travel with. We live in an area
where you can do a lot of camping or a like blinks and stuff for safety. So if they're
on the side of the road, has our name on it, our QR codes on there to scan.
And then inside of the box, she also has like our magnet, our Google review card, and then the
only people that really get the $50 off labor for next time is the new customer. That's our new
care, our new customer gift that we give this year. My God, that has got to be so expensive.
What is that thing? I don't want to know. The point of it is, is you're doing it,
you have a great and successful business. You've found that it builds relationships,
that it brings repeat business. Because again, I don't know what you're spending on marketing to
make the phone ring and keep dialed in, but what you're doing after that, that spend
is you're attempting to connect and hook grapple, if you will, that client in with
these surprises. And these, these, and to me, I guess you could spend a little less
over here and a little over here and you could kind of blend what you're spending on
marketing. I would call what you just showed us is a marketing spend, right?
Oh yeah. We have a whole line item in our marketing calendar called guest gifts.
You know, we buy so many things off season because at this point, we know it's,
it's a machine, like I said, right? Like we use a lot of the same vendors. I know when
those vendors are having sales at this point, we buy in bulk. So I buy a lot of things
off season, November, December is a good time for us to buy, February is a good time usually for us
to buy. So we just started packing it up and bringing it in. That's why I have a storage unit now.
All right. Well, this was enlightening. And the more we hear about, and it's not self-promotion,
it's really not, it's, I always like to call it brand building.
It's connective. Not pieces you're going to throw away. I think so many people will
just put their name on anything. You know, like an ink pen is cool. But how many times do you lose
your ink pen? You know, like, are you going to lose this light? No. But you know how many people
have already come to us to say that's what my kid uses to walk to the end of the driveway with
to get their mail. That's what my kid has got in their car and feel better at night when they
have to like look under their car or something. Like these are like moments that spark conversation.
I just had this crazy thought, Lola. Here's my crazy thought. Anybody seen the Schmidt Lantern?
Right? The kid needs to walk to the driveways. Don't forget the Schmidt Lantern.
Where's the Schmidt Lantern? Oh my God. It's perfect. It's a perpetual brand builder.
You've seen the Schmidt Bear. You've seen the Schmidt. Oh my God. I never really thought
that through. That item that you, did you have the Schmidt Cookie for Valentine's Day? Did you go
to Schmidt's and get the cookie or did you have the Schmidt Cookie? Wow. Little things, you know.
They're going to get flower packets for, you know, Earth Day in April, this little car seed
packet. And so like all summer long, when they're looking at their wildflowers, it'll be us.
Those are the Schmidt flowers. I love it. It was enjoying it. I took away as much as
you gave. So thank you so much. This is way too much fun. Lola Schmidt at Schmidt's AutoCare in
Springboro, Ohio, along with her husband Eric. How many years you guys been there? This is year 16.
Good for you. The next time you see Lola going out and speaking at a conference or reading one of
her great articles that she writes for our industry, you'll have a little more greater
appreciation as to where Lola is coming from on all these great, great ideas. And also go
to my website, type in Schmidt, listen to a couple of the previous episodes we've
done with Lola. So thank you so, so much. I appreciate this discussion on branding.
Thank you. Bye, Lola. Thanks.
Thanks for watching the Professional Automotive Service Industry. Until next time.
About this episode
Lola Schmidt of Schmidt’s AutoCare breaks down how shops build customer loyalty through authentic community involvement, smart branding, and consistent storytelling. She argues that events and outreach create real “footsteps” and long-term relationships—especially when tied to what your team genuinely cares about (like youth STEM and Girl Scouts). Lola also explains differentiation beyond “we fix cars,” highlighting curbside service, tech, and in-house capabilities. The episode gets practical with guest gifts, monthly car-care surprises, and how clean, professional presentation plus honest communication drive repeat business.
In this episode, Carm Capriotto talks with Lola Schmidt, co-owner of Schmidt’s Auto Care, about how shops can rise above the “ordinary” perception of auto repair through intentional event planning, meaningful community engagement, and a fully integrated branding strategy.
Key Topic Points
Make the Shop an Experience: Auto repair isn’t naturally exciting, so shops must create memorable, in-person experiences that bring customers into the bays and build real connections.
Community Events That Matter: Hosting hands-on events, like Girl Scout badge workshops and “Tiny Tech” days, creates lasting impressions and builds trust far beyond what social media can achieve.
Differentiate with Purpose: Identify what makes your shop unique (4-day workweek, curbside service, in-house specialties, team talents) and turn those into consistent marketing stories.
Branding is Everything: From clean visuals and a great-smelling shop to honest, pressure-free service, every touchpoint contributes to a 360 brand experience.
Elevate the Customer Experience: Replace cheap swag with thoughtful, useful gifts that customers actually value, creating a lasting emotional connection.
Create Memorable First Impressions: A curated “unboxing” experience for new customers sets the tone and reinforces your brand from the very first visit.
Respect the Customer’s Time: Efficiency and convenience are key drivers of loyalty; customers will travel further for a shop that consistently delivers both.
Standing out in today’s automotive industry requires more than great repairs; it demands intentional experiences, clear differentiation, and a commitment to making every customer interaction memorable.
Lauralee/Lola Schmidt, Schmidt Auto Care, Springboro, OH, Listen to previous episodes HERE
Thanks to our Partners, NAPA Auto Care and NAPA TRACS
Learn more about NAPA Auto Care and the benefits of being part of the NAPA family by visiting https://www.napaonline.com/en/auto-care
NAPA TRACS will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with onsite training and six days a week of support and local representation. Find NAPA TRACS on the Web at http://napatracs.com/Connect with the Podcast:
