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This is the aftermarket radio network.
It's your weekly Blitz with Chris keeping you in the game.
Are you ready to supercharge your auto repair business?
This is Coach Chris Cotton from Autofix AutoShop Coaching.
The weekly Blitz is where industry expertise and business innovation collide, revving your engines for the week ahead.
Every episode is game-changing insights, up-to-the-minute industry updates and practical tips to shift your business into high gear.
We're talking about stuff you didn't even know you didn't know, folks.
This episode is brought to you by Shop Marketing Pros, the experts in marketing for top-tier auto repair shops.
If you're running a successful shop and want to take it to the next level, Shop Marketing Pros is without a doubt your best option.
From websites and SEO to social media and digital ads, Shop Marketing Pros helps shop owners just like you and me fill our bays, grow our revenue, and build the life we've been working for.
If you're ready to take the guesswork out of your marketing, I want you to visit ShopMarketingPros.com forward slash Chris and get a free digital marketing inspection and start building the shop of your dreams today.
So here we are, episode nine.
I can't believe it.
We're almost to the end.
This one's going to be called Marketing and Customer Retention.
Keep them coming back.
You know, this week we're diving into something that should be treated like a lifeline, but often gets pushed to the back burner until the shop slows down.
It's called Marketing and Customer Retention.
For most of us, it's been a great year.
I've had some pockets where things were a little tough at the beginning of the year for whatever reason.
I'm not really, really sure, but there are some people in the Upper Midwest struggling, people on the East Coast struggling.
You know, one thing I always know is you always have to be marketing.
Okay.
Let's be clear.
If your bays are empty, it's not just a shop problem.
It's a marketing problem.
You can have the best workflow, the best KPIs, the best tools, the best texts.
But if you're not consistently bringing in the right customers and giving them a reason to come back, you're in trouble.
So today we're going to unpack what marketing should look like for modern shops, how to build retention from the first visit, which platforms are worth your time and how to track your return on investment.
There's a difference between growth and survival.
Most shops fall into one of two categories.
You have reactive marketing.
You only market when things slow down.
You throw money at ads without a strategy and you hope for a quick spike to fill the schedule or proactive marketing.
You build your brand over time.
You focus on your ideal customer.
You track ROI and double down on what works.
Marketing isn't optional.
It's the fuel that keeps your pipeline full.
The other thing I'm going to tell you is if you think building your avatar or what your ideal customer looks like is really, really difficult.
It's not.
We're getting ready to open another shop and I was doing the marketing brief for shop marketing pros in it.
And one of them was describe your ideal customer.
So I went on chat GPT took five minutes and came up with three really great options to give them for who my ideal customer is.
So if you're having trouble and you don't know who your ideal customer is, you know, use a shortcut, use chat GPT, make sure you refine it, make sure you give it as much information as possible.
And it should come pretty close to the person or the people that you have in your mind.
Okay.
I want you to also market smarter, not harder.
I really think there's seven things that you can do in modern auto repair marketing.
Obviously number one is Google My Business.
You have to have a Google My Business profile and you have to have control of it.
And you have to make sure that has the right information and claim it, optimize it, update it weekly.
If you need to add photos regularly, something I need to do better at shop staff services, respond to every review.
And then use the post feature to share specials or content.
One of the things that we should do is we should be asking for review before they leave the parking lot of the building, use the QR code or a quick text link.
Make sure you have your CRMs and everything for follow up.
Number two only because you have to have number one in order to do number two is LSAs or local service ads by Google.
Local service ads are different from traditional Google ads.
They appear above regular search results and they let customers call you directly or message you from the listing.
The big thing I like about it is you only pay for actual leads, not clicks.
There's high visibility with customer reviews front and center.
And then Google verifies your shop for added credibility.
So in order to get verified though, you have to jump through some hoops.
It's not too bad.
You have to have a business license and insurance information.
At least one Google My Business review and you have to pass Google's background check and then you set up your service area and your scheduling.
You know, if you're not showing up in LSAs, I think your competitors are now or will soon.
It's one of the easiest ways to get your phone ringing fast.
Most things don't happen quickly, but all of our results with LSAs are within a week to two weeks.
If you got everything up and running, you're good to go and getting phone calls.
Number three, search engine optimization.
You know, you have to create landing pages for core services, brakes, oil services, tires, diagnostics.
Use local keywords like auto repair, your city name in it, blog monthly about seasonal care, tips, FAQs, etc.
Number four, digital ads.
This is kind of like all of them lumped up into one Google meta Facebook Google ads for high intent buyers searching for repair services.
Facebook Instagram for brand awareness and seasonal promotions and use geo targeting and call tracking to track performance.
Number five, retention, marketing, email and texting service reminders, declined work, follow ups, birthday messages, all of those things.
Retention is the cheapest and most effective marketing you can do.
This normally we would talk about one time visit ratios and things like that, but make sure you have your customers returning.
Number six, in shop branding and signage.
Make sure your window signage clearly states what you do have some branded menus.
If you want to have printed handouts, you can business cards.
You can also post service cards with next visit date and promotions and hand those out with your customers.
The one thing I don't like is a shop that's cluttered with wiper blades and interstate batteries and all that crap up front.
Everybody walks in and is like, Hey, I need those batteries right there.
Put all that stuff in the back.
Make sure you have a clear concise message for your branding and what you stand and believe in upfront.
Number seven, community involvement.
You need to sponsor some youth sports teams or local schools partner with nonprofits or host events become a local go to shop that people recognize and trust again, like the book know like and trust.
People have to know why they want to come to you and they know have to know what you stand for.
If we're talking about building retention from the first visit at check in, collect the full contact info.
This drives me absolutely bonkers.
I'm butting heads with the guys in my shop all the time.
Guys, we need name.
We need phone number.
We need address.
We need email address.
Every customer every time when they walk in the door, it's a struggle in most shops.
Most of them nowadays are getting name, phone number, name, email, but they don't get any of the rest of it.
Ask customers how they heard about you.
They're going to give you some varied answers.
But the more you know, the more you can do with it.
You should have a button in your shop management system that lets you record this so that you know when you look at like marketing source reports.
What to do with that information.
Okay.
Next set expectations clearly talk to the customer.
Hey, based on what we're doing, this is when we believe we'll be back in touch with you the next time.
And then we'll go from there for completion and everything like that.
During the visit, send a DVI with notes and photos.
Call or text updates, not just email.
Use a frictionless payment process if you have it, but you should have processes and procedures around that as well.
I would never let a first time customer do text to pay.
Just because of the fraud.
And we've seen some people that are new customers that never come into the store.
Keys got dropped off in the drop box.
They can't make it until after hours.
You do all this.
They give you the credit card and then a week later, the real customers kicking that back.
So think about that a little bit after the visit.
Thank them via text or email.
Ask for a review and then plant the seed for the next visit with service reminders.
Any good marketing program is only as good as how you track your return on investment.
So if we're thinking about like, what are the basics in tracking ROI and what's the word?
Some people may have heard of these things, but they don't know what they mean.
Okay.
So cost per lead or CPL.
It's marketing spend divided by the number of new leads.
CAC, CAC customer acquisition cost is the marketing spend divided by new customers.
And then we also get lifetime value or LTB.
It's the arrow times the number of visits divided by the year times average retention years.
I think I got that right.
But what you're trying to do is you're trying to determine this customer spends $600 every visit.
Are they going to come in two times a year or three times a year?
And then you take that and multiply that times the number of years you think they'll be there.
This is how we know if marketing is a worthwhile investment.
You have to track it.
You have to measure it.
So hopefully that helps you out.
Marketing isn't magic.
It's momentum.
You build it through consistency, through tracking, testing and tweaking.
If you do it right, it doesn't just bring in new customers.
It keeps your base full with the right customers.
If you want help building a shop specific marketing plan, retention strategy or figuring out if LSAs are right for you.
You need to go to ShopMarketingPros.com.
If you want to go to ShopMarketingPros.com forward slash Chris, you can.
But get somebody to help you figure out what you need in order to succeed.
It's going to take us right into this.
I want to give another shout out to our sponsor Shop Marketing Pros.
They're the only marketing company I recommend and they handle all the marketing for my own shops as well.
If you're serious about growth, you need strategies that actually work.
Better websites, higher Google rankings and ads that bring real customers through your doors.
I want you to go visit ShopMarketingPros.com forward slash Chris and partner with a team that understands your business because every great shop deserves marketing that's just as great.
Thanks for tuning in to the Weekly Blitz.
Remember, it's time to rise, grind and keep your mindset positive.
Until next time, this is Coach Chris Cotton signing off.
Have a great day, everybody.
You've been listening to the Weekly Blitz with Coach Chris Cotton on the aftermarketradionetwork.com.
Follow Chris on your favorite podcast listening out.
Let him know what you'd like him to cover.
His email is in the show notes.
Chris is all for advancing the aftermarket.
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