When Does a Transmission or Auto-Service Business no Longer Need to Advertise? - Transmission Digest

When Does a Transmission or Auto-Service Business no Longer Need to Advertise?

Primarily, we cut back or quit advertising because at some point our egos tell us that we are so well known in our communities that people will just automatically come to us. That’s not true and never will be. Because we are a service business people look for us only when they need us, which for some is not very often. We are not “top of mind” like the pizzeria they call every week. When they need services like ours they have to look for them, and that usually happens when they are already in some type of trouble.

When Does a Transmission or Auto-Service Business no Longer Need to Advertise?

It’s Your Business

Author: Terry Greenhut, Business Editor
Subject Matter: Marketing
Issue: Advertising

It’s Your Business

  • Author: Terry Greenhut, Business Editor
  • Subject Matter: Marketing
  • Issue: Advertising

The simple answer is “never.” It never doesn’t need to advertise. So why then is it that so many shops either cut back or completely discontinue advertising over time? An interesting question with a lot of wrong answers, but no right ones.

When Coca-Cola, the marketing giant of the 20th and 21st centuries, stops advertising because it thinks it has enough customers, you can too – but don’t hold your breath. Coke will never stop advertising or even cut back, for that matter, because it knows something that you should as well: The audience keeps changing. In Coca-Cola’s case, old Coke drinkers go to their final reward, but new ones are born to take their place. For you it might be that old-timers quit driving or drive only 10 miles a week instead of the 300 they used to, but they are being followed by young people who still love to drive and often spend much more money maintaining and shining their cars than their predecessors did fixing theirs.

Primarily, we cut back or quit advertising because at some point our egos tell us that we are so well known in our communities that people will just automatically come to us. That’s not true and never will be. Because we are a service business people look for us only when they need us, which for some is not very often. We are not “top of mind” like the pizzeria they call every week. When they need services like ours they have to look for them, and that usually happens when they are already in some type of trouble.

As you drive down the street think about what catches your eye; the bright and bold, the familiar, but not so much the service that you need only once in a while or have never needed before. I’ll bet you can’t remember where the appliance-repair shop is in your town because it’s been forever since you’ve been in there, but the supermarket with its specials brightly lit in the windows gets your attention every time.

When you need the service business that doesn’t normally register in your mind as you drive down the street, where do you go to find it? You might start looking harder for its sign or a billboard as you drive along, you might ask a friend for a recommendation or see who Angie’s list wants to send you to, you might even go old style and look through the yellow pages, but most people who are computer savvy have a search engine that pops into their minds immediately whenever they want to find anything. For myself, and I dare say for most, it’s “Google,” as in “Let me Google that.”

That’s great. Google is a free service. So if they find you on Google you’re home free. You got your customer and it didn’t cost you anything. Not quite true. It’s terrific if you’re the only business that fits the criteria the user entered, but if there are lots of choices what would make them choose you? In a word, advertising – the kind you see at the top of any category you search for online.

Here’s the problem. Every business with a web site is trying to be the first one listed in their category or at minimum make it onto the first page of results, because it’s been proved time and time again that searchers rarely, if ever, go past the first page or two of results to find what they want unless they have a specific company name they want to find. Now it’s true that you can pay some Internet marketing company to try to move you up in the ratings to get you closer to the front of the pack, but that’s really iffy. As the different search engines’ criteria change for how they decide these ratings, you could be on top of the heap today and at the bottom tomorrow.

The only way to be certain to be on the first page and ahead of all the free listings is to buy the advertising spot from the search engines you think people will most likely employ when searching. Choosing carefully can save you money. We all know that Google is the big guy in the business but there are others that you and lots of folks use. Before you invest in advertising on the basis of your personal likes, do some research to find out where the best bang for your buck really lies. Get stats on how many searches each engine performs.

As hard as it is to believe, there is still a fair percentage of people who don’t use the Internet to find what they need. Some don’t have computers, smart phones or access to the Internet, and there are others who’ve never learned how to search online or just don’t want to. For those we still need to be represented in the yellow pages. I know we all hate the thought of spending a lot on print advertising, especially when we believe that most people won’t be looking at it, but we don’t need to approach it the way we used to either. We no longer need to buy full- or half-page ads trying to outdo everyone else, because now most of your competitors want to do the same thing you’re doing: maintain a presence in print. It’s not their primary source of advertising. Nowadays it comes under the heading of “Leave no stone unturned.” We want and need every customer we can get. We don’t have the luxury of telling ourselves that if someone isn’t savvy enough to find us on the Internet then we don’t need him or her as a customer.

Facebook has become a popular site to advertise on once you know the ins and outs of it, but anything that leads potential customers to your own website is the key. All you need to do (as if it were that easy) is to make your website interesting, exciting, informative and easy enough to navigate that people will want to visit and stay long enough to persuade themselves to come and see you.

Seeking out new customers is always important, but advertising to the ones you already have is just as imperative. You don’t ever want them to forget you or think they can get a better deal somewhere else.

Many of our own customers are lured away by ads offering the same thing they think they’re getting from us for a lower price. As we know, the truth is that they are probably giving up something to get the lower price, but they don’t know it. By advertising to them continually you can keep pointing out the benefits of your service and warn about the pitfalls of cheaper service that isn’t really producing what it offers.

If you have any customers who have tried the cheaper brake job or whatever and have experienced a total nightmare, ask them for testimonials to those facts. It’s always better coming from a customer than it is from you.

Advertise specials to your own customers. Why not? You give breaks to get new customers in the door. It’s not good to assume that because someone already does business with you they don’t need to be offered anything. Something for their loyalty would be nice. It will also make them feel they’re important to you. Make sure you give breaks on services, not on repairs. Repairs are your profit makers. Services are usually breakeven propositions that give you a chance to see which repairs are necessary. Try not to confuse the two.

When you give some kind of a premium to your regular customer, do it with some amount of flare and excitement. Act as if you really want to do something to show your appreciation for their ongoing business. Whatever you do, don’t have a dejected look on your face when an old customer hands you a coupon. You should welcome it. That customer is giving you another opportunity to look under their car to see what else you can find to fix.

Whatever you give away promoting to old or new customers is a cost of doing business and is often a lot less expensive and offers a far better return than the money you used to spend for big hit-and-miss (mostly miss) yellow-page ads. A normal advertising budget for an automotive-repair or transmission business is about 5% of gross sales, so anything you give away should be chalked up to that budget. Today, without the big bite of yellow-page advertising there might just be enough for all your other promotions without having to go over budget.

Look for opportunities to do favors for customers. Going out of your way to help someone who needs a ride somewhere or is desperate to have a job finished quickly can pay off big time in word of mouth, the best form of advertising there is. Word of mouth more than anything means, “I trust them so you, as my friend, should too.”

Get more involved in your community. It’s where you do the bulk of your business. Find worthy causes to support that will have people mentioning your kindness and generosity. Volunteer some of your time. Often it is more appreciated than money.

Set up an auto-repair and service advice booth at a local fair. Let people stop by and talk with you about their cars. When people meet you in a non-threatening situation and begin to like you it becomes a lot easier for them to come see and trust you when they do have a problem.

Remember that advertising and promotion are ongoing. The audience continually changes and you want to be ready to appeal to as many potential customers as possible.

In these challenging times Terry Greenhut wants everyone to have a copy of his 450-page book, “How to Market and Sell Automotive and Transmission Service and Repair.” For only $98.32 you will receive two copies of the industry textbook that will teach you all the techniques necessary to make profitable sales and retain your customers for future business. Keep one and give the other to an employee, a competitor or perhaps that account you’ve been trying to land or thank for their business. Please call 914-882-3003 or visit www.TerryGreenhut.com to order any of Terry’s training materials or take your 20-question self- and business-evaluation test. Although no one can see the results but you, it’s a real eye opener.

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