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Source: Feature in Ratchet and Wrench Magazine https://www.ratchetandwrench.com/magazine Vehicle Delivery Process: The First Step to Your Next Sale Every fall I have my chimney cleaned. For years, I would search for a reputable local company. Then, 10 years ago, I met Mike at AAA Chimney, and he became my go-to guy. Each year, Mike returns and earns my trust over and over. You may wonder if it's because he cleans my fireplace better than anyone else or if it's the price. While those are reasonable questions, the real reason why he gets my business year after year is simple: Before he leaves my home, Mike takes the time to review exactly what he did, gives me tips on how to best care for my fireplace and then he books the next appointment for the following year. In essence, he performs what we know as a vehicle delivery process, or in Mike’s case, a chimney cleaning delivery process. Performing a comprehensive vehicle delivery process and booking the next appointment in our industry is nothing new. Many shops have been doing it for decades. However, there are still many repair shops that have not adopted this goldmine strategy. The vehicle delivery process helps to create that memorable experience that gives the customer a compelling reason to return. When combined with scheduling the next appointment, your repair shop stays branded in your customers’ minds, improving customer retention and helping to ensure future sales. The auto repair business today is not like it was. Even 10 years ago we would measure customer retention with a factor of four, meaning that customers visited your repair shop about four times a year for routine services. Today, unless there’s a breakdown or a warning light, you’re lucky to see your typical customer once a year for routine service. Consumers these days don’t have the same sense of urgency regarding vehicle maintenance as they once did. Just think about all those customers who have traveled over 15,000 miles in their vehicles since their last oil change. This trend has been slowly creeping up for the past 15 years, if not longer. There’s another factor we need to consider: if the length of time between visits is too long, the average consumer loses some of the emotional connection they have with their repair shop. What you don’t want to happen is when the oil maintenance light does come on, your customer just finds the most convenient shop to get the oil service done. Think that doesn’t happen? Unless you're fortunate enough to be in a heavily populated area with no competition, and car counts are never a problem, you will benefit from a well-defined vehicle delivery process; a customer touch point that brings the entire customer experience full circle. Vehicle delivery is never a transaction. It is an opportunity to keep building the relationship. It’s also essential that your service staff discusses and books the next appointment. Everyone reading this knows that booking the next appointment is a strategy being done by dentists, doctors, hairdressers, nail salons, eye doctors, pet groomers, and yes, even Mike at AAA Chimney. Booking the next appointment is not limited to oil change services either. Just consider all those recommendations you make on just about every car you service each day. Why not create a process that helps to fill up your calendar with profitable future services needed by your existing customers? Don’t rely solely on your CRM program either. The impact of an engaging vehicle delivery process is powerful. Every customer that leaves your shop today will need future services and repairs. The question is: Where will they go? Make your vehicle delivery process your first step to your next sale. View full article

The increase in fuel prices has affected every person and every business in some way. How is it affecting your repair shop? Or is it? And, if it is, what strategies are you implementing to help with maintaining sales and helping customers cope with paying more at the pump?

Every shop owners wants to continue to grow their business, and that means that one of the strategies is to attract new customers to replace the customers we lose. By the way, all businesses lose customers for a variety of reasons: They move away, buy a car model you don't work on, they may pass away, etc. The question is, how do you attract new customers? Do you use discount coupon marketing or rely on brand awareness strategies, or a combination of both?

This tip actually comes from a fellow Elite Business Coach; The Tire Rotation is the New Oil Change Service! I agree! With extended oil changes and people waiting until the oil change maintenance light to tell them when they need an oil change, rather than your Windshield Oil Sticker, shops need a way to get people back into the bays. Also, let's face it, the average consumer DOES NOT change their oil as often as they should. One of the best ways to get your customer to return to you is to schedule a tire rotation every six months. Wrap the tire rotation around a vehicle multipoint inspection and you now have a new powerful sales strategy and customer retention plan.

We sell service, not products. Yes, we sell water pumps, brake pads and air filters. And yes, those are products. But it’s the service we sell, the customer experience, which lives on well beyond the customer leaves your shop. Think of it this way; when you buy a watch, or a new cell phone, the experience of what you purchase continues after the sale. When we replace a customer’s water pump or air filter, there is very little about those items that lives on beyond the sale. But, what does live on is the customer experience. The better the experience, the more likely the customer will return to you. So focus on the customer experience, not the products you install.

Retail stores have known for a long time that adding or increasing the size of shopping carts also increases sales. Consumers may go to the store with a list, but as they pass through the aisles, having a cart makes it easy to add to that list. While your repair shop does not use shopping cart, the same strategy can used. Every customer that books an appointment as done so with some sort of list; an oil change service, a brake issue, tire rotation, etc. Through an effective multipoint inspection and looking at service schedules, you can make suggestions to your customers that can add to their cart; essentially increasing sales per vehicle. One last thing: Always make service and repair suggestions to the customer that is in their best interest and have value, and you can’t go wrong. It’s actually great customer service.

A long time customer came in the other day for a LOF service and an annual state inspection. He also needed a battery, but said that he would come back for it. When I tried to explain to him that we had to jump start the car, he said he knows about it and he will come back. This did not seem right. Being me, I pushed a little; “Tom, why won’t you let me install the new battery today?” He was silent. I then said, “Tom, you are going to buy the battery from someone, why not buy it from me.” He replied, “Joe, I can’t afford your price.” I replied, “Tell me what you want me to do.” He said, “Nothing, I will put the battery in myself and save the labor.” I told him, “No Tom, I will put the battery in, you pay for the battery and I’ll pay for the labor, deal?” He was silent again, and then said, “Yes, you got a deal and thank you.” Sometimes, you need to close the book on sales strategy, profit margins, and quotas and just do what you feel you need to do. Sometimes, a compromise is a win.