The April 2019 issue of CarCare Business is now available online. You can flip through it here, but first, a few words from the Associate Publisher of CarCare Business, Shirley Brown.
Which One Are You?
I’m sure you’re ready for spring because it always brings in more cars for service.
After this severe winter, with its regular freezing and thawing, many roads are in very poor shape, with lots of potholes, cracks and frost bumps. And those broken roads are going to play right into your repair hands!
Generating business
But when you don’t have potholes to depend upon for repair, what are you doing to get vehicles into your bays? Do you have an outside salesperson that announces your strengths and services? Do you have a website that advertises your great service, workmanship, fast service, diagnostics, etc.? Or do you do the clever thing and advise your clients about their vehicles and the maintenance services the vehicle requires to keep it safe to drive? As we understand it, there are still repair shops that don’t use this method for repeat business and client safety. That’s pretty slipshod ownership!
By keeping track of maintenance issues and needed repairs, you can keep a complete record of your clients’ vehicles to be sure they remain roadworthy.
Shop owners that do not keep track of these things rely on “drive by” traffic, do just what is needed, charge a fee— usually less than an accredited repair shop—and it’s on to the next vehicle.
Seeing the benefits
It’s these shops that give a bad name to the industry and to other conscientious and honest service repair owners… the ones who charge more but do a better job and keep the vehicle safe. The conscientious ones stand behind their work and have warranties to back it up. Why on earth can’t these other garage owners see the difference and step up to the plate, do the job right and in turn build a better business with a regular customer service base?
As we’ve seen many times before, poor service and poor reputation negatively impact honest and hardworking repair shops. They also resonate back to the general public, who start to believe that all repair shops are like that. C’mon, let’s get it right and do right by the customers that come into the shop.
For those of you who are “the other garage owners,” you and your customers may want to go to this website—carcare.org—and see how you can help your customers and, in reality, help your business as well. You’re not going to make it into the future if you don’t!
Click here to read the April 2019 edition of CarCare Business
