Marketing strategies for car repair shops are all about establishing and nurturing relationships with customers. When creating advertising for your auto repair shop, your goal should be to convince customers you’re trustworthy and have their vehicle’s best interest in mind.
Offering a free vehicle inspection for new and current customers is one of the best auto repair marketing ideas because you get them to come to your shop and begin a relationship or nurture an existing one. The idea is to get customers in the door. Even if they don’t spend money that day, they will remember you and come back in the future.
Auto Repair Marketing Ideas
Make sure to use your website, email marketing, social media and direct mail to highlight any free services you offer. A potential customer may not need your auto shop’s most expensive services the first time they visit you. Instead, a customer visiting you for the first time may only be looking for something simple like an oil change. It’s also possible they don’t need any service at that moment, but will bookmark your website or join your mailing since they are now aware you offer a free vehicle inspection. You want both new and existing customers to trust you when they do need major repairs. Customers will appreciate and remember when you throw in a freebie with no strings attached.
In addition to a free vehicle inspection, here are some additional suggested services offered for free by reputable auto repair shops:
- Alignment check
- Tire repair and rotation
- Windshield wiper installation
- Battery testing
- Initial diagnostic scans
- TPMS light and check-engine-light evaluation
- Free estimates
- Customer drop-off and pick-up services within a nearby radius
- Loaner Vehicles & Rental Car Discounts
Automotive Repair CRM
Once you’ve established a relationship with a customer, you can then utilize a
customer relationship management (CRM)
tool to nurture your leads. An automotive repair CRM is designed to help you increase customer satisfaction. For example, you can email updates, specific to the customer’s car make and model, about how to care for their vehicle during each season. There are email marketing platforms for auto repair shops to help you remain in contact with the customer at every step, from their initial consultation with you to scheduling follow-up appointments.
The strongest auto repair marketing ideas involve creating customers who trust in your services. Not only should your customers be aware of your auto repair services, they need to be excited about their experience and want to share their excitement with others. When you remain connected to them, it is likely they will bring you additional referrals.
These new referrals will then come in for their free vehicle inspection, see your shop, meet your technicians and begin a relationship. Even if no money is exchanged initially, it will likely increase your car count in the long run, in turn increasing your new customer count and effectively eliminating your customer churn rates.
If you are looking for auto repair marketing ideas, contact us. We specialize in auto repair shop marketing and can help you stand out from your competitors.
