By Denise Caspersen
As temperatures around the country increase so do the number of mechanical repairs, according to Automotive Service Association member-businesses. Nearly 85 percent of shop owners who responded to ASA's 2001 “How's Your Business?” survey said summer was their busiest time of year.
With summer being the busiest season and Monday being the busiest day of the week, perhaps it's time to consider investing a portion of the near $15,000 in annual advertising in the retention of new summer customers.
With greater than 90 percent of mechanical repair businesses using some form of advertising, focusing advertising dollars on new customer or walk-in customer retention is bound to generate an increase in revenue.
Currently, the most highly utilized advertising medium for mechanical repair businesses that requires directly spending money is the Yellow Pages, followed by direct mail. This relationship of getting new customers into the shop and then reminding them of your presence is one way to increase your customer base.
The other way is through the cost-free form of advertising - word of mouth. The key to word-of-mouth advertising is proper repair and extraordinary customer service.
ASA's Information Center has a large number of customer service articles available within the Members Only section of the Web site (www.asashop.org), or you can phone Denise Caspersen, ASA's research management specialist, at (800) 272-7467, ext. 236, for customer service articles and other marketing articles.
|
Stat Corner is written by Denise Caspersen, ASA's research management specialist. She can be reached at (800) 272-7467, ext. 236.
|