With the close of summer, typically a mechanical service center's busiest season, it's a fine time to evaluate the types of customers requiring your services.

A survey conducted by Simmons, a national market research firm, reports that slightly more than half (51.6 percent) of the adults who had any maintenance or repair work done to their vehicles were women; 48.4 percent were men. These percentages are similar for the collision service centers, which reported 50.5 percent of women and 49.1 percent of men had paint or bodywork done within the year.

Also, according to Simmons, almost one in four (23.4 percent) mechanical center customers were between the ages of 35 to 44. This also closely resembles collision center figures of 23.7 percent.

Interestingly, more than half of the customers receiving service from mechanical centers and collision centers are married. That's 60 percent for mechanical centers and 59.1 percent for collision centers.

Customer income plays a part in repairs, maintenance and bodywork. Nearly one-third (30.9 percent) of mechanical service customers surveyed earn greater than $75,000 annually. That percentage increases for collision centers with 37.5 percent of their customers earning greater than $75,000 annually.

So, when there's someone knocking, let him or her in.

Stat Corner is written by Denise Caspersen, ASA's research management specialist. She can be reached at (800) 272-7467, ext. 236.

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