Building Your Auto Shop Through Customer Satisfaction
It goes without saying that customer satisfaction is good for your shop’s bottom line, but building enthusiastically satisfied customers that are fans of your shop can also build your marketing. You see it all the time, as fans of Coke or Nike or Apple become evangelists for the brands.
Of course, it’s easier to build excitement around retail products, whether it’s food or clothing or sporting goods, because these are things people want to buy and enjoy spending their money on.
While some car and truck enthusiasts like buying accessories to enhance their vehicle’s appearance or performance, most vehicle owners don’t enjoy spending money on maintenance or repairs.
Therefore, creating satisfied, loyal, enthusiastic customers goes beyond doing an excellent job maintaining and repairing their family vehicles. You also have to build trust and deliver personalized service that makes your customers feel valued. R.O. Writer has a number of features to help you do that.
Modernize Your Customer Communications
You can start by communicating with your customers in the way they prefer, and the simple fact is that most people prefer text and email to calls these days.
While people don’t always answer their phones, they do check their texts and emails, making text and email a quicker and more efficient way to reach your customers. You can now text right out of R.O. Writer, and you can include pictures, videos, estimates and repair orders.
Email is integrated with our Marketing feature to send follow-up marketing. A built-in word processor with pre-written email templates is included for the most common email notifications.
Increase Trust with Digital Vehicle Inspections
R.O. Writer’s Digital Vehicle Inspection (DVI) app is a tremendous tool for building customer trust and increasing your sales. Your techs can text their inspection findings and recommendations – with pictures and video – right to your customer’s mobile device.
This kind of information included in digital vehicle inspections makes it easy for your customers to fully understand your recommendations, and to quickly and confidently make decisions on them. It increases trust with customers and makes them much more likely to agree to your recommended repairs.
R.O. Writer’s email and text functionality can help you in a lot of other ways, as well.
Follow Up on Declined or Postponed Jobs
When your customers come in for a repair or a regular service appointment, your technicians may find things that don’t need to be dealt with right away – things that can be delayed but they want the customer to keep an eye on.
Maybe tire treads are showing wear, and while they’re still in the “Good” range, they’re edging toward “time to start considering new tires.” Or perhaps their brake pads are starting to wear thin, not to the point of needing immediate replacement, but to the point that you want the customer to be aware of the issue.
For any services the customer declines, let them know you’ll be following up, and alert them to any signs of trouble they should look out for in the meantime. Set yourself reminders to follow up via text and email through R.O. Writer.
Following up with your customers on needed repairs is one more way to build trust. It shows that you care about them and their safety, and most customers will appreciate that. Getting them scheduled before there is an issue also avoids the chance that they will get their repair done at another shop.
Building Your Business Through Testimonials, Reviews and Referrals
Once you have delivered exceptional service and built that trust with your customers, how do you capitalize on the goodwill you’ve generated?
Through testimonials, reviews and referrals.
The value of customers that are not simply satisfied with your work and your service, but truly enthusiastic about your business, is enormous. Having your auto repair shop recommended to a potential customer by someone they know carries a lot of weight.
Likewise, someone else singing your shop’s praises in a testimonial or online review has far more impact than you doing it yourself in an ad or on your website. Think about it: a friend’s recommendation has way more credibility than any advertisement.
The first step to getting positive testimonials, reviews and referrals is to simply ask for them, and what better time than when you hand over their newly repaired car? If they agree to share their positive experience, a photo of the happy customer with their vehicle is a great complement to a testimonial.
A video is even better, as long as the customer is comfortable with that. Any time you ask a client to let you use their name or likeness to promote your shop, it’s best to get them to sign a release form giving you permission.
TIP: Once you’ve gathered several positive testimonials, add a “Testimonials” page to your website to feature them. Customer testimonials also make great content for your social media channels. Video testimonials are especially impactful.
Once your customer has left your shop, you can also use R.O. Writer’s text and email capabilities to follow up on your exceptional service with requests for reviews and referrals. For review requests, your text or email can have a hyperlink that takes visitors to your shop’s page on Google Storefront to leave a Google Review.
TIP: Managing your reputation online takes effort. Unlike your website’s “Testimonials” page, you have a lot less control over Google Reviews. You could get negative reviews from customers that are unhappy with a repair, your service, the price, or any number of things.
Monitor your online reviews and respond to any complaints you see. Be positive, address their concerns and provide your solutions if possible. It’s important that a business owner is seen addressing complaints directly, and maturely. Try to keep emotion out of it.
To encourage referrals, make it clear you value your loyal customers, and you would appreciate them recommending your shop to any friend or acquaintance who needs their vehicle serviced. Include a digital coupon or code they can share with friends or family to get an introductory discount at your shop.
TIP: Adding a referral incentive can increase the number of referrals you receive. Whether it’s a free service, a discount on their next visit or a gift card, a reward for referrals strengthens the bond with your existing customers and encourages them to continue spreading the word.
Enthusiastically satisfied customers are the goal. R.O. Writer has the tools to help you create those levels of satisfaction, and then use it to help promote your shop.
