Repeat Customers: Your Secret to Auto Repair Shop Growth
The lifeblood of your auto shop is sales revenue, and that revenue is largely generated by repeat visits from loyal customers. Enticing a new customer into your shop requires a substantial investment in marketing, while retaining customers is far less expensive.
But to maintain those customer relationships, and grow your business, you need a few strategies that put the customer, and their needs, first. Try out these three approaches to working with existing customers and see how they impact your bottom line.
Change Your Approach to Selling
A positive sales experience doesn’t just increase your revenue – it can increase customer satisfaction and retention as well.
Customers say that the ideal salesperson 1) actually listens to their needs, 2) isn’t pushy, and 3) provides relevant information in an easily understandable way.
Traditional selling puts the product (parts and service) at the heart of every interaction. But it can also erode customer trust and prevent return visits. The solution? Instead of focusing only on the short term, your team can move towards “consultative selling,” acting as trusted advisors to your customers.
In this approach, the focus is on the long-term functionality of the vehicle. Customer and advisor work together to identify immediate needs and longer-term priorities, and plan maintenance in a way that respects the customer’s budget and keeps them coming back.
To make this approach a reality, however, you’ll need the right technology to document issues and communicate with the customer over time. Follow up is essential to building lasting customer connections.
TIP: Digital vehicle inspection technology can be an essential part of your consultative sales strategy. When customers can see the wear and tear on their vehicle, it’s easier to have the conversation about immediate needs vs. longer-term concerns.
When it comes to auto repair, seeing really is believing.
Implement Customer Loyalty Programs
If you don’t have one already, a customer loyalty program is a great way to encourage repeat visits and increase referral rates. There are many ways to implement a customer loyalty program, whether you consider a points system, referral bonuses, cash back, or even a digital “stamp card.”
Another way to boost customer loyalty is to partner with other local businesses to offer discounts. Brand partnerships can increase traffic to all the businesses participating, and also offer you more visibility in your community.
TIP: Everyone loves receiving extra rewards! Don’t be shy about offering bonus points at birthdays, holidays, or the anniversary of a customer’s first visit to your shop. The boost to your brand reputation can be substantial, and the cost is not.
Enhance Customer Communications
It’s easy for customers to forget about servicing their vehicles, in their busy day-to-day lives. Customer communications can help keep your brand, and the importance of routine maintenance top of mind.
Whether you are sharing seasonal maintenance tips, best practices for winter driving, or even discount coupons for your services in a quieter period, your customers will appreciate more frequent communications – if there is a benefit to them.
TIP: Customer communications must offer genuine value to be appreciated by your customer base. Customers see right through communications that are only focused on pushing products.
How Auto Shop Management Software Can Build Strong Customer Relationships
Auto repair shop software, like R.O. Writer, is much more than a tool to build shop efficiency and increase ARO. A well-run shop is customer-centric, and your repair shop software has a variety of features and functions to keep the focus on customer satisfaction.
From service writing tools that build accurate repair orders quickly, to parts catalogues that help you secure the best price for your customer, to workflow management functions that keep vehicles moving through steadily, shop management software has a host of features that support customers as well as shop owners and managers. To learn more about how these solutions can be central to your customer retention plan, book a conversation with one of our experts today.
