RR 368: Shop Talk 4. Gaining New Customers Through Marketing Automation.

The Panel:

Doug Callaghan, CEO Vic’s Service Centre in Wainright, Alberta Canada is the winner of the 2016 Auto Care Association ACE (Automotive Career and Education) award.  Doug shares his story of transformation, recognized by Auto Care, that earned him this recognition.

Doug made a significant decision in early 2015 when he took how his business was operating and threw it all in the garbage. He started from scratch. Everything. He says, “a lot of owners that ask for the help and invest in the outside training yet fail to provide the leadership to make those ideas and plans become reality, I was not going to let that happen. I wanted to see an increase in our net profit and a better life for myself and my team”. He continues that commitment today. Doug has experience working with disaster plans with the Credit Union Board that he chairs. Find other episodes that feature Doug HERE.

David Roman began his automotive career in 1999, attending an automotive technical school at a local community college. While attending college, he took a part-time job at a large parts retailer, hoping to gain some experience in the field. This part-time job turned into full-time employment, as he was promoted to management, culminating in placement as a store manager in East Central Illinois.

David discovered a passion for helping people and sharing his automotive knowledge. This passion for serving others allowed him the opportunity to successfully manage multi-million dollar operations in Illinois, the St. Louis area, and eventually Kansas City. His approach to customer service garnered him several accolades and awards, something he eventually wanted to bring to automotive repair and service.

In 2012, he opened Done With Care Auto Repair with the goal of bringing exceptional customer service, transparency, and honest work to his clients. The business was started with only some savings, no prior clients, and no history. Over the last six years, David has been able to bring a servant’s mentality to helping his clients with their automotive needs resulting in loyal customers, excellent reviews, and a solid reputation.  Find other episodes that feature David HERE.

William J. DeBoer (Bill Jr.) is Co-owner and Vice President of DeBoer’s Auto Sales & Service. Bill has been responsible for bringing innovations in daily operations to the full-service, high-tech auto repair facility for 20+ years. Bill was able to fuse his passions for technology and cars with a Certificate in Automotive Technology, followed by a B.S. in Business Management from Penn State.

He joined his family business, founded by his father three decades ago, shortly after. Today, Bill runs business development, sales, customer services, process improvement, human resources, and technician education programs.

Bill is an Accredited Automotive Manager from the Automotive Management Institute as well as a CERTIFIED MASTER DEALER® from the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. His National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) credentials includes: Master Technician, L1 Advanced Engine Performance, P2 Parts Specialist, and X1 Undercar Specialist. Listen to Bill’s podcast episodes HERE.

Key Talking Points

• Car count- gaining new customers
• Lead Generation
  • Advertising with marketing value for customer- free report, booklet etc   
  • Target specific audience- establish yourself as the  expert and trusted source, build value
  • Can’t just rely on great service- get in front of customers on a consistent basis with pain points.
  • Your website needs content that relates to common problems for car repairs- organic marketing without paying for keyword
  • Delaying the sale and establish trust.
  • Designed to target higher conversions than social and mail.
• Video content is strong and important as content today.
  • Video within blog post.
  • Two to three minutes long videos.
• Bill tracks anyone who visits his site.
• Doug is opening a brand new shop
  • Going from two locations to one Nine bay
  • Will need to track new people who are coming to see the shop
• Organic SEO. Google puts maps way ahead or other content.
• Social media- customers want to know about your employees and be engaged with them.
  • They want to see you and know you before they do business with you.
• David Roman – Return customers spend 6 times more than first time customer
  • The more they spend on the first visit the higher probability they will come back.
• Joey Coleman “Never Lose a Customer Again”  Enrolled in a workflow process: (marketing automation)
  • A welcome video, walk the customer through the process during their first appointment, follow up phone call/email/thank you card,
  • 2 weeks send a gift, 30-60 days after custom facebook audience
  • 90 days after reminder alert for next appointment. Using an automated marketing program (Hubspot).
• Build your ideal customer avatar. See podcast episodes on ideal customer HERE.
• Create fresh organic content:
  • David posted a family vacation picture got more engagement than one on parts or service.
  • You need a unique message

Resources Mentioned:

• Link to the ‘BOOKS’ page highlighting all books discussed in the podcast library HERE. Leaders are readers.
• Thanks to David Roman, Bill DeBoer and Dough Callaghan for their contribution to the aftermarket’s premier podcast.
• Leave me an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one of them.

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This episode is brought to you by Federal-MogulMotorparts and Garage Gurus. With brands like Moog, Felpro, Wagner Brake, Champion, Sealed Power, FP Diesel and more, they’re the parts techs trust.  For serious technical training and support – online, onsite and on-demand – Garage Gurus is everything you need to know. Find out more at fmmotorparts.com  and fmgaragegurus.com