While many shop owners may not enjoy a harsh winter, there's always that feeling that a tough winter is good for business. But is it?

 

Last year was one of the worst winters on record in the northeast. There was a ton of winter-related work. But, when you factor the days closed due to snow and ice storms, sales did not reflect any real increase.

 

I know I may be simplifying this, since there are a number of reasons why business may slow down in the winter months. However, to rely on a tough winter to bring in service and repair work may not be your best sales strategy.

 

The winter will be what it is; tough or mild. We cannot help that. But, what we can do is prepare for either scenario, which is building your customer retention rate by proactively identifying needed future work on each vehicle, discussing all future work with each customer, creating service reminders and creating a follow up call list to contact your customers when those service reminders go out.

 

We cannot predict the future, but we can help create it. Start today with each and every customer to ensure that they come back to you for all their service needs.

 

Remember this: Every car in your shop today will need a future LOF service, future services and future repairs. The question is, will they be coming back to you?

Source: Will the Mild Winter Hurt Business?