Where is everyone?

[UsedTireShop]

Man o man I know it is Christmas but where the heck is everyone. I can even give away repairs. I do not recall seeing it this slow in recent years. I am throwing everything out there and not seeing any response. Just paid over $200 to text blast an oil change special and have only gotten 2 responses for unrelated items. This is scary.

[Trealubit]

I hear ya. December for us historically has dip in sales. But picks right back up January. But oddly we are pretty busy this month so far.

 

We have been doing a lot of marketing to existing customers and amping up social media and net presence early this fall which i think is contributing.

 

May take sometime before that text blast reap dividends. Marketing is not always on demand.

 

I get sent offers all the time from other business thru text, email or postcards but most time never act on it until it becomes a priority for me.

 

Give it time.

 

 

 

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[mspecperformance]

marketing can be a hit or miss. We try to play the law of averages where if you send out X you should get a return percentage or whatever that might be. The highs and lows of marketing can and should be anticipated especially when factors that MAY play a role such as climate, time of year, holidays, etc. The best advice is to just hang in there, evaluate your marketing, and think of things you might have more time to do now. You may also want to just jump in your car and go out and meet people. Go to businesses, hand out cards, shake hands. You have nothing to lose there.

 

 

An off tangent thing to think about is how do you help to even out these highs and lows? Something I have been thinking about but I have seen work for some shops (very very very tightly ran shops) is to train your customer base to pre book appointments. I know this is A LOT easier than it sounds however if you implement a system and really make it a part of your business operations you'll probably start seeing it pay dividends within 6-12 months. It is certainly something on my list to try!

[UsedTireShop]

Funny how you mentioned going out and meeting people in the area. My wife and I just finished making little packages with biz cards, Andes candies, mini candy canes and a post card. Gotta be honest. I am a little gun shy to get out there.

[FROGFINDER]

Dress up as Santa Claus and pass out candy canes and cards! Have ladies day special with Chippendale mechanics on staff.

Edited December 13, 2016 by FROGFINDER

[alfredauto]

Opposite problem here. All the college kids needed to go home this month in the snow. Non stop tires brakes batteries and wipers. I'm not complaining. Sad part of the story is I'm in a ghost town now until the end of January.

[xrac]

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[Handson]

Trealubit nailed it. You need to advertise in October and November for December. Marketing should be proactive not reactive.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Handson

[PAPShop]

When the weather is bitterly cold, well below zero, it was a little quiet except for batteries, alternators and ditch pull out damage. When the weather warmed up, it has picked up. Temperatures and snowfall usually effects December business around here

 

This year has been odd as far as seasonal work. We are still getting cars in that would normally be put away for winter. We have 2 El Caminos and 2 66 Mustangs and a Grand National.

[Jeff]

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[LPANDSONSAUTOCARE]

I like that business card, don't mind if I use it in the near future!

 

 

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[FROGFINDER]

You all have a new year coming up. Your customers are your best sales people. Business is like fishing You gotta keep bait on your hooks at all times.

[FROGFINDER]

Man o man I know it is Christmas but where the heck is everyone. I can even give away repairs. I do not recall seeing it this slow in recent years. I am throwing everything out there and not seeing any response. Just paid over $200 to text blast an oil change special and have only gotten 2 responses for unrelated items. This is scary.

Try this asap. Go to the bank and get $200.00 worth of $2.00 bills. Get a box of clear snack bags and business cards . Write $10.00 off any service on the business cards and place a card with a $2.00 bill in the snack bag. Hand wash customers vehicle and clean the glass inside and out until clear. Place the snack bag underneath the door in fuel fill area. Do it for three months steady and get back to me.

 

ps. When customers tell you that your free Hand car wash looks better than the other guys detail you are doing it well.

Keep watch on customer feed back and chances for you to make appointments or ask for referrals.

Edited December 25, 2016 by FROGFINDER

[JimO]

We rarely have a slow day and realize how fortunate We are. Years ago we would usually by clean, used vehicles that had great curb appeal but were mechanical disasters so the purchase price was minimal. We would purchase these vehicles at any time of the year and we would do nothing to them until we had a slow time and then use them as fill in work. We have a large property so having a few vehicles on our lot for that purpose had no impact on us. Remember I said CLEAN used vehicles, nothing that would visually be detrimental to our appearance. Also we would concentrate on vehicles that we considered desirable so we knew we could quickly sell them when completed.

 

It is difficult to make a profit from an oil change. Offering an oil change, car wash, vacuum interior, 61 point check, brake inspection and battery test for $34.95 is a definite loss if there are no additional sales generated. My worry with this approach is that it cheapens your work making it difficult to be compensated for those tasks or similar tasks in the future. I never went that route and feel bad that anyone should be put in a position to have to give their labor away. As time passes it seems that more and more services are eliminated due to technology. Oil changes are still required but most vehicles have long service intervals. Are we being reduced to doing an occasional oil change with other free services at a greatly reduced price and no profit?

[UsedTireShop]

Tell me more about the $2 in the fuel door. So when the customer adds fuel he or she sees the bag with cards. I get that part but how does that get more cares in the door?

[Junior]

Only slow days we've had have been when the few storms have come through and the weather is bad, people tend to no show for appointments or call and complain that we don't stock their size snow tire. Save for those three days its been pretty steady. Always a big rush for the "fix my kids car before they go back to college or wherever else they live" crowd

[FROGFINDER]

Tell me more about the $2 in the fuel door. So when the customer adds fuel he or she sees the bag with cards. I get that part but how does that get more cares in the door?

It gives them something to talk about. I've even had people buy a used car, Find the $2 bill and come to our shop for service. A couple of customers told me that their young driver ran out of gas with no money and was able to use the $2 to get home.

[UsedTireShop]

I like it FrogFinder. I will try it. Thank you.

[Jay Huh]

I am in Raleigh/Durham NC and we have been pretty busy Holiday season but typically it's pretty slow this time of year