JustTheBest

Hi Hands On! Thanks for sharing your details. You bring up some good points. Obviously, you're doing what works for you and that's important. I also agree that you can't afford to do oil changes all day. Got it! However, your comments cause me to ask a couple of questions. First - What is the ONLY service car owner's know they need? They don't get out of bed thinking about timing belts, alignments and all those things. I think you'll agree that the ONLY service they know they need is an oil change. And what's good about that is, those need to be done if it's that 'busy' time - or in the typical 'slow' months. Am I right? Secondly - I trust you're a good shop. But no matter how good you are - you can not service the car as it's driving by your door. Right? For those two facts, I have to ask if you've considered using oil changes as a strategy to "get to" the other work? Because I have to tell you - I cringed when you said "I often suggest to my customers that they use a quick lube through out the year and just see me once a year for a good safety check." Actually - I almost chocked on my coffee - not trying to blame you but it's the truth. The reason I say this is simple fact. You can only increase the amount of money you make in three ways: 1- Increase your prices (okay, I can see your eyes rolling already - stop it! 2- Increase the number of customers you have - but in today's economy, plus all the competition and clutter in the market, stats show that new customers cost between $75-$150 EACH! (Ouch!) 3- Sell more to the customers you have. - there's the key! Sell them more. Now, can you see why when you said ONCE A YEAR, I almost fell off my chair!?! Typically, when I work with my clients, we do a lot to get the average customer up to 4 times a year - now I know there's no such thing as a 1/2 a visit, so it's no use telling you that it's an improvement going from 3x a year to 3-1/2x - but I think you get the "math", right? And then once my clients have strategies in place to do that - we worlk on their offers and "upsells". Before I go any further, please understand that when I say upsells - I am not talking about selling stuff they don't need. I DO NOT support or condone that at all. There's enough good work out there for all. With that said, when shop owners offer things like "good-better-best" strategies and of course, the ever so famous "down sell" (make more and sell less) you just make more money. Proven it time and time again. You know, it's like that old "would you like fries with that?" question. By the way - you know, it's fascinating to discover that on average, McDonald's spends all the profits on a Big Mac to GET YOU IN THE DOOR. I call it the "oil change of the restaurant business" - because they know you're going to by fries, drinks, apple pies and all that other stuff. The Big Mac gets you there - the money is made with all the rest. Now I know I am going to get responses like "we don't sell hamburgers". I get it. But if all those comments would just STOP and think about it - because YOU have been subject to that "upsell" like about 300 million other Americans. They do it because... well... it just works. Can't argue with success - and if you want to be successful - the easiest way is to imitate success, right? Make sense? Can you see how that works? Look, I don't want to take up a lot of time, but I am getting ready to present a totally new strategy on a web presentation in the next week or so. If you want to get advanced notice - just message me on this forum or email, call, or send a carrier pigeon... or whatever - and I will include you on the "advance notice" list. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

Thanks for stopping by. There’s a lot of recent discussion about oil changes; who’s doing Your Customer’s Oil Change; And other topics related to getting more “car count”. My question is, “What are you doing for your shop to increase car count? Is it working? If not, what’s your struggle? Thought it would be a good place to “compare notes” and see what’s working for those that want to share. Looking forward to your comments, likes, dislikes and anything you want to share. Matthew Lee “The Car Count Fixer” Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

skm, you're correct and I agree with you on a couple of points. You said... "a lot of people that go for the cheap oil change are there just for that." Yes, you're 100% correct. That's the same for Groupon type offers and coupons - and they are hard to convert to "good customers". Secondly, you said "One other thing that will play a role in things is demographics". Correct! Just because these 1,000 people live close to your shop doesn't mean that they are the type of customer you want. Cheap oil changes can work, but they should be promoted to YOUR CUSTOMERS to get them back in. Then, if you do it right, you don't even have to discount those oil changes. How? Send them a text message and fix your car count. When I speak with shop owners and they tell me that "their customers are cheap", or "they would never go for that", I reply by asking one simple question. "Who attracted those customers?" You get what you promote. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

Struggling in today’s new economy, trying to build your car count and make the money you know you deserve while “big box” auto repair, new car dealers and that ‘price cutter’ down the street “eat your lunch?” If you’ve tried to grow your repair shop and profits but have failed, it may not be your fault. It could be you’re just using the wrong methods and tactics. You’ve heard that old adage “It’s not what you say… it’s how you say it”, right? Truth is, that applies to just about everything in life – and especially your marketing and advertising. There’s no shortage of schemes and scams sold as “new marketing ideas” along with “gurus” that go on and on with solutions as they tell you to “just send them a piece of mail”, or “just send them an email” or even “just send them a text” – but it’s the message that’s important – not the way you send it. So you’re left asking “Is it really is possible to grow your car count and profits?” It is, but first let me tell you a little about myself. I owned a repair shop just like you – and I struggled. In fact, I faced bankruptcy – looking it straight in the eye. It’s not pretty. It wasn’t until I focused on specific direct marketing strategies and developed a deeper understanding of ‘how customers think’ that I was able to turn my shop around and finally get what I wanted out of life. Today, working strictly with auto repair shops to grow their business, I research and develop marketing strategies and tactics to the point it’s consumed and embarrassingly large amount of my time and energy. Family and friends say that my pursuit borders obsession. They’re wrong. I crossed the line long ago. I know of no subject more fascinating - yet often more confusing. The confusion is not only unfortunate; it’s largely unnecessary. In reality, given today’s fast pace world and unlimited opportunities, it has never been easier to stand out and steer clear of the 5 dangerous trends that each shop faces. It doesn’t require good looks, a silver tongue, charisma or a magnetic personality. It’s really simple when you cut through the smoke and mirrors. Cutting through the smoke is the hard part. In fact, if you haven’t grown your car count, profits and lifestyle to the level you want, it likely has nothing to do with you. It’s not your fault. Given the shell games of strategies being sold like “shovels and maps at the gold rush”, it’s a wonder we still have an independent repair shop industry at all. If this barrage of schemes, programs and complicated systems has left you more confused, take a deep breath and relax. We’ll take aim at this confusion, blow away the smoke and remove the mirrors and make things as simple as possible – and we can work miracles. But first – we must clear the smoke. When you get down to the “nitty gritty”, it’s all about direct response strategies. Thousands , or even hundreds of thousands of postcards sent to the wrong market with the wrong message can’t compare to a single well organized, tested and proven strategy. It’s those simple, effective and proven ways shop owners that know me make money every single month. How do they know they’re making money? They deploy simple systems and track everything - because the numbers don’t lie. Above that, those shop owners understand that there really are only 3 strategies repair shops need to focus on. Those 3 Strategies – known as “The Auto Shop Marketing Pyramid” cuts through the clutter and confusion that’s being pushed and sold to you – while making your marketing plan simple; regardless if you’re a new shop – or if you’ve been in business for years. (I cover that in detail in “The Auto Shop Owner’s Unfair Advantage” and you can get unlimited free access to Module 1 below.) Don’t let yourself get caught chasing “shiny objects” and the latest “new-fangled-thing”. Marketing hasn’t changed in decades – delivery channels certainly have – but marketing hasn’t. Put your shop on a strict diet of “direct response marketing strategies” that work time and time again – and don’t get fooled by those “shiny objects” and so called authorities that lead you like a horse chasing a carrot. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

Thank you all for your "likes" and support on this topic. I think if you take the time to read it all - and learn about the "success" stories here, you quickly see that there's a lot of "moving parts" to do a good job with marketing. It's not just ONE thing that fixes everything. I promise. I said it earlier... it's like picturing a person rubbing two sticks together to start a fire. Got it? Now picture that same person rubbing two sticks together s-l-o-w-l-y! Doesn't have the same effect, right? When I talk to shop owners, they appear upset that there isn't one simple (secret) fix. It's the COMBINATION. I am just trying to put the finishing touches on a new book I've been writing. I will, of course, post it here when it's available. But what I've developed is a simple 3 step formula that works in Today's Economy. Anyone with specific questions about their situation - don't know where to start - what to do next - I would be happy to answer any questions you've got - ether on this forum or by dropping me line by clicking here or call me toll free at 1-888-772-2069. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

Hi Custom Coach! Welcome to the party! I found out YEARS ago that the BBB was only a "pay to play" club. Problem is that consumers don't realize that. With respect to chamber of commerce, etc, (there was also a "club" that was all about breakfast meetings) full of people who wanted to SELL you, not HELP you. All a bunch of blah, blah, blah. My recommendation is to save your money - time - and effort too. Bring me a person who actually GOT ANYTHING (and I don't necessarily mean sales - I mean ANYTHING) out of any of these "pay-to-play" clubs and I'll buy them dinner! Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

With the risk of sounding "pushy", why would you basically "contract" something like that out?? First of all, your shop isn't a restaurant. People eat 3x a day - and (if you're lucky) they get their car serviced every three months - and I'm sure you've got stories about some that have been much longer. But really. There's a few really simple thing you can do to get customers back - and make them more personal too. Here's a couple of examples that WORK. How do I know?? Private clients of mine use them all the time - and they wouldn't do it if it was nothing but HOT AIR. 1) Customer Newsletter - MAILED - Yeah, I know... mail is dead, right? Not so fast. Would you publish a 4 page simple newsletter that returned thousands of dollars a month - each and every month - in business from repeat customers? Probably, right? 2) Text Message Marketing - There's 2 facts to consider here: A) Customers USUALLY don't even remember who, or where they got their last oil change done. Secondly, what do YOU do when your text message reminder goes off? You check the message, right? Great! You're just like 300 million other Americans. Fact is that text messages get read - and usually within minutes. 3) Customer Referral Program - Not the "instant" car count fixer, but better quality customers. Why?? Because your good customers hang around people just like them. You know, birds of a feather... blah, blah. Well, it's true! The biggest issue is using SYSTEMS. That means is't almost automatically done - no matter what. And no, you don't have to waste a bunch of money doing it. I would be pleased to hear what YOUR specific problems are if you want to pick up the phone and call me Toll Free at 888-772-2069 or drop me a line by clicking here Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

Great! For most shop owner's, they would look at all this and say "that's a lot of work". Duh... nothing good happens by itself. With respect to the discussion in this topic, it's been said that there ARE different models. You've gone through them... and have developed this strategy that works. But I would think it didn't happen in a few days... and you probably made some mistakes on the way. We all did! But the fact is you probably "tracked" things... found out what worked... and "look at you now"! Glad to see your "formula" is working! Only problem is...it's work! Yeah! And the ones that squawk the most don't do anything! Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

You're 100% correct! You will never get an argument from me about this. With that said, you're also correct about "commodity" purchases. So if your customer "views" you as a commodity, they will shop. The key is to influence them - and prove to them that you're NOT the commodity. But you still can't do that until they're in the door. Seems that you get the point - but most shop owners simply don't. They think that just because the customer "stumbled" into their shop - they are a customer for life - and you know that doesn't happen so quickly. You've got to have follow up systems - things that you do to PROVE to that customer that you are better, different, etc. I always said that the "selling" starts AFTER the job is done. You've got to PROVE your position. In other words... there's a few "dots" to doing this right... and you've got to take the time to "connect those dots". One other point I found interesting... you mentioned "USP". Most shop owners I speak with don't know what a USP is - never mind actually having one. Unique isn't just saying words like "better" or stuff like that. It's got to focus on something specific and UNIQUE. A little off topic, here's a "test" I developed to help shop owners develop their own USP. Create that USP. You can use multiple ones to "test" Write down a list of competitors in your market. If you can say "this statement also applies to shop XYZ too..." then it's not UNIQUE. They (USP's) can be difficult to create... and they do take time. But great USP's have built huge companies. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

Hi Wheelingauto! Your post is right on, but I wanted to "chime in" again just to clarify a few points. You stated "While you appear to be an advisor"..., please understand I started in this industry as a shop owner. Yes, I struggled at the start. I wasted a ton of money on stuff that just didn't work. It wasn't until I understood HOW to run campaigns that I started to make money. If you can't track it... dollar for dollar... don't do it. Otherwise it's just HOPE marketing. Spend the money and HOPE. Today I help shop owners in a lot of different ways - from direct mail to digital, online and text messaging. So in short, I really do understand the difficulties of running a business - specifically and auto repair busines. I'm telling you this because I'm not sure you knew that. When I used the example of Walmart, Target and Costco, the intention was only to show that you probably "split" your business too - so why would you expect your customers don't? I'm sure you can provide all the services - but they still "shop" at other shops. It's a fact. With that said, I also agree with your comments about your true value is in TRUST, EXPERTISE and CONVENIENCE. Agreed and understood. But here's the difference. It appears to me that you're "doing something" right. You say you're a big shop - and I congratulate you on that success. You've developed a customer base that continues to return - and that's the BEST model you can have. Those people already know, trust and like you. On the other hand, I'm sure there are shops out there (and reading this) that want to GET to where you are. So they need a different model - at least to start. In addition to that, I think everyone forgets the fact that you don't have to take a program and "carve it in stone". You can run it to see what the returns are like. I've run campaigns that die a very quick death and turn out to be a waste of money. But the key is that the gamble was a relatively small amount. As an example, a $500 direct mail campaign that dies isn't good - but it won't put me out on the street either. On the other hand, I've run campaigns that return a profit time and time again. So those are the ones you keep - and everything else gets deleted. The other issue that comes up ( and I don't think it's really been discussed here) is that as a shop owner, you can't rely on JUST ONE method. You've got to do a number of different things - and track each one - then keep what's working while you "kill" the rest. Think about it this way. Picture a person rubbing two sticks together to start a fire. Got it? Now picture that person rubbing two sticks together S-L-O-W-L-Y. Doesn't work, does it? Not to bore you, but as another example, I work with a client who continues to add between 18-30 new customers every month. He's done this for well over a year - and most could probably start a new shop with just his new customers! But understand that it's all done with a well thought out "Customer Referral Program". It's promoted to each and every customer - and promoted for a very specific reason. That reason is "tell your friends, family and co-workers". But I see lame offers all the time. Shops post their referral program on their website - something like "send us a customer and we'll give you 10% off your next service". Really? It doesn't work. I know it doesn't work - so why bother. In fact, doing something as "lame" as that, you could actually be insulting the intelligence of your customers - actually be turning them "off". I said that so you know that I don't think "cheap oil changes" are the only method of getting new customers. But it is one - and it's one that you can "try" - and do it in a way that you can "track". That's because the number's don't lie. I also agree with your other comment about the fact a lot of shops think "car count" is the answer to their problems. In so many cases - it's NOT! There are 11 different ways to upsell customers (and please understand, when I use the term "UPSELL" I am NOT talking about selling customers stuff they don't need - I do not support or condone shops that just "go for the bucks") But think about that - 11 WAYS to sell your customers more - and do it all without being sneak, pushy or becoming a slimy salesman. How many shops do you think use ANY of them? I won't guess... because I talk to shop owners every day - and almost 99% of them don't use ONE! So if you're average RO is stuck at $175 - you don't need more cars - you need more sales. You need to sell more to the people standing right in front of you. I only wanted to respond to explain these points. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

This whole thing about "bad mouthing" is a real pain - and it's really all about psychology. With that said, I am NOT a trained psychologist - but when you think about this way, it makes sense. Shop owners bad-mouth other shops to make themselves LOOK BETTER. More powerful! The fact is, these people would through their own mother under the bus just to make themselves LOOK BETTER or put "fear" in others. The second reason is that when they bad-mouth others, it "shows" (or attempts to show) their own confidence. Typically, when they have to put their money where their mouth is... they fail. Whenever this happened, I would respond with a "cash-on-the-table" offer. In other words, prove it and I'll give you $XXX. Worked every time. This goes over even better when you put the customer into the formula. You become a lot more serious and believable when you're ready to back your position with money. In fact, you will win every time. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

I felt compelled to "chime in" on this topic again because of where the discussion is going. It seems to me that in a lot of ways, shop owners "miss the point". What's the point? The point is that no matter how good you are - how honest a shop you run - or how much you've spent on tools, equipment and scanners - you still can NOT do anything to a car unless it's in your shop. This was actually stated above by Anderson Automotive when he said... "The game truly is simple. Get the customer in the door by just about any means possible, do a quality inspection, and present them with the findings. " BINGO! Get the customer in. Now, understanding that people (that means YOU too) only buy what you want or know you need - there is no other automotive service that car owners know they need besides an oil change. You don't need to promote discounts and deals on alignments, timing belts or anything else. People just don't know they need that - or at least they don't wake up in the morning thinking... "I wonder where I can get a new timing belt?". In short, the only service they know they need is a simple oil change. You still can't do that unless they're in your shop. The other part that I feel is being overlooked stems from the TITLE of this thread: Who’s doing the oil change on YOUR customer’s car? Question. Who says they're YOUR customer? Do you OWN that customer? I don't think so. Let me explain it (and prove that YOU do the same) as most of your "so called" customers. Do you shop at Walmart? Target? Costco? Think about it. Without being specific about brands or preferences you may have - couldn't you get EVERYTHING from any one of those stores?? Really... think about it. They all carry pretty much the same stuff. They all have pretty much the same price. So why do YOU shop at two or three of them?? I don't need the answer - but the point is that the people you THINK are YOUR CUSTOMERS do the same thing. So how do you fix that? Well, sorry, but I've got to ask you another question. When was the last time you followed up with customers? (Notice I said customers, not YOUR customers, right?) But really, when was the last time you did something to contact them - without sending them some stupid postcard that screams "BUY SOMETHING". I am guessing you haven't. How about doing these 1) Send THANK YOU cards - real printed thank you cards - WITHOUT including any offers. There's a way to include them, but you've got to do it the right way. 2) Pick up the phone and follow up - yes, a short call to say "thank you" and "How did we do?" 3) Customer correspondence like a real, printed, sent-by-mail newsletter. You know that statistics prove that over 56% of customers LEAVE YOUR SHOP FOR ANOTHER SHOP because they think you don't care! Do you? Or do you just sit around and HOPE that they know you care? Look, the fact is that the selling starts AFTER you sell the customer. You follow up, thank them, call them and be sure everything is okay, send ongoing "reminders" like Newsletters, Text them oil change reminders (remember, you can't service the car as it rolls by your door! and stuff like that . I know... sounds like work. Well, here's the hard truth. There isn't a MAGIC BULLET! If you're looking for that, try checking beside the Unicorn that's sitting next to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I think I saw it there! Sorry for the long post and sarcasm - but I get a little steamed when shop owners think they own the customer. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage FREE Access

Hi Brain. First of all - you've got to respond to these people - and don't take things personally. I know it's hard - but you've got to keep your cool. There shouldn't be any "he said - she said" discussion - just the facts and what you need to do to correct it. Now, you\re not specific about how this happened - online reviews? But it's difficult to talk about it when I can't see it. Moving forward, you should try to get out of this. You can easily do that with: 1) Follow up calls when a customer has been in (within a day or two) 2) Request reviews my email or text message - link direct to your review page 3) Use surveys - explain you're just trying to do things right and you would appreciate the customer's input. By getting out in front of things and being in touch right after the customer came in, you can shift things so they don't explode. I don't know what your capabilities are, website or any of that, but I would be pleased to talk to you one-on-one and better understand your issues. You can do that if you message me through the forum or call me toll free 1-888-772-2069 Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get my book FREE Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed!

You're 100% correct Joe! Somebody is doing their oil changes... and in a lot of cases, it's not who you (most shop owners) think. Most shop owners I speak with think they "own" the customers; They're "my customers". Truth is - you don't own them and there's a bunch of people trying to get their business. Above that, when you think about it, the bland old oil change is the ONLY service most car owners know they need. They don't wake up thinking about a brake job or timing belt - not even an alignment. With that said, the next issue shop owners have to remember is that no matter how good a tech you are (or think you are) or how much better you are than the other guy... you can't fix the car driving down the road. You've got to get the customer to stop in and get service. Then, you better be prepared to take the time to check the car - and offer the services required. I could go on and on about that - but for the purpose of responding to the oil change issue, I think most shop owners just ignore it. After all... where else would "my customers" take their car, right? Ha! If you don't think YOUR CUSTOMERS are shopping - then it's time to think again. I often ask shop owners if they shop at stores like Walmart, Costco or Target. In most cases they respond "yes, sure I do". Okay, couldn't you get just about everything you really need from any ONE of those? Really. I'm not talking about specific brands that you may prefer, but overall, they all sell the same thing. So you shop too! If you didn't, you would only shop at one. Focus on getting the oil change service - and when the car in in your shop - do the inspection that's needed and make the offers. It's the only way to succeed in today's market. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get my book FREE Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed!

To start, I commend you on your straight forward honest approach. Good work. I find that those in business who have nothing better to do than just "rip" on the competition aren't doing their job. They should be working (honestly) to get more customers or market to their current customers. Cheap shots only explode in your face - as did this one for the other shop owner. My attitude was to watch what was going on in MY shop - and the rest will look after itself! Thanks for sharing. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Get my book FREE Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed!

Hi CMillet86! As I write this, I realized that you started this in February. Hope all is well. It pains me to hear your story because there isn't any reason for it. I would be happy to chat with you on the phone - if you want. Nothing but an outside view. I work with shop owners of all sizes.... and all over the country. I would be pleased to help you if I can. No sleazy sales gimmick - to tricks - just straight talk. If I can help, I would be happy. Just PM me through this forum. Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Free Book "The Official Guide to Auto Service Marketing"

Hello ASO Member! You may not know, but a couple of years ago, I released “The Shop Owner’s Unfair Advantage”. It was a 5 week training course to help shop owners fix their car count. It became the world’s only marketing course designed specifically to help auto repair shop owners. But over time, things change, so I updated that course. “The Shop Owner’s Unfair Advantage 2.0” was released earlier this year with great success. The difference is the 2.0 version includes Marketing Strategies that are working today (tested and proven) over 7 hours of video, plus downloadable and printable manuals for each module Unlimited Access any time you want. You can review classes at any time– even if it’s 2:00 am Sunday morning I not only detail “step-by-step” the campaigns that I’ve used with private client shop owners, but I actually give you all the “fill-in-the-blank” templates to duplicate these campaigns yourself! That’s like having me sitting at the desk beside you while you market your repair shop! And a bunch more too! Because of the success of this course, I’ve decided to open up UNLIMITED ACCESS to Module 1 for FREE! (There’s that “F” word!). But this is a limited time offer and may be removed at any time without warning. Click here and You can get access right now. What’s “The Shop Owner’s Unfair Advantage 2.0” include?: The complete course covers… 11 Ways to Make More without spending a dime The 5 Dangerous Trends that Your Shop faces today! The Auto Shop Marketing Pyramid – the only three strategies you need! 21 Hard Cold Facts about Marketing On-line The one small change that Google Made that wiped out 1,000’s of repair shops – and how to fix it! UXO Optimization – How to Optimize User Experience on your website Multi-Dynamic-Home Pages – Use this trick to triple or quadruple your online exposure What “Schema” is all about – and why you need it! How to Market to Current Customers The Secrets of Text Message Marketing Direct Mail Secrets (Yes, it’s still really, really profitable!) Fill in the blank Templates – copy, paste and you’re done! Secrets of getting more Customer Referrals in a month than most shops get all year! How to get the right Testimonials that sell! … and lots more! Get instant access right now! If you have any questions, you're welcome to contact me directly or through this forum. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Your waiting area (and customer reception) should be your "shrine". Pictures of happy customers with YOU, YOU and any local celebrity; Testimonials; etc. I could go on and on, but it should be about building your authority and credibility in the community - not if you've got a "cool" coffee machine! Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Official Guide to Auto Shop Marketing The Auto Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage!

328ijunkie, I disagree! (Sorry) A lead is a lead is a lead doesn't work. What if you started getting calls for "lawn care" or "reservations"?? They're leads too! But you're not in that business. If these leads are coming from your website, then the SEO sucks! (Sorry again...) In marketing it's called TARGETING. You - or somebody is targeting the WRONG AUDIENCE. I don't have your website address, so I can't tell you what's there, but I would be pleased to have a look if you want to post it. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Official Guide to Auto Shop Marketing The Auto Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage!

Had a quick look at all of them. My first questions (when it comes to design) are: 1) Does it convey the message QUICKLY - in just a quick glimpse 2) Will it easily reproduce in both full color and black and white?? I ask that because a lot of direct mail utilizes copy (quick printing) in black on colored paper. If your logo is too "busy" or too many colors, it makes that harder to do. Also noticed... funny thing... that "AUTO CARE" is the smallest part of the logo. Hmmm.... Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Official Guide to Auto Shop Marketing The Auto Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage!

Hi Total Auto Care! Like the others (above), I wonder who is saying this. So let me ask YOU a couple of quesitons: 1) Aren't you in business to make money?? 2) Why not ask your accountant if you're making "too much money". 3) In a few cases, talking with shop owners, I've actually been told that in some cases, I am "all about making more money for the shop". My reply, what other way can you measure your success? With that said, YES, I understand that you lead a life outside the shop; and then there's family; loved ones, etc. But I will GUARANTEE you this: "Sales fix a lot of problems!" 4) My only other comments is that you usually get "the biggest noise from the emptiest canons" Don't worry about it.... as long as your "upsells" provide better value for the customer and you're not selling a bunch of stuff that's not needed. (Sorry, just had to add that - although I'm sure you're not Good luck! And I would still (like the others) know who was making the comments. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" Fix Your Car Count in 17 Minutes... Guaranteed! The Official Guide to Auto Shop Marketing The Auto Shop Owner's Unfair Advantage!

Staying positive? Here's something that may help. Make a Calendar for your marketing. It's something that is so basic but a lot of shop owners forget about it. Typically, you would want to create "weekly" tasks... like "Thank You" cards in week one, follow up letters, etc. in the next week, newsletters the third week - you get the gist. It will help keep you focused on what needs to get done - and if you do your marketing with more consistency, you're going to find that it works better. I use a site at time and date where I can create "custom" calendars as a pdf download. Here's the link direct to their page: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/create.html Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer" The Shop Owner's Owner's Manual - Marketing made easy!

I couldn't have said, done it, wished it - or anything - better myself! That's the perfect presentation and there wasn't even any talk about price or any of that. Great job! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Hello Everyone! I am posting this because Bill contacted me and asked me to have a look at his website at http://www.bockautomotive.com/. I thought this could help others here because there are a lot of issues that are NOT easily seen - just by looking at the site. Here's what my comments were: 1) YOU DON'T OWN YOUR DOMAIN! It's like you took the keys to the front door of your house and gave them to a stranger! Your site is owned by 'Net Driven'. They are probably the people doing your site. That's fine - but they don't have to own the domain. Right now, you can't do ANYTHING without them - because you have no access to the domain. I would STRONGLY recommend that you set up a GoDaddy account and do a transfer of the domain name. 2) You are mobile friendly, but missing a couple of critical links - like links to Get a FREE QUOTE and Appointments. I know the issue with free quotes - but it starts the conversation. That's one of the 'must haves' for mobile auto service sites. 3) On the technical side, I only did a quick check, but most of your pictures are missing "alt" tags. Understand that Google can't "SEE" your pictures. They rely on "alt" tags to understand what the picture is. It's not only ah important part of SEO, but the RIGHT alt tag is important. You can't have dumb ones like "car" or "shop" - they have to describe what the picture is - and can help a lot with your SEO 4) Above that, your site doesn't utilize "multiple-dynamic-home-pages" This alone can triple or quadruple your exposure online. That's a strategy where 'home pages' are created for all of the most important services - or at least the most popular - like "oil change your city", "air conditioning your city" and so on. By the way, I know nobody wants to do oil changes - but it's one of the most heavily utilized search terms across America. 5) Your site is not utilized UXO or User Experience Optimization - and that is critical to today's Google algorithm. Did you know that Google 'tracks' how long visitors stay on your page? When they click back - it's considered a bounce. The more bounces - the lower your search ranking will go. Hope this helps! Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"

Hi Folks! What I think most are missing about the sites is the 'technical' stuff. Now, I am not here to start an argument, so please accept my comments as part of a quick check I did on a few sites. First of all, I'm not a website expert. Only been helping shop owners since 2005. I guess I am a rookie, right. But here's the IMPORTANT Must Have things you need 1) Click to call PHONE number 2) Link to map 3) Testimonials or Reviews 4) Coupons - I know, I know... but people search that stuff 5) Quote form or contact form So here's the sites I looked at. Again, please accept this information based on what I found. I am here to help! Site at http://hoganmuffler.com/ It's mobile friendly, but misses the 5 critical parts visitors are looking for. Website at www.CARMandP.com Tried to have a look... and there's a problem. Can't get to the site. Says DNS address could not be found. TomH That's really not YOUR website. It's a page on bizjournals.com. You can't SEO it or nothing. Not sure if you're paying for that, but it's not worth the time. Sorry! Jeffrey Your site at http://fetchnfix.com/ isn't mobile friendly. That means your site won't show up in Google search on a mobile device. You eliminate about 60% of the auto repair searches. That's got to be fixed <sorry> Bockman's Auto Care Your site at http://www.bockmansautocare.com/ is mobile friendly, but misses the real important stuff like a tap to call button on the page. See the 'Must Haves' I've listed. Hope this helps Ray Your site at http://raimotorsport.com isn't mobile friendly either. That means you're cutting yourself out of over 60% of searches that are based on mobile devices. <sorry> porterpotti Your site at myautorepairadvice.com IS mobile friendly but misses on just about every point of SEO. Do you calls from your site? I didn't find a phone number. Also, see my list of "Must haves" MattW Problem with your site. DNS?? Not sure. Google mobile friendly test couldn't access the page either. Hmmm Tires Too Your site at http://www.tirestoo.com/ is mobile friendly, but seems to be missing a couple of important issues. See my list above PARKSINDUST Your site at http://www.parksindust.com is mobile friendly. Doesn't seem to be the easiest to navigate... but that's just my comment. Kaos Your site at http://www.nicksrepair.com/ is using GoDaddy. Biggest problem is the BIG GoDaddy logo at the top! Yuk! Besides that, there's something in your robots.ext file that is blocking Google. That will mean no search engine traffic <sorry> Gary A Checked your site at http://www.littlefallsautoservice.com/ It's NOT mobile friendly... so that's a BIG problem. You're not in over 60% of Google searched. Get mobile! <sorry> MINI4U Your site at http://www.botzonsauto.com/ isn't mobile friendly either. Just like the other ones, you're not in Google search on mobile. That cuts you out of over 60% of search traffic Hope this helps! If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to post or send me a message. Matthew Lee "The Car Count Fixer"