Okay so some of you may have noticed that I haven't been on here very much lately. Well yeah I've been trying to sort my life and all but one major thing that has been taking up a lot of my time is trying to help my dad with business. We've owned CTR: Certified Transmission for about 10 years now and it has been very successful so far. We service more than just transmission however. Sooo what I've been doing lately is pretty much what my old job was before I left and that is marketing of the business. I worked on several advertisements and what not before I left but my dad never got them out to the public.

So now I'm doing all this marketing stuff again but at a much more higher level. We are doing a lot of changes to the business to help adapt to the bad economy. It hasn't hit us too harshly until 2010 began. We still are doing okay but I need to start thinking of promotions and special offers that I can run by my dad to get approved and start advertising it. Pretty much, my dad has put the weight of helping the business survive on my shoulders I guess you could say by thinking of ways to keep bringing in new customers and keeping the loyal customers that we have satisfied.

So yeah the reason why I made this thread was to ask all you car guys out there, what kind of promotions, special offers, services, etc would bring you into an automotive repair shop? What would catch your attention? I have some ideas ranging from our flat rate $20 oil change club to special service packages to being open on saturdays. Any suggestions or ideas would be amazing and highly appreciated. I think it's a good idea to get suggestions from other people in order to help a business grow and what not. So yeah please help me like you guys have always done such a great job with in the past

 

Ive seen smaller shops advertise on craigslist, Ive seen oil changes $20, Tranny rebuilds $500 all kinds of stuff like that. Print some fliers and put on windows in parking lots. Thats how i got all my business in Hawaii and Missouri detailing

 

There are a lot of smart business minds on this board. I am sure they will give you lots of god suggestions. The reason why I pick one shop over another is will they stand behind there work. free inspections with each oil change or a free tire rotation with each oil change. Combining services into one stop is appealing.

 

Free car wash with service

Open Saturdays is a HUGE thing for me. The shop I go to is just open until 12 on Saturdays as a convenience to some, and I have to use that so I don't have to take a day off work to get something done.

 

at my dealership we always have a ton of work on saturdays. being that its a saturday and we r not fully staffed many things cannot get completed due to the massive amount of work. car wash and inspection with every oil change and rotate. free estimates. what does the shop all service?

 

Do you do things with a GM-Tech 2 reader? If so, you can read people's codes, and if they decide to get it fixed at your place you can waive the "diagnostic reader fee"

 

That should be a given. Free washes are nice, but not necessary. But nice.

To me, it's the hours the business is open, plus courtesy rides to work in the morning. After work rides are easier to get. Also, seems like most shops are only open 7:30 or 8:00 to 5:00 or 5:30. Bankers hours! REAL people have to work from 6 or 7 am to 5 pm, and those hours don't get it. Hours from 6:30 to 6:30, at least doors open, and Saturday hours are great. Two small shops here are open all day Saturday.

Honesty and fair prices are a given.

Also, the mark up on parts can be a killer at some places, along with all the add-ons like "environmental fees". I've left more than one shop because of the extra fees.

Courtesy rides, and monthly specials are great.

It's a tough business. You need to offer what others can't, and to me typically it's the open early and late, and the rides to work.

 

Free car washes are nice, but if you are only doing mechanical work, its not really necessary. Doing auto body for a living I noticed people respond well to interior details. Anyone can drive their car through the car wash for 5 bucks, but if you vacuum their car, clean the windows and de-french fry their interiors, people really like it. Again though if you only do mechanical work its not really necessary.

I know when I took my car to get the trans rebuilt, I needed a ride back to work. Courtesy rides are nice.

Maybe whenever you guys finish a job, go around and check the tire pressure, check all the lights and check all the fluids. I noticed alot people who bring their cars in to get them worked on, especially people who dont do anything themselves, seem to neglect to check the tires and fluids and such. You could call it a courtesy check-up.

 

i like it when a shop has a few saturday hours ( i get my inspections done on saturday morning- pretty hard to find a shop thats open then), and i also have noticed that people like when you do a "safety inspection" on their vehicle: check the tire pressure & look the tires over for wear / dry rot, check the oil, antifreeze, ATF, top off the washer bottle, ect... it helps people realize that your shop cares for the safety and welfare of its customers, and also shows that you pay attention to detail. a courtisy car is a big plus, bonus points if its something nice, like mabe a '90 cadilac sedan instead of an '04 aveo... the caddy is older but much nicer, something the customer would enjoy driving.

something else to concider is to make a facebook group page for the shop.... its compleatly free advertising and takes no time to make & maintain... then get a gazilion follwoers

also, you could possibly look into making your monte a kind of "poster car" for the shop... its nice enough to turn heads, make a few small vinal decals up for the 1/4 windows and windsheild mabe. people will see the car and know what shop did the work... even if you did the work yourself. that 5th gen LS i posted pics of under the sights & sounds was a rolling billbord for insane audio, and the car still looked cool

 

Okay I'm trying to keep all of this straight so i can answer all the questions and what not lol my goal is to by the end of this week have a paper or two filled with ideas so i can sit down with my dad and go through them all

Ryan and me have thought of the free tire rotation and what not with the oil change so i'm going to talk to my dad about that.

You know I have talked to my dad about the whole car wash and interior cleaning thing bcuz the business is beside a gravel road and on the hot summer days it gets realllyyyy dusty out there bcuz of the trucks that go by. He isn't too keen on it but i'm gonna push for it even more bcuz honestly i some what 'enjoy' cleaning cars bcuz for some reason it relaxes me lol and it gets me tan =D

We do free estimates of what I know of. And we service almost anything. Cars, SUVs, vans, trucks, and I've even seen RVs and boats but my dad doesnt like doing them usually so we dont advertise it.

We are open 8am to 5pm Monday through Saturday but my dad has stayed at the shop later for people who needed to come later. You just have to make like an appointment and all so we know to stay there.

And I honestly don't know the reader thing and if we even charge for all that

We never charge any environmental fees or any crap like that. We've been told be TONS of people that we are the cheapest shop in the Saint Louis area so yeah that's a plus for a lot of people. We've even done like payment things so people with huge transmission or engine jobs to pay don't have to stress too much if they can't pay it at all one time. Seen my dad do that more than one.

We have given people rides to work. I have even taken people before.

And yeah I do have a Facebook page for it. Just made it last week actually lol

Yeah I'm actually in the process of designing a back window decal for both mine and my bestie Ryan's mustang of our shop logo. I really like that poster car idea for sure =D also at car shows this year I am making a huge poster for the shop to go beside my car and all.

Not sure if I missed anything lol

You guys are giving me some great ideas though. Keep em coming =D