Ideas for promoting services in a car service center. Five ways to increase the profit of a car service

What are the main values of any business specializing in providing services to the public? Of course, clients and their trust. However, attracting the former is sometimes difficult, and winning the latter is even more difficult. After all, in order for a random person to want to look into this particular car service, and then also become its regular visitor, you need to try very hard. The success of measures to lure and retain vehicle owners depends on many factors. Let's look at them in more detail and give a detailed answer to the question of how to attract customers to a car service center.

Advertising

Let's start, perhaps, with external means of attracting new customers. We are talking about bright signs and indicators, especially useful for motorists looking for service “from the street”. Information media must contain information about the services provided and the location of the service station. One of the signs with an arrow should be placed along the road, the second - a little closer to the destination. When the visitor practically approaches the service, his attention should be attracted by a catchy sign with the name of the enterprise. Outdoor advertising in this case is more of a necessity than a marketing tool. It is used to indicate the location of the service for new visitors.

As for print media, the question of their usefulness in terms of attracting customers is constantly subject to debate. Can a car repair shop benefit from placing advertisements in newspapers and magazines? The answer will be definitely positive. You just need to choose the right print media. It is quite obvious that information about a car service that flashes on the pages of glossy magazines is unlikely to attract anyone’s attention. The same can be said about newspapers with private advertisements for the sale or purchase of cars. Where better to bet on inexpensive or free specialized magazines with articles on automotive topics. However, before making a decision on the publication of advertising, it is necessary to find out the circulation and methods of distribution of the publication. As practice shows, free magazines offered to customers at gas stations have the greatest return.

In continuation of the answer to the question of how to promote a car service quickly and attract customers, it is worth mentioning Internet sources. Today own website is an obligatory part of formation of image of any company. To make the resource more in demand, you will have to show a little ingenuity. For example, you can offer site visitors to create a personal online account with a personal maintenance calendar. The presence of an electronic record to visit a particular master will be an additional plus. You should also remember that a web user reaches a particular page either through search queries or through online advertising and external links. Therefore, if your site ranks too low, you need to help potential customers discover it. Email newsletters also produce good results. However, it will only be effective if there is an up-to-date database of the intended target audience.

We cannot ignore such advertising means as radio and television. However, in the case of a car service, they are ineffective due to the specific focus of the business. In addition, these channels for promoting services require a lot of costs, which are often simply not justified. It is much more appropriate to focus on good old word of mouth, which works almost uninterruptedly. After all, before contacting one or another car service center, we first passionately “interrogate” all our acquaintances, after which we decide on a choice. Thus, a satisfied client brings with him several more new visitors interested in quality service. The main tools of word of mouth are reflected in the video material:

Niching and specialization

Despite an active advertising policy, the main source of customers for most services remains the nearest highway. Moreover, it is absolutely unimportant for the owner of the enterprise who drops in for a peek, because the craftsmen are ready to take on any job. That is why underground garage repair points pose serious competition to service stations. Both perform the same function, but in the second case you can significantly save on services. After all, the owner of the “garage” works unofficially and exclusively for himself, which cannot be said about registered enterprises. When all the efforts of the service owner are aimed at solving technical and organizational problems, he simply does not have time to “select” clients. The lion's share of service station owners operate on the principle of “we'll fix what comes.” This is where their main mistake lies.

To be like everyone else means to be content with little. It is worth trying to rise above business in order to realize all the prospects of such a step. Thus, niching for a certain brand of car gives car service owners many tangible advantages. Among them:

Automatic separation from competitors

By focusing on a specific brand, an enterprise not only distinguishes itself from similar brands, but also receives much more trust from potential customers. After all, the car owner reasonably believes that a specialized service will take care of his car much better than a universal one. And trust, as you know, is the most important factor in attracting customers.

Possibility of price increases

Narrow specialists, compared to broad specialists, are always worth their weight in gold. And finding a professional in a certain niche is much more difficult than a “jack of all trades”. Therefore, the client is ready to pay a higher price for the repair of his car in a specialized service.

Ease of attracting new visitors

The right advertising policy with a focus on a specific client will certainly bear fruit. Seeing the call in the newspaper "Attention to the owners of Nissan cars!", A person will start up and think: "This is for me." The more accurately the advertising message is formulated, the more targets it will hit.

No problems with auto parts

Specializing in a particular brand of machine makes it easy to find a reliable supplier of parts. And if you have your own warehouse, the number of necessary components will be significantly reduced.

Improving the quality of service

If the technician concentrates on a specific brand of vehicle, he will need much less time to study the technical manuals for that brand. He quickly becomes an ace in his field, able to determine the cause of a malfunction at a glance and eliminate it just as quickly. Accordingly, the quality and speed of work are significantly increased, and the demand for services is growing.

No staff turnover

It's no secret that multidisciplinary enterprises usually require "jack of all trades" able to fix any car. Whereas in narrowly focused services, the requirements are much lower, which means that finding a suitable employee is not a big problem. Without any particular fears, you can employ a graduate of an automotive technical school and, in the shortest possible time, teach him all the intricacies associated with servicing a specific brand of car.

Speaking about the disadvantages of specialization, it is worth highlighting the impossibility of attracting clients “from the street”. After all, the likelihood that a car of the right brand will drive by and its owner will decide to look into this particular service is not very high. Thus, there is a need for a competent advertising policy, which requires certain investments.

Secondly, the concept of niching by brand is not suitable for small cities, where the percentage of cars of a particular type can hardly be called high. In this case, it is worth trying to choose a different area of specialization. This could be the repair of diesel engines or Japanese car brands. Some services focus on various parts of cars, be it automatic transmission or suspension, others are engaged in servicing trailers, others prepare vehicles for hunting, and others position themselves as service stations exclusively for women. The choice of niches is very large, and regardless of the size of the city, choosing the right option will not be difficult. By the way, it is often the introduction of specialization that helps attract corporate clients to a car service center.

Offering additional goods and services

It is quite obvious that a successful service must be multifunctional. That is, capable of satisfying the maximum number of client needs, thus saving his time and money. However, expanding the list of services implies purchasing additional equipment, training staff to work with it, increasing the staff of craftsmen, etc. All this requires serious expenses from the owner of a service station, which not everyone is ready to undertake. The purchase of equipment is often viewed not as a profitable investment, but as an out-of-pocket expense. The reason for this is the uncertainty of a quick return on investment.

When introducing a new service, the owner of a car service must clearly understand how, to whom and in what quantities to sell it. It is not enough to simply add a new item to the company’s price list; it is necessary to colorfully demonstrate to the client the benefits of acquiring know-how. Let's take a simple example. Every motorist is familiar with the tire replacement service firsthand. Many people today also know about seasonal wheel storage. However, most people prefer to store tires on the balcony, in the garage or country shed. If you convincingly tell customers about the consequences of such a rash step and offer them a more tempting alternative, some of them will readily give their wheels to the service station for storage. Thus, in order to successfully earn on additional services, it is necessary to convey their essence to customers and clearly demonstrate the benefits of the purchase.

In addition, a wide range of different offers is important not only from the standpoint of increasing profits, it also acts as a serious competitive advantage for the enterprise. After all, as practice shows, new clients suddenly appear at a car service center. And the more extensive the list of services provided, the higher the likelihood that the visitor’s problem will be within the competence of the enterprise. Obviously, the choice of additional options must be made based on their demand, the amount of investment in equipment and the amount of expected profit. From this we can draw a conclusion about the payback period. The list of additional services useful for clients includes:

airbrushing;
heated seats;
inflating tires with nitrogen;
installation of monitors in the salon;
glass works;
air conditioning maintenance;
sound insulation;
reservation of headlights, etc.

It would also be useful to develop several package offers at an attractive price. This can be preparing the car for winter, including operations such as changing oil, spark plugs, coolant and brake fluids, diagnosing the suspension and battery, adjusting headlights, cleaning the ignition coil, etc. The client’s benefit is that when purchasing package of services, he pays less than when purchasing them separately. So, for example, preparing a car for sale, a long trip or the summer heat, as well as “re-preserving” a car after winter involves a number of different works. They can also be bundled and sold as a set. Such offers will certainly arouse interest among car enthusiasts.

How to promote a car service is of interest only to those entrepreneurs who look to the future and care about their business. Today, all business is on the Internet and even small firms or even private craftsmen have their own websites; those who do not even have such an opportunity, they register in various directories and open groups on social networks. But this approach is ineffective, if you are engaged in car repairs and also additionally sell spare parts, then you should get an online store with good functionality.

But we have a question. To do this, in our article we will highlight several main points and mandatory activities that will help you have a constant influx of new clients. Based on our own experience in promoting auto parts stores and car service centers, we can highlight two main rules of our own, which are given below.

How to promote a car service - rule No. 1

Material base, human resources.

If you, say, are engaged in Nissan repair, you need to provide a full range of services only in this area, to become the best in your specialization. To do this, you need to have the right tools, the right craftsmen, i.e. fully prepare the material base and human resources. Perhaps you are a universal car service and take on everything, this happens most often. But not always, customers remain satisfied with such car services, firstly, car repairs can take many weeks, and secondly, the quality of service leaves much to be desired.

So, the rule is - be specialists in your field, don’t spread yourself thin, find a niche in the car service market, don’t dilute your car service for all brands of cars.

Geographical location and internal space of the car service center.

It is very important when you are going to open a car service to decide on a location, because your profit depends on how conveniently and quickly you can get to you. Otherwise, it will be difficult promote a car service. Have you ever wondered why there are always queues at official dealers, for example Volkswagen or Ford. Yes, many people complain that their service is expensive, but this does not make them fewer clients. Yes, because it’s simply pleasant to be with them: here they treat you with respect, smile and help; all neatly dressed; there are waiting rooms; here you can monitor the progress of repairs through special monitors; and also such auto centers are conveniently located, the buildings are modern, and the interior is surrounded by high service and comfort.

So, the rule is - if you are just starting out, find a box in the center where you can get to without traffic jams, at least paint the walls inside white, dress your craftsmen in branded workwear, organize a leisure room for your clients.

Automation of car service.

This implies the use of information technology, special programs for business automation, as well as the website of an online store. Promote a car service– today you can only do it via the Internet. Give up notebooks, notepads and Excel.

No computer can hold so much information, and not all entrepreneurs can afford to buy a server and spend considerable sums on its maintenance. And here “cloud technologies” come to the rescue, which, by the way, have been implemented in our program.(LINK TO THE PAGE). Here you can store unlimited amounts of information for an unlimited time.

In any business there are ups and downs, so if suddenly the flow of clients decreases, which incurs losses, you open your chest with the numbers of your clients and make a mass mailing, which, by the way, is also implemented in our program. But you shouldn’t abuse this; it’s easier to establish a trusting relationship with the client and make sure that he always comes to your car service center.

How to promote a car service - rule No. 2

Key points for promoting a car service and attracting customers:

Smart marketing.
There are many definitions of the word marketing. In simple terms, marketing is all about attracting and retaining customers. How to promote a car service without losing your grip. Our three points of mandatory activities are your base. Your customers should attract customers so that rumors about your car service are passed from mouth to mouth, this is called a reputation and you need to develop it with the quality of the services provided.

Online advertising and the Internet.
If you have a website, then you can use contextual advertising services from Yandex Direct and Google, promote a car service, it's much easier that way. If you do not have a website, then your competitors will soon force you out, who not only have a page on the Internet, but also services such as pre-registration for services. By the way, with our program, you can connect the online store option so that your customers sign up for your services - and you will get a functional website with high conversion.(LINK TO PAGE) It is important that your site is indexed by search engines; for this you need to register the site in thematic directories such as Double GIS, etc. It also doesn’t hurt to create groups on social networks where you must include a link to your website.

Off-line advertising.
Some sources advise submitting advertisements to free newspapers, advertisements in which naturally cost money. A dubious undertaking. Answer yourself the question of how often you personally turn to such sources. As a rule, free newspapers with advertisements are several pages, where a bunch of advertisements are printed in a not always readable font and there is not even an empty square centimeter. So think about whether it’s worth spending time and money, albeit small, on such advertising. An effective way to promote a car service is to distribute your own printed products: business cards to the traffic police (where car owners turn after an accident), distributing coupons with discounts in traffic jams (your entire target audience is in traffic jams).

Any service station is interested in corporate clients. Some service station managers say that this is not so, and it is much more profitable for them to work with solvent “physicists” than with large organizations that delay payments, make unrealistic demands on the availability of spare parts and bargain for standard hours, no worse than sellers on the Asian market. This is true. But this does not mean that the corporate client is not interested. This only means that you have not yet learned how to work with it.

On December 26, the Automotive Service Association held a webinar, the topic of which was “Customer service errors when working with corporate clients.” The author of the webinar is business consultant with extensive experience in large automobile companies, coach Yuri Blinov. An online seminar on this topic aroused quite a lot of interest among the public, since seminars on this topic are held extremely rarely. Most independent service stations work in this niche on a whim, using their own experience. And of course, this experience does not always produce the desired results, especially among novice entrepreneurs.

Who is a corporate client?

Yuri Blinov I started by defining a corporate client. This point is very important, since there are several types of corporate clients in the car service market, and for each of them the car performs different functions, therefore, the expectations from the service for such clients will be different. It is very important to determine what function the car performs in the company in order to make a commercial offer to the management of the organization that will be difficult to refuse. For example, if a vehicle fleet generates the main income of a company (transport company, delivery service, etc.), then its owner will be less interested in getting the lowest cost per standard hour for maintenance, but for unscheduled repairs and even a half-hour delay in repairs will be charged to you in full. It’s a completely different matter if the company’s cars are used to service the main business, that is, they play an auxiliary role and are a costly part of the business. As a rule, in this situation, the requirements for repair time will not be so strict, but the client will persistently bargain for the cost of a standard hour. In addition, corporate cars can be purchased for entertainment functions, employee incentives, etc. If you are able to correctly determine his goals before the first meeting with a client, then the chance of successfully completing the transaction will increase significantly.

Which clients should you target?

Traditional division of corporate clients according to words Yuri Blinov looks like that:

From 1 to 5 cars are small clients,

5 to 20 cars are important local customers,

From 20 to 100 - large local clients,

Over 100 are national companies.

Many starting service stations strive to immediately get customers with a large fleet of vehicles. This is not always justified. A large client places increased demands on its counterparties. In relation to a service station this is:

Individual prices,

Availability of spare parts in stock,

Reserve repair capacity,

Convenient (for the client) schedule,

Replacement cars,

The widest possible range of services,

Accounts receivable.

For a beginning car service center, such requirements can be disastrous. It is much easier to recruit several dozen small companies, with up to 10 cars. And gradually increase the client base, attracting larger companies. The company begins to receive a good income from this work approximately 2-3 years after the start of work in this direction. By the way, many large companies prefer to have several service counterparties in order to minimize their own risks. There is no need to be afraid of this either.

How to get past the barriers?

In any company there are people who make decisions (DMs) and people who influence decisions (DIRs). The only exception to this rule are representatives of micro-businesses, in which these two functions are often performed by the company owner himself. The LVR is a traditional type of "gatekeeper". His task is to filter incoming information and convey to his management only what, in his opinion, is important. If you want to become successful in the b2b segment, you need to learn how to overcome these gatekeeper barriers. It is worth noting that in large companies there will be quite a lot of “gatekeepers”, since each transaction goes through several stages of approval. It is customary to identify several main roles in any company:

Decision maker (director, manager, business owner),

The manager influencing the decision (in our case, this is the manager who is responsible for the functioning of the vehicle fleet),

Financier (a very important figure who makes the decision whether to allocate money to you or not),

User (driver).

Each of them needs to be convinced of the profitability of your offer. But each role requires its own arguments. The user must make sure that by collaborating with you, his earnings will not be lower, and his work in the company will not become more difficult. The financier must be convinced that cooperation with you is the most profitable in terms of price-quality ratio. The person influencing the decision may be interested in the prospects for the company's growth, and, consequently, his own growth. If you make these three employees your allies, then with a high degree of probability we can say that the contract will be in your pocket.

Deal stages

There are several rules that should be followed when working with large corporate clients.

1. Rule one. Never try to sell a car or service at the first meeting, and especially when you first call the company. You need to understand that when you contact a potential client for the first time, you are committing the so-called. "cold contact" They don’t know you and aren’t ready to talk to you. You are distracting them from their work. Your task is to “warm up” this call - to switch to personal contact with a potential client even before the first direct contact. Every sales manager has their own way of doing this. The ideal option is a recommendation from you, but this does not happen often. You can warm up contact through preliminary communication on social networks, Skype, and so on.

2. Rule two. A meeting with a potential client should include a proposal. This should not yet be a specific commercial proposal with budgets specified in it. It may sound too American, but it should be a sentence like: “I want to invite you to earn more money.” After all, this is precisely the goal of any commercial organization. Naturally, you must describe in great detail how you will help achieve this goal.

3. Rule three. Be prepared for objections. There is no need to react poorly to objections. It's better not to oppose at all. Use objections as an opportunity to meet with the potential client again. Write down in detail what your future partner disagrees with and promise to look into these issues in more detail. When dealing with objections, you must be demonstrative and demonstrate your competence and knowledge of the issue.

4. Rule four. A commercial proposal is a proposal for discussion. If the client does not immediately agree to accept it, this does not mean that he completely refuses the services you offer. In case of refusal, it is necessary to invite him to discuss in detail those clauses of the contract that cause his objections.

5. Rule five. Don't pay kickbacks. In the long run, this practice turns out to be detrimental to the company. If a business owner finds out about the existence of such a practice, the consequences for your company will be most unpleasant, from irreparable image losses to criminal prosecution, since no one has repealed the article on commercial bribery.

Naturally, the scope of our article does not allow us to fully tell you about all the nuances that were voiced during the online seminar, as well as cover all the questions that were asked to the speaker after the completion of the main part of the webinar.

In conclusion Yuri Blinov drew attention to the fact that with the signing of a contract, work with a corporate client does not end, but only begins. Your success in this type of business directly depends on how well you serve it. Investments in attracting a new customer are usually much higher than investments aimed at retaining them. Customer retention is entirely up to you. You don't need active advertising for this. There is also no need to actively work “in the fields”, go to meetings, or negotiate. All you need is to do your job well, don’t forget about working with clients and keep up with your competitors.

But we have a question : “How to promote a car service?” To do this, in our article we will highlight several main points and mandatory activities that will help you have a constant influx of new clients. Based on our own experience in promoting auto parts stores and car service centers, we can highlight two main rules of our own, which are given below.

How to promote a car service - rule No. 1

Material base, human resources.

So, the rule is - be specialists in your field, don’t spread yourself thin, find a niche in the car service market, don’t dilute your car service for all brands of cars.

Geographical location and internal space of the car service center.

How to promote a car service

Automation of car service.

How to promote a car service - rule No. 2

Key points for promoting a car service and attracting customers:

Advertising for car service

By the way, with our program, you can connect the online store option so that your customers sign up for your services - and you will get a functional website with high conversion.(LINK TO PAGE) It is important that your site is indexed by search engines; for this you need to register the site in thematic directories such as Double GIS, etc. It also doesn’t hurt to create groups on social networks where you must include a link to your website.

All articles What equipment is needed for a car service?

How to properly advertise your car service

The main wealth of any service is its customers and their trust. But in order for a client to come to your service and stay with you for a long time, or even better, forever, you will have to work hard. Success in attracting and retaining customers has many components. Ignoring at least one of them reduces many times the overall effectiveness of the struggle for the client. Car service advertising in the media is one such component.

All car service clients can be divided into three categories:

1. Loyal customers - those who keep the client base, those who talk about your service to others in enthusiastic colors, those whom you need to cherish and cherish.

2. Clients who contacted you for the first time through a recommendation or an advertisement; Their trust must be won and flattering recommendations confirmed.

3 . Clients who came to you by chance. Perhaps they will also join your regular customer base.

It is believed (at least, so they write in clever articles and books) that advertising, like customers, does not happen much. The manager or owner must constantly promote his service. At the same time, various types are listed, starting with "word of mouth" (stopping on it, albeit enthusiastically, but in passing), and ending with advertising in external sources - as a rule, in the media. Let me agree with them only partially.

I won’t say that they ask a lot of questions about advertising. These questions that come to me, among all the consultations, are far inferior to questions on taxes, service management, personnel, and even labor protection and fire safety. But we receive quite a lot of requests to place an advertisement for a car service in the magazine. Obviously, most owners or managers of the service either believe that placing an advertisement somewhere, without analysis, is already enough, or do not pay due attention to this issue. In a series of articles on this topic, I will try to tell the basics of advertising that are necessary for a manager, and consider typical mistakes made when conducting an advertising campaign.

I will not describe the basics of advertising - enough articles and books have been written on this topic. Obviously, a director who decides to deal deeply and seriously with this issue should stock up on literature or contact an appropriate specialist. True, there is a difficulty here too. Personally, I have met, unfortunately, very, very few who understand the specifics of car service well. Moreover, this applies to both the provision of services by the station itself and the sale of spare parts, materials, and services to car services.

Let me make a reservation right away: when talking about advertising, I will not talk about a sign above a car service center or about a roadside sign indicating the location of a service center. We will talk about advertising in various kinds of newspapers, magazines, radio or on big boards, i.e. about advertising, which is costly for any organization.

So. Does the number of clients on your service leave much to be desired? To attract customers, have you decided to advertise your service? Good deed. But... You may have already made the first mistake. The lack of clients is not a reason to immediately spend money on advertising. Let's consider several situations.

Newly opened car service

If you have just opened a car service, then analyze several factors:

— types of work performed;

— station location;

— personnel qualifications and team climate;

- financial opportunities.

For example, if the service is located in a busy place, is clearly visible and provides services such as tire fitting, oil changes and other consumables, then there is no need to spend money on advertising at all - a bright sign is enough. If the team has not yet formed (high probability of turnover), its qualifications are unclear, then attracting a large number of clients whom you will not satisfy will do more harm than good. And no one will return your money and time. You should not immediately start an advertising campaign if a new service has opened in place of the old one. Here you have to find out the “pros” and “cons” of the previous service, and, preferably, not so much from the words of the landlord or others, but from the words of the client. In my practice, there was a case when the negative attitude of clients towards the previous service forced new tenants to move out. In this case, neither the highly qualified personnel nor the advertising company helped.

A car service with a history

— a new service is provided that will be of interest not only to old, but also to new clients;

— lack of clients on the service.

Typically, it is the introduction of a new service that aims to better satisfy existing customers and attract new ones. But, let’s first calculate whether our service is capable of passing through a sharply increased number of clients (hereinafter, I conditionally believe that advertising increases the flow of clients), or is it enough that the old ones, using this service, will increase the profitability of the service and download new area of work.

For example. You have fully loaded chassis repair areas (your regular customers) and an engine and fuel diagnostics area (your clients, clients of other small services and occasional visitors). You are introducing a new service - wheel alignment. It is clear that at the initial stage this post will not need advertising, since it will be provided with work from all these cars.

Promotion of a car service: how to quickly attract customers and promote a service station

Moreover, the remaining posts will be loaded using other services.

The case of a lack of clients is more complex. There are a number of factors that need to be analyzed here.

Seasonality. If the absence is due to the New Year holidays (and this is approximately from December 15 to February 1, depending on the level of service, specialization, etc.), the May holidays (from approximately April 25 to May 15, depending on Easter and memorial days) or holiday season (approximately from July 20 to September 10), then you should not be upset. On the contrary, use this time to improve skills (yours and your employees), expand the services provided

services, purchasing equipment, putting things in order or repairing the service.

Here we are also dealing with deferred repairs. That is, with those works that car owners postponed to a later date (for example, replacing shock absorbers from winter to spring).

Based on the above, it becomes clear that advertising during the “off season” is a lost cause. The response, if any, will be minimal. But advertising placed on the eve or during the season is most effective. It is at this moment that clients are looking for where to service their iron horse.

Personnel qualifications. The most painful topic for a leader. It is discussed in the “Management” section of the “Auto-Master” magazine and at seminars held by the Association of Auto Service and Tuning Specialists. It is clear that without putting personnel in order (training, attracting specialists or luring them away), there is no point in spending money on advertising.

Station specialization. To understand this point, consider an example. You specialize in servicing inexpensive domestic cars. The financial situation in the country has worsened - customers have no money, gasoline is becoming more expensive. To save money, the client does some of the work himself. In the above case, this applies not only to changing the oil or brake pads, but also to more complex repairs on the chassis or engine. Add to this the increased service interval for replacing consumables. Thus, the focus of the service on this fleet of vehicles has led to a decrease in the number of visitors. And if not because

You have analyzed your situation and decided to advertise. Let's think about where to do this. Let's start with a typical situation not only for a car service, but also for companies selling spare parts, equipment, etc.

The editorial office receives a call from a reader: “I’ve been reading your magazine with interest for a long time. Now I want to place an advertisement for my station with you!” It would seem something simpler. If I read this publication and like it, then others will read it and see my ad. This is the main mistake. Just because you like a magazine or newspaper does not guarantee that your potential clients are reading it.

In the example above, the reader wanted to place an advertisement in “Auto-Master” aimed at attracting customers to his universal car service center, specializing in car servicing. At the same time, it was not taken into account that the magazine’s audience was services similar to it, and not car enthusiasts or corporate clients.

Another example. Advertising in a car magazine or a "Buy and Sell a Car" magazine. This is a bit more complicated. The main audience of such a publication is people looking for a new car. Naturally, today they are far from interested in repairs or maintenance. The remaining readers of such a publication will, of course, pay attention to your ad, but the question is whether the investment in advertising will pay off.

Here we need to make a small digression and talk about a very important parameter for assessing the cost of investment in advertising. I call it "call cost". Let me explain with an example. The cost of an advertisement in publication X is 100 rubles. Based on the ad, 2 people called us. Thus, the cost of their call for you is 50 rubles. In publication Y, the cost of the ad was 200 rubles and 10 people called based on the ad. In this case, the cost of the call is 20 rubles.

Very often, the one who advertises chooses a publication with either a low advertising cost or a very high one. In both cases, we either have an incorrect definition of the readership as potential clients (this is most often the case), or a choice of publication based on the “I like” principle.

Therefore, before you decide to advertise, you need to understand exactly who we want to attract and what they read or at least view. Agree that a client who has a two or three year old Mercedes will most likely not pay attention to a piece of bad paper with advertisements of various types thrown into the mailbox.

Conversely, the owner of an inexpensive car is more likely to take a publication distributed free of charge through gas stations, mailboxes, or read a newspaper distributed at intersections.

Before you engage in advertising (not only in the media, but in general), you need to clearly understand: what suits large companies, for example, those selling auto parts, often does not suit a car service center - a car service center sells services. And in selling services, the main thing is to build trust in yourself. Therefore, ideally, it is necessary to advertise the quality of the services provided, but this is extremely difficult to do. And I don’t have a ready-made universal solution. Usually services set a simpler task - to force the client to come.

Smart books advise finding a “unique selling proposition.” For most universal service managers, this is an overwhelming task. If you find a “unique selling proposition” in your car service, honor and praise to you, perhaps you should change your qualifications and go into advertising. It’s another matter if your service has a narrow specialization - for example, repair of fuel equipment for diesel engines. Narrow specialization allows not only to have highly qualified personnel, but also a “unique selling proposition.”

This “unique selling proposition” can, of course, also include price. But think about whether such advertising will play a cruel joke on you. During the winter low season, one large Kiev station posted on the radio an offer to paint a car with fashionable materials at a fairly low price. I don’t know how many clients they managed to attract, but there was talk that the company had problems among clients, among fellow competitors, and among suppliers. I would like to hope that their advertising has given at least some effect, although I doubt it.

Thus, before engaging in advertising, and anyone, not just in the media, the manager must clearly understand how much he needs it, what consequences an increase in the number of clients will lead to, for what categories of clients it will be intended, where to place advertising, how it should look, in what terms to carry it out.

We have already considered some of these issues, the rest will be considered in future publications.

To be continued…

Andrey Obmanshchikov
Auto-Master

Promotion service station for body repair

Good day! I continue the series of articles about the service station business plan and, as previously promised, today I will write an article about how to advertise a service station.

How to advertise a service station

As a rule, an advertising company is one of the most expensive items, especially when opening a service station, while quite often novice entrepreneurs spend a lot of money on advertising and everything would be fine, BUT most of the money is simply wasted.

What advertising attracts customers to the service station

Let's look at where the owner of the service station should advertise:

Business cards. I already mentioned them in the business plan. Be sure to order business cards, just not cheap pieces of paper for 2 rubles, order colorful laminated business cards.
Car service as a business and personal success

You can place these business cards in auto parts stores, and you can agree with the owners of car shops so that they will place your business cards, and you, in turn, will place their business cards at your place;
Printing colorful booklets. These booklets are ordered at the printing house, and business cards can also be ordered there. Booklets are distributed free of charge to mailboxes of city residents. The booklet must contain the name of your service station (if you have not done this yet, then it’s time to think about it, the name should also be on business cards), the address and telephone number of the service station. If you cannot come up with an interesting name for a service station on your own, then simply google the Internet and take it from there. Just try to make sure that the name of your service station is unique in the city (that is, only for you). And of course, the booklets can describe in detail the types of services provided;
Advertising in elevators. This type of advertising works well for the entire service sector, including service stations. The layout size should not be too small, because then it will simply be a waste of money;
Radio advertising. Advertising here is a must. Only the radio should be promoted and broadcast to the local category. Many car enthusiasts listen to the radio. But before advertising on the radio, you need to determine your competitive advantage over other service stations, that is, the reason why a car enthusiast should come to you;
Car magazine. Almost all large cities have auto magazines; I myself live in a small town and we don’t have such a magazine. If an auto magazine is published in your city, then advertising of your service station should be there on an ongoing basis. However, pay attention to the circulation of the publication and the method of its distribution. In journals with a circulation of less than 5,000 copies. There is no point in advertising. Also, some publishers simply deceive and indicate the wrong circulation of the publication. Therefore, for the first time it is worth coming to the publishing house and seeing how many magazines are being distributed;
City newspaper with ads. Almost every city has such a newspaper. There are two ways to advertise in such a newspaper. The first is in the form of an advertising module in the car sales section (in the module, list the types of services provided by your service station) and additionally place an advertisement in the “Services” section as from a private person about car repairs. If there are several such newspapers in the city, then, of course, place advertisements for your service station in the most popular one with a large circulation;
TV station advertising. In general, the cost of such advertising is quite high, but in every city there is a so-called TV newspaper in which the prices are not so high and the effect is much better (advertising in the form of videos and creeping lines should not be given, as this is very expensive);
Internet advertising. This type of advertising should not be neglected; the most effective is Yandex Direct contextual advertising, as well as advertising on social networks. In order to give such advertising, it is worth ordering a website business card for a service station with a list and cost of services, as well as contact details and address;
Word of mouth. With high-quality service and performance of the work itself at a high level, people themselves will begin to recommend your service station to each other. This type of advertising can only be influenced by high quality service and not high prices.

Advertising that does not work for service stations

Free newspapers. With a huge circulation and almost zero efficiency. Such newspapers have zero value for citizens and are very annoying; such newspapers are a relic of the past. And if you take into account that the cost of advertising in such publications is simply prohibitive when comparing price and quality, then it is better to refuse it;
Advertising on and in transport. This type of advertising works poorly because there are quite a few potential clients in public transport, and if there are, your advertising will either not be noticed or simply ignored;
Plasma panels. It doesn’t matter what kind, on the street, indoors, at payment terminals, wherever they try to stick them. This advertising does not work for almost any activity;
Billboards. Advertising on billboards is image advertising and is not suitable for attracting potential customers;
Outdoor advertising.Requires coordination with the architecture of the city, but that’s not scary, the cost of such advertising is quite high, you won’t hang this banner in one place, for the effect it must be placed in at least 5 places where there is a large transport interchange (then it will make sense);
Posting advertisements. Despite the fact that the service station belongs to the service sector, posting simple advertisements does not have a strong effect.

This is where I will end my review; if you have any questions, ask them in the comments or to my VK group “Business Secrets for a Newbie.”

Happy business!

Ideas for promoting services in a car service center. Five ways to increase the profit of a car service

Advertising

Niching and specialization

Automatic separation from competitors

Possibility of price increases

Ease of attracting new visitors

No problems with auto parts

Improving the quality of service

No staff turnover

Offering additional goods and services

How to promote a car service - rule No. 1

How to promote a car service - rule No. 2

How to promote a car service - rule No. 1

How to promote a car service - rule No. 2

Advertising for car service

How to properly advertise your car service

Promotion of a car service: how to quickly attract customers and promote a service station

Promotion service station for body repair

How to advertise a service station

What advertising attracts customers to the service station

Car service as a business and personal success

Advertising that does not work for service stations

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