Passing The Baton: Creating An Exit Strategy
Whether you are nearing retirement or have decades left, there’s no time like the present to begin forming your exit strategy. Knowing well in advance what it is you plan to do with your business when you retire will help you get the business in top shape to garner a high selling price as well as minimize the tax impact of passing the shop to family members. It also ensures you’re prepared in the event of a health emergency, should one unfortunately arise.
Pinpoint Marketing
Simply stated, digital geo-targeting helps you fish where the fish are swimming – or target your digital marketing, including paid search and display ads, specific to the location of prospects you hope to reach.
Giving ‘Green’
From the growth in recycling and conservation efforts to increasing alternative energy sources and electric vehicle production, it’s clear that the “go green” movement isn’t going away. Moreover, many of today’s eco-conscious consumers are looking to align their spending dollars with businesses that share a similar viewpoint. By adding a “green” component to your marketing efforts, your shop could grow its customer base.
Building A Media Plan
When it comes to advertising, strategies are endless, mediums are constantly changing and advice is often conflicting. Doing something is better than nothing, but funneling a shop’s dollars into an ineffective ad campaign is a mistake no one wants to repeat.
Mobile vs. Responsive Websites
The importance of shop websites – and the ever-growing trend toward mobile devices – leaves shop owners with a few options: keep a traditional website and hope for the best, offer both a regular and mobile-friendly website, or offer a single, responsive website designed to adapt in size and features depending upon the device a visitor is using.
How Did We Do Today?
It’s widely accepted that gathering customer feedback can help a repair shop better meet its clients’ expectations. After that, the clear-cut details start to fade. What’s the best way to gather feedback – and exactly what customer satisfaction data should be sought? And once you have the data in hand, how do you translate that to positive changes in your shop?
Customized Marketing Solutions
With all that a quality marketing program entails – advertising, social media, public relations and more – doing it right is a big commitment. Tire dealers and repair shops, large and small, must choose the best strategy to make sure all bases are covered. As we discovered when speaking with businesses for this article, sometimes the answer isn’t as simple as handling everything in-house versus hiring an outside agency.
Thwarting Cyber Attacks In The Digital Age
No company of any size is truly safe from those seeking to access customer and company data. And, if a large, multi-billion dollar corporation’s systems are vulnerable to attack, then surely a local retailer – like an auto repair shop – can easily fall victim. Luckily, there are many ways to protect your business against data breaches and hacking, from computer security tactics and software programs to employee education and even insurance policies.
Lights, Camera, Action!
In the social media arena, Facebook and Twitter often get the most attention when it comes to marketing one’s business. But, with the growing influence of online video – particularly with younger generations – YouTube should not be overlooked. To promote your brand, you don’t need a high tech studio and loads of editing software; you simply need a smartphone or basic video camera, a YouTube account and a little creativity.
Telematics: Closed Loop Or Open Range For Repair Shops?
Imagine you could save your customers time, money and frustration all while earning their loyalty and adding to your shop’s bottom line. Instead of trying to convince a mistrusting customer that his or her vehicle needs important maintenance work based on a mileage estimate programmed into your CRM software, imagine knowing to the exact mile how much that vehicle has been driven and having proof that said maintenance is needed.
It’s Time To Get Hyper
There’s no doubt that consumers’ online activity has made a massive, lasting impact on marketing strategy. More than 2 billion consumers go online regularly, thanks to exponential growth in connectivity and devices like smartphones and tablets, according to a recent Google study entitled, “Brand Engagement in the Participation Age.”
Giving Your Business A Face Lift
We hear time and time again from our readers that in today’s ultra-competitive market, every edge is necessary to beat the competition. Fine-tuning your shop’s customer service and perfecting shop operations are the first – and most obvious – steps. Beyond that, successful owners are working hard to deliver even more to their customers.
