Valuable Perks To Keep Your Shop ‘Top Of Mind’
What would one more visit per year from your best customers mean for your shop? Let’s say you have 100 current customers and the average customer comes in twice per year. If you can get each one to come in once more every year, you would grow your sales by 50% without spending a dime.
Is Business Coaching Right For Your Shop?
Whether you’re a new shop owner looking to increase your car count, or an industry veteran hoping to build loyalty from your existing customer base, hiring a business coach to help you achieve your goals might be worth considering.
Executive Interview: Ted Hughes, Head of Marketing, North America, MAHLE Aftermarket Inc.
Ted Hughes, AAP, was named head of marketing in North America for MAHLE Aftermarket Inc. in February 2011. Hughes leads the marketing department with responsibility for promotions, public relations, advertising, motorsports programs, and the advancement of all electronic and web-based activities. He’s approaching 15 years with the company, having served in various marketing roles since graduating in 2000 from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelor of business administration (marketing) degree.
Free Or Cheap Websites Help Competitors Eat Your Lunch
Pick your cliché. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. You get what you pay for. When it comes to web-hosting and website creation, there is a lot of advertising and marketing pushing free services or services that are so inexpensive that they aren’t representative of the true marketplace.
When Timing Is Everything … The Best Time May Be Right Now
The automotive aftermarket is viewed by many, both within and outside the industry, as a healthy, vibrant, vital growth industry. Qualified serious buyers consider auto service as more recession proof and less stressful than restaurants and other popular categories of businesses for sale.
Five Ways To Keep Your Business Out Of Court
When it comes to business, there are so many things that owners need to do and think about to keep the shop running. The last thing they need is a lawsuit related to employment matters that can be easily avoided. Here are five tips to avoid employment lawsuits.
Kracl Automotive: Family Atmosphere Attracts Customers, Employees
When Adam Kracl and his wife Annette decided to open their own automotive repair shop in Glenwood Springs, CO, they knew they wanted to fill a void in the area with a shop that not only provided top-notch repairs, but also created a warm, inviting atmosphere for customers and employees alike.
Ensuring Auto Care Financial Success
Can you point your company in the direction of financial success, step on the gas, and then sit back and wait to arrive at your destination? Not quite. Any business owner knows you need to make numerous adjustments along the way – decisions about pricing, hiring, investments, and so on. So, how do you handle the array of questions facing you? One way is through cost accounting.
Team Incentives: How To Keep Employees Engaged, Optimistic
Over the last 15 years, since we started helping shop owners in 1999, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every pay plan known to man. I’m also pretty sure that I’ve heard every possible variation of the same question: “How can I pay my team in a way that motivates them without eating all of my profits?”
Preferred Automotive: Business Growth Through Education, Customer Service
Preferred Automotive Specialists, Inc. is proof positive that business growth doesn’t have to mean sacrificing customer service. Tom Palermo, who serves as the general manager of the Jenkintown, PA, shop, has been able to expand his fleet customer base while continuing to maintain the personal, one-on-one relationship with regular customers.
The Industry’s Talent Gap: Is It A Crisis Or An Opportunity?
Have you taken a look around our industry lately and made the same observation that I have? We are getting pretty old. From the parts house counterman to the shop owner, we are seeing a lot more grey hair and maybe a few more comb overs. In fact, statistics indicate that the average age of a shop owner is 55!
Wright’s Automotive: Protecting And Preserving A Legacy With A New Owner
An independent automotive service business can be so much more than bricks and mortar, equipment, employees and a source of revenue. It can also be a source of pride – a testament to a lifetime’s worth of hard work. I sometimes share case studies of the clients I have been able to assist in my role as an aftermarket business broker and provider of intermediary and advisory services. I do that when I think the story will provide a reader in similar circumstances with new insights or helpful information.
