General Repair

Why CRM?

Your business is about fixing cars and supporting yourself and your family. You want to do a good job for your customers. You want a place for you and your employees to make a living – it’s better if it can be fun.

Maximizing Profit – Take Control

The more profit you make, the less pressure you have. Pretty simple. One way to grow profit is to make sure you’re doing the right mix of work. Unless you are a specialty shop, you want the right balance of maintenance and repair. Waiting for tow trucks to roll in is too hit-or-miss.

By adding more maintenance work to your daily workload you can smooth out the ups and downs of business, adding profit all year round.

• Maintenance work can be planned ahead of time.
• Your customers can schedule appointments.
• You can order the parts the day before.
• Less experienced techs can do the work because it’s easier.
• It is the kind of work that usually doesn’t cause “comebacks.”
• It’s based on mileage, not on breaking down.
• It’s a reliable way to improve profit.

CustomerLink CRM can help you take control of your mix of maintenance. It can help you take control of the profitability of your shop.

More Maintenance Means More Routine Repairs

CustomerLink CRM is designed to balance out the mix of maintenance work your shop sees, but it’s not just preventive maintenance that will improve profits. More maintenance will help you find more repair opportunities. By seeing a customer more times each year you get to inspect the vehicle more times. You will make more service sales:

• more belts and hoses
• more brakes
• more lights and wipers
• more everything

Plus, finding those things BEFORE the customer has a breakdown saves them headaches too. You’re actually doing them a favor.

How much does CRM cost?

CRM doesn’t “cost” anything when it’s done right. The typical CustomerLink customer sees an additional $54 in sales for every $1 spent on marketing. Yes, the first dollar had to come from the shop, but thinking as a businessperson, the profit from the service more than covers the cost of the marketing. Based on these averages, it works like this:

• Spend $0 on marketing, get $0 in extra business.
• Spend $1 on marketing, get $54 in extra business.
• Spend $100 on marketing, get $5,400 in extra business.
• Spend $1000 on marketing, get $54,000 in extra business.

The size of your customer database is really the only thing regulating how much your business can grow. And we can help you grow your database too. The program just builds and builds… so do your profits.

CustomerLink CRM is good for your customer

You’ve heard people say, “My doctor told me such-and-such” or “my lawyer advised me to…” etc. They use the word “my” for a reason. They want someone that is “theirs” to trust and rely on.

We know you have loyal customers that refer to you as “my mechanic” or refer to your shop as “my shop” when talking about auto repair. But how many of the people who come to your shop over the year call you that? How many have claimed you as “my mechanic” to their friends and family?

They want to. They really do. They want a shop and a “mechanic” they can trust and call their own. But they aren’t going to get to know you if they don’t come back a few times first. One visit doesn’t cut it for most people, and if they don’t get to know you, they aren’t going to call you “theirs.”

CRM is how you invite them back. Remind them of needed services; do it with a personalized communication that is sent on time, when their vehicle is actually due for service (not just a guess based on how many months have passed). Send to them regularly using the best available marketing technology, and let them know you care.

They will come. They will get to know you. They will call you “my mechanic” to their friends. You both win.

CustomerLink CRM will help you get more of the BEST kinds of customers

Your shop is not a charity. You started that business to make a profit. Discounting and free stuff is not how entrepreneurial fortunes are made. So, how does a shop control the number of coupon-clippers and bargain hunters coming through their doors?

The answer is CRM. Your customer database is full of information that you can put to use with CustomerLink CRM. It’s not only about getting more people to come in; it’s about getting the RIGHT people to come in.

With CustomerLink CRM you control whom your shop communicates with, whom you are going to invite to come back in. Cherry pick from the most profitable consumers and let the bargain hunters, the “oh, it wasn’t like that when I came in” people, and the coupon clippers go somewhere else.

Take control of the quality of customers you see. Get the best kinds of customers and keep them coming back time and time again.

A lot of people counting on your shop’s success

That’s right, a lot of people are. You, your family, your employees, their families. Depending on the size of your business, that can be a lot of folks relying on what you do every day.

• YOU - It’s not just about paying the bills.  It might seem like it sometimes, but it shouldn’t be.  It’s about time.  It’s about vacation time.  It’s about going home earlier and maybe getting a bit more sleep.  It’s about having the freedom to use your time for yourself when you want to or when you need to.
  
  You deserve to take trips every year. You deserve to at least go home early and work on that hobby for which you have trouble finding time. You deserve to be able to hire and pay employees who are skilled enough and smart enough to cover for you while you are away for fun with your family.  You deserve to ENJOY owning that business, not be bound to it like an anchor to a chain.
  
  
• YOUR FAMILY - Guess what, they miss you.  Running a shop is grueling, hard work.  You know it far better than we do.  Long hours, long weeks.  Ugh.  If you could afford to hire (and/or train)  that really qualified person you could get some time for yourself and family.  You could coach your kid’s team.  Coach all your kids’ teams.  Take your spouse out.  Volunteer somewhere that matters to you.  Heck, just go home early and mow the lawn on a day that isn’t your one day off a week.
   
  
• YOUR EMPLOYEES - We mentioned hiring a really qualified person to make a big difference in how your  business proceeds, but a really competent manager, salesperson, tech or bookkeeper won’t come cheap.  Not the kind you can trust to cover for you when you are gone.  Those kinds of people are expensive, even though they, like marketing, usually more than pay for themselves.  They can help you make more money even as they help free you from being trapped always at the shop.
  
  But beyond the highly qualified personnel that you can hire or train, your whole crew benefits when your shop does well.  You can afford to give raises, pay for benefits, throw parties and picnics, help them when they are in need.  Growing your business is good for everyone.
  
  
• YOUR COMMUNITY - When your shop does well, your community benefits.  The jobs you create help the economy with every dollar your employees spend, donate or save.  The tax base helps the city, county, state and even the U.S.  This might seem over-stated or optimistic to an extreme.  But it’s not.  It’s true.  The better your shop does, the better everyone does.  Think of your shop like a stone tossed into a pond, the ripples traveling outward are the expanding impact of your success.  The only question is, do you want to make ripples or make waves.

A solid marketing plan is one of the most critical tools you can use to help make these things happen for you and the people relying on your shop.