SPEED READ

More than 920 people filled a large ballroom at The Venetian in early November in Las Vegas to kick off the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX).

Bill Hanvey, president and CEO, Auto Care Association and Paul McCarthy, president and CEO, Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association, gave a state of the industry address but both seemed more excited to actually be talking with real people in person.

No more Teams or Chat or Zoom.

They were humbled to note that the more than 4 million workers in the automotive aftermarket were deemed essential at the height of the COVID-19 prevention measures in early 2020. They also noted that the technicians and other automotive front-line workers were proud, too.

A panel of industry experts in the aftermarket were part of the more festivities, and they went through a litany of topics, but the words that were often mentioned at the breakfast were: the right to repair.

The panel included Corey Bartlett, president and CEO, Automotive Parts Headquarters Inc.; Sue Godschalk, president, Federated Auto Parts; Tom Greco, president and CEO, Advance Auto Parts; Kevin Herran, president and COO, Genuine Parts Co.; Gregory Johnson, CEO and copresident, O’Reilly Auto Parts; Bill Rhodes, president and CEO, AutoZone.

Everyone on the panel mentioned the right to repair, all amplified the news from earlier this year that the voters of Massachusetts voted in favor of the proposal with 75% in favor.

Now the same types of initiatives are working their way through Congress and state legislatures around the country.

Not only does the right to repair help customers with the availability of a choice in auto work on the vehicles, the panelists said, but also it is important to the industry moving forward.

As electric cars become a bigger part of the future, Godschalk said the original equipment manufacturers will push even more for all repairs and updates to be done at their dealerships. And with no oil changes and less brake work to name just a few of the changes coming with electric vehicles, she said the aftermarket industry needs to fight to have access to the information to those cars and their components.

Ford built a one-off concept truck based on the 1978 F-100 pickup to display at The SEMA Show.

The truck is powered by two electric motors to make 480hp. The platform comes from Ford’s EV crate motor, called Eluminator. It’s a transverse-oriented EV powertrain that retails at around $3,900.

“Ford owners have personalized, customized and enhanced their vehicles since the beginning—from changing looks to bringing the power,” said Eric Cin, global director, vehicle personalization, accessories and licensing, in a press release. “Our F-100 Eluminator concept is a preview of how we’re supporting customers as they go all-electric and embrace zero-tailpipe emissions performance, even for our heritage vehicles.”

The ASA-Northwest, which will soon be the Northwest Auto Care Alliance, is seeking somebody to lead the organization.

The group is looking for somebody to lead daily operations of the NWACA, which is based in Tacoma, Wash. The organization covers automotive service and repair industry in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. NWACA hopes to fill the position by February 1.

Candidates with post-secondary degrees, automotive industry experience, trade association experience, business management experience, and other related skills will be considered, according to a press release. Applicants can contact Brian Kelley at brykelley@gmail.com.

Electric cars and their future need to be respected, says Ben Johnson, director of product management, Mitchell 1.

But that future isn’t scary and remains bright for the automotive aftermarket because the combustion engine isn’t going anywhere fast, he said during an education session at Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) in Las Vegas.

Johnson noted that even though 2.3 percent of vehicles sold in 2020 were fully electric and 12 percent were electrified in some way, more than 98 percent of vehicles on the road today have combustion engines.

More numbers describe Johnson’s reasoning for patience and calm.

Yes, 70 electric vehicle models are expected to hit the market by 2027. But even by using the high end of projections about electric cars, 92 percent of vehicles on the road in 2030 would be gas-powered.

Johnson also pointed out that these electric cars are complicated machines and will need service and parts.

“People say these vehicles are so simple we are going out of business. That’s just not true,” he says. “There is still a lot of complexity. A lot of technology is coming our way.

“We are in business to solve problems for (all) cars on the road.”

CARQUEST BY ADVANCE ANNOUNCES RETAIL STORES

Advance Auto Parts announced a retail store concept under the Carquest brand name.

The store targets DIY customers and “independent owners who receive additional operations and merchandising DIY support from Advance,” according to a press release. The independent owners can work with the Advance network of suppliers to carry certain parts.

By the end of the year, Advance hopes to have 20 Carquest by Advance locations online. Baxter Auto Parts of Portland, Ore., will operate 19 of them in the Pacific Northwest, while Kittrell Auto Parts currently operates a location in Beaufort, N.C.

Advance Auto Parts will work with CRM provider Mechanic Advisor to provide “enhanced solutions” for shop management and customer relationships. The partnership will benefit members of the Advance Professional network.

“We believe it’s vitally important to offer our Professional customers with leading digital technology that drives business results,” Bob Cushing, Advance’s executive vice president, Professional, said in the release. “Through our partnership with Mechanic Advisor, we are upgrading our solutions by providing our Professional customers with innovative software and resources to drive demand within their repair shops.”

The partnership will benefit members of the Advance Professional and TechNet networks.

In a recent study facilitated by UpSwell Marketing, shop owners were asked what keeps them up at night. A majority of participants answered “finding good quality technicians”, followed by “keeping a steady flow of customers” and then “sourcing parts”. According to Reed Parker, executive marketing consultant at UpSwell, all three top worries go hand in hand.

“The best technicians will stay at a busy shop,” he explains.

When looking for new, qualified technicians, 42 percent of survey participants answered that they have had the most success through referrals. But owners should be focusing on multiple tactics.

“Some of our clients promote that their shop is hiring through postcards and social media, and have seen success in using these tactics,” Parker says.

Shop owners should not only focus on finding new technicians, but also keeping the experienced team members they already have, at their shop. Over 58 percent of survey participants answered that retaining their qualified staff is the hardest part of running a successful shop.

“You need to make your employees feel valuable and know that they are appreciated. You can set up goals or rewards to show your appreciation,” Parker says.

Despite the many challenges facing the automotive industry right now, many owners still plan on expanding their business in the next three to five years.

“About a third of the shop owners we work with are involved in some form of coaching that encourages them to grow in the future or how to continue to stay afloat right now,” Parker explains.

For more tips with UpSwell Marketing, visit ratchetandwrench.com for the full, unabridged article. To learn more about UpSwell, visit upswellmarketing.com/ ratchetwrench or call 888.838.3779.

How marketing and sending follow-up texts through KUKUI can help you grow

Dale Warmuth began his partnership with KUKUI within the last year. And like any successful brand, he doesn’t quite remember when he first heard about KUKUI, he just knew about the benefits.

Warmuth is the manager of the family owned shop, Leon’s Car Care Center in Northern California. The award winning business has been around since 1961. After a branding change and immense growth over the last 60 years, the large shop now sits in the unique coastal city of Eureka—surrounded by massive redwoods.

KUKUI has helped Warmuth and the Leon’s Car Care Center team bring in a large influx of customers from both within city lines and beyond, even within the short amount of time with the company.

BOOST CUSTOMER TRAFFIC Following Warmuth’s decision to partner with KUKUI was a website redesign. And although he mentions that the shop’s previous website looked great and worked well, there is something about the KUKUI layout that brings in the customers.

“With our website before, we probably got an appointment scheduled through it once or twice a month. With KUKUI, I now get a couple of appointments a day,” he explains.

A few appointments a month, to a few appointments a day is a huge leap—and the numbers continue to rise.

Leons-carcare.com is clean and image-driven, with three different buttons to click through and make an appointment just on the homepage (without even scrolling). The easy-to-use website— which is also as well-designed on mobile—helps to bring in the customers that are needed to fill the shop’s many bays.

FOLLOW UP FOR RETENTION But bringing in customers isn’t where successful businesses stop—it’s about keeping those customers by encouraging them to come back. Warmuth’s team utilizes KUKUI’s Text Messaging platform to follow up with each customer and boost retention.

Because the business of Leon’s Car Care Center has been around for roughly six decades, keeping lists of customers’ email addresses has been a challenge for the shop. And although the team is working to turn that around, texting seems to work best for the shop and their customer base. Most people are glued to their phone at every moment throughout that day, and as Warmuth points out, can instantaneously see when a text comes through. In fact, studies report that text messages have an open rate of 98 percent, with 90 percent of those being read within three minutes.

KUKUI allows Warmuth’s staff the ability to quickly follow up with customers after their visit, and encourage them to return.

COMPARABLE BENCHMARKS Warmuth also relies on the KUKUI All-in-One Shop Performance Dashboard to pull relevant data and analytics to share with his team and the rest of his family. The dashboard allows him to break down his shop’s revenue, car count, customer conversion rate and more. He also takes these figures and compares them to the same month from years in the past to get an accurate picture of growth.

Not only does Warmuth use KUKUI to track his growth and compare numbers with previous months, but he also uses the platform to see how his business ranks in the industry.

“It's nice to have some comparables within the industry so we can benchmark ourselves against others and see how we are doing,” he says.