How do I Increase Car Counts & Ticket?

Next Article

Building Relationships in Challenging Business Environments

BY AMBER KOSSAK, CEO OF SOLID START

Your property taxes and other fixed costs are going up. The value of cash earned is shrinking. If nothing changes, then you are going backwards. Even if we didn’t have inflation, a percentage of our customers move every year, so to break even you must replace those who aren’t coming back.

In short, we always need to be thinking about how to generate new business while taking care of our existing customers.

Car Counts - You can’t manage what you don’t measure

The starting point is assessing where you are currently at. What is your current car count? What are your average ticket prices? What percentage of your existing customer base is repeat business? How much down time is there in the shop? If you are already full from morning till night, then the only ways to increase car counts are to have longer hours, improved efficiency (faster service) or a bigger facility with extra service bays.

One facet of increasing car counts is to continually make it a priority. Do you have a plan? Don’t panic. Being aware of your numbers is the essential starting point. How can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you are to begin with?

Marketing Tactics To Improve Car Counts

When it comes to maintaining customers and growing your car counts, there are few things more important than providing stand-out customer service. An exceptional experience will nearly always generate buzz. This means having friendly, competent staff with the right people in the right positions and word of mouth is still among the most powerful ways to bring people in.

Another low-cost strategy for small businesses is to connect with other small businesses in your community. Becoming involved with your local Chamber of Commerce or neighborhood business association can have many benefits. It’s one more way your business gets noticed and it adds to your credibility. Small businesses around the country are working together to turn their neighborhood’s into destinations, increasing their pool of potential customers.

Building relationships with local media can have payoffs as well. What new things have you done in the past year that have not received media coverage? Have you made an effort to share your success stories with local TV, radio or print media?

Improving Efficiency – Speed is not the final measure of good service. When was the last time you took an inventory of how long it takes to service a customer? What if you measure and record the amount of time it takes from initial greeting to when the customer pulls away? Do this for an entire day’s worth of customers and you have a benchmark. Make this a team effort. If two or three customers had longer wait times and another was exceptionally quick, ask your team if they noticed what caused the delays. Maybe there was a problem getting a filter off. Or maybe there was a problem with a credit card. Whatever the reason make a note and continue to improve your efficiency.

What we’re doing is taking a snapshot of a moment in time. Increased efficiency is achieved by means of continuous incremental improvements.

Remember, though, that speed is not the final measure of good service. If you are pushing so hard that you strip the threads on an oil pan bolt or forget to tighten a filter, you have a problem. Efficiency + Customer Service = Building Trust!

Exceptional Customer Care - Never taking a customer for granted. How you treat your customers is the #1 determinant as to whether they keep coming back or not. Friendly, personal service goes a long way toward making customers feel like family. Never take a customer for granted. There are generally two reasons people leave comments online: one, because something offended or annoyed them or, two, they were blown away by something exceptional they experienced. Strive to make it the latter. “We couldn’t believe how friendly the staff was,” will go a long way toward bringing new business to your store.

Treat their vehicles like your own. Quality service will also contribute to increased ticket profits. In any sales situation, trust is a major factor. When your technician makes an addon recommendation--whether it’s a Filter change, fuel system cleaner or another performance enhancer--the stronger your relationship with your customers the greater consideration he or she will receive.

Remember, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Make sure you understand your numbers, your team, your customers, and continuously make incremental improvements.

LSAUCIER @FULLSPEEDAUTOMOTIVE.COM