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Advertise More, Not Less
Posted on Dec 27, 2011 - 01:43 PM
In this segment, we are going to discuss some ways to help you get more bang from your service advertising buck – I mean, think about it – it really doesn’t do you any good to be the most competitive shop in town if nobody knows about it, right? Bottom line is - You have to advertise – and I mean advertise aggressively if you want to get your lost customers back and attract new ones and you know that! But I talk to dealers and service managers all the time that are spending a lot of money advertising – but sometimes what I find is that they are making some simple mistakes that if fixed, could greatly increase their response rate, traffic and return on investment. So here goes – a few of what I like to call ‘best practices’ for service advertising:
Service Advertising Best Practice #1 – Target the Right Customers.
This is an easy one that a lot of guys mess up on. Chances are your database is full of customers that have been in your store, spent money and never returned. This is the low hanging fruit – go after them first – they know who you are and where you are located and you know who they are, what they drive and what they need – those are good odds. It doesn’t matter why they stopped coming to your store – they stopped and all you should care about is getting them back, right? So aggressively go after these valuable, lost customers and entice them back to your store with special incentives like time driven discounts that increase based on how long it’s been since they were in for service.
And while we are talking about targeting customers, we have to talk about prospecting outside of your database. So many dealers want to spend their money trying to steal other dealer’s customers or customers in other areas and the fact is – there is a time and place for that – after you really mine your own database. You will always get much better response rates with your existing database than with prospecting – so get your lost customers back first – then go after the new ones.
Service Advertising Best Practice #2 – Keep Offers Simple & Competitive.
Before you advertise, really think about the offers and messages you are going to send. Make sure you advertise a competitive oil change – and make sure you don’t combine or package services with the oil change that make the price too high. Even if the package is a great deal – most customers don’t read the entire ad – so all that counts is the customer’s first impression of the advertisement.
For example, I have seen some dealers package an oil change, tire rotation and inspection together for a price that is really a good deal, but all the customer sees is the price (and they assume it is just for an oil change) and they think it is too high so they don’t call or come in. They expected to just see an oil change coupon and you all know that a competitive oil change is what drives most of your service traffic, so play the game the right way and win. If you want to package services, do it on the lane, not on your advertising piece. I think it is a great idea to have ‘on the lane’ special service packages – but only when you get the customers in with the competitive oil change offer on the ad.
And here’s another thing I see a lot of dealers do without really knowing that it pushes customers away from their store, customers already think you charge too much – so don’t prove them right by making coupons on your ads that are expensive. Keep everything under $100 – I suggest always advertising a low priced oil change, a free or low priced tire rotation and either a coolant service or air filter. This way you do the oil change, get the wheels off and you get the hood up. All of these services are pretty well known – customers know that they need them and they have a good idea of what the going rate is – they know what a good deal is for these – so advertise them and get more customers in. Don’t advertise repair work or % off coupons – customers have no idea what the price should be so it doesn’t have any value as far as the ad goes. Use these “closing tools” when the customer is in the drive and about to walk on the job – that is where these come in – not on an ad piece.
Service Advertising Best Practice #3 – Be Consistent & Don’t Stop Too Soon
I have said this before, but it bears repeating – Vehicle sales advertising is like a one night stand, service advertising is like a courtship. You have to consistently contact customers over and over again to build service traffic. One shot mailer campaigns just don’t work because even if you hit the right people, some just don’t need the service at the time you sent the mailer. Remember, you are going to be contacting customers that haven’t been in for a while…they got their car serviced someplace last time it was due and it wasn’t at your store – and they might have just had it done. Maybe they got your mailer, see it as an interesting or enticing offer and maybe they are considering your store – but they just don’t need a service at that time. That’s why you have to consistently mail the same mailer with the same offers to the same people until they come in – it’s just the way it is in service. I talk to dealers all the time that want to send out a blast service mailer one time – and I try my best to talk them out of it – wait until your budget will allow you to mail for at least 6 months if you want to get some real traffic in your store. I know that sometimes sucks – but it just won’t work if you don’t stick to it.
So there you have it – 3 easy best practices to help you get more bang from your service advertising buck and it doesn’t matter if you are sending direct mail or email – all of these simple rules will help you get more traffic and make more money – it’s just common sense!
Agree? Disagree? Comment? Want to discuss or fight about something you read in this article – email me at rjohnson@carpeoplemarketing.com and let’s get to it!
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