Have you wondered why you are noticing your customers vehicles with Walmart oil filters, Pep Boys (proline oil filters) aftermarket airfilters etc. When you are performing your vehicle inspections and reviewing your technicians notes from the FREE 27 point inspection, you see a laundry list of reccomendations and the technicians state "They arent gonna buy anything". Well guess what they are buying and they are spending money. JUST NOT FROM YOU!
The messege Iam trying to get across is someone is doing a better job at educating there customers and marketing their services. You could give me all the exscuses in the world, from they are national, they have a larger budget, they are PROBALLY CHEAPER! Are they? Did you text,email,call your customers with the latest and greatest specials. Do you know what your competition is selling there services for. Do you have a "SANDWHICH BOARD" with your prices and what they entail in your waiting area vs your competitions pricing. Did you explain to your customers how important it is to utialiaze factory oil filters and components to maximize the value of there vehicles.
Example: Ford TSB 06-4-7 Engine ticking and knocking once vehicle reachs operating temperature. One of the first steps to diag'n the concern is making sure the vehicle has a MOTORCRAFT FACTORY OIL FILTER. As aftermarket filters do not have a check valve designed for that application and the aftermarket filters have been known to come apart and cause the engines cam phaser to fail. If your vehicle is out of warranty a very costly repair $3000+ dollars.
Not only are you probally more inexpensive and offer a better product, you are also creating a customer for life. Your homework assignment today is to call 7 of your competitors in your local area(within 25miles) oil changes, tire rotations, mount and balance, larger factory reccomended service, alignments. How did they answer the phone, how fast are they willing to get you in...did they say come in now...did they offer a shuttle ride....did you get a voice mail.....Do all these call from a cell phone as most dealers have caller id and won't take or handle your call. Once you gather all that information...NOW LET YOUR CUSTOMER KNOW WHY THEY SHOULD ONLY COME TO YOU....
Example : Fords "WORKS" special for the 4th quarter of 2010. Oil change, Tire rotation, multipoint inspection for $29.95!!! (Factory Parts) Factory Trained Tech....
Jiffy Lube was $38.95 for there "signature" service which incls....oil and filter(aftermarket penzoil filter) washer fluid and a vacuum. (AFtermarket Issues) $7.00hr oil change tech....
As a customer I would extremely upset with my selling dealer if I didnt recieve notification via Social Networking, Email, Text...phone call..... Get aboard or get passed in 2011!
Richard A. Browne
Fixed Ops Trainer/Consultant
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