November 22, 2011 – Since 2005, Repair Shop Websites has been providing a professional online presence to automotive repair shops across the nation. Today over 2,000 shop owners rely on Repair Shop Websites to deliver an effective, trouble free website. The website company has grown at a rapid pace, and is excited to serve each customer with no contracts or long term commitments!

On November 22, 2011, Protek Auto of Poland, OH (www.protekautorepair.com) became the 2,000th active customer to trust Repair Shop Websites for web services.

Since the launch of Repair Shop Websites in 2005, more and more people are using the Internet to make everyday decisions. While consumers are still frequenting auto repair shops to keep their cars on the road longer, they are searching for shops online and making decisions based on what they find on the Internet.

Repair Shop Websites has developed their product based on understanding what repair shops need and what their customers want. One of the unique aspects of Repair Shop Websites is that they completely manage all 2,000 plus websites and make updates at no additional charge. This benefit allows shop owners to focus on what’s happening under the hood of their customers’ vehicles and on the day to day operations of their business.

“For us, meeting the needs and wants of our customers has played a key part in our success. We make it easier on our customers because we know what works and what doesn’t work — so they don’t have to go in alone on the Internet,” says Vice President, Richard Benbow. “Also, at Repair Shop Websites, customer service is the number one priority. We listen to feedback and are constantly improving our product at no additional cost to our customers. In fact, we have never raised our price to a single customer. From the very beginning, our business model was built on managing thousands of shops, and that is one of our key strengths. We specialize in the automotive industry and provide the expertise an independent web designer just can’t offer. The independent designer may have a few dozen customers in fields as varied as florists to fast food restaurants. They just can’t provide the content, graphics & design features — let alone make changes and update the website as new design trends come along — for our low one-price-covers-all plan.”

Repair Shop Websites has no plans to slow down now that they have hit the 2,000 customer mark. They continue to make new feature announcements, including their latest offering, Search Engine Marketing. Visit www.repairshopwebsites.com to learn more about the growing North Carolina based company.

http://www.clearmechanic.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/CM-Blog-Post-Top-5-ClearMechanic-Vehicle-Photos-from-Week-of-October-30th-11-4-112.pdf

An auto repair shop owner’s time is limited because of today’s demand in the industry, which is why Repair shop Websites is always looking for ways to help.  Not only does Repair Shop Websites manage their sites, but a new tool has been developed for shops to correspond with customers with minimal effort.

The new service is called Endless Referrals, and repair shops use it to communicate with their customers.
 
Through websites powered by Repair Shop Websites, garage owners can easily touch base with their customers throughout the year for occasions such as holiday greetings, seasonal reminders, and for referring your business to others. The new tool offers automatic emails for customers about service reminder as well as a referral feature. This is not an aggressive email campaign, but just the opposite.  We help bring your business to the mind of customers so they look to you when service is needed.

Our customer service team would be glad to answer any questions you have about Endless Referrals. Please call 1-866-665-1605 to speak to them!

“Offering search engine marketing is a new and exciting venture for us, which is why we chose ReachLocal, the industry leader with a proven product,” said Richard Benbow of Repair Shop Websites. “We are proud to announce this reseller relationship with ReachLocal and ReachSearch as an ‘a la cart’ option to our current three comprehensive website packages. We are looking forward to working with ReachLocal as a benefit to our customers.”

Like small businesses everywhere, garage owners are getting involved with online marketing and gaining more and more interest in the dynamics of the Web, especially search engine marketing. The Repair Shop Websites team is very in tune with the needs of their nearly 2,000 customers who receive search engine optimized sites that not only rank well on the Web, but help drive more cars and profits into the bays of their shop. By offering search engine marketing through ReachLocal, Repair Shop Websites is answering the demand from their clients for a comprehensive search solution.

“RepairShopWebsites.com and their customers are a natural fit for ReachLocal as we continue the expansion of our re-seller partnerships with advertising agencies, media companies and B2B service providers,” said Seth Winterer, ReachLocal’s Director of Strategic Partnerships. “We provide our re-seller partners with a scalable and provable away to provide their clients with best in class digital marketing solutions.”

ReachLocal provides online marketing products and services for more than 18,000 small- and medium-sized businesses in North America, Europe and Australia.

About Repair Shop Websites:
Repair Shop Websites specializes in affordable websites and marketing practices that educate, engage, and entice our clients’ current and prospective customers to choose their shop time and time again. In just 10 to 15 minutes on the phone, Repair Shop Websites can have your company online and competing with new car dealers and national repair chains with a website that uses cutting edge features, Social Media, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing. Repair Shop Websites is the official website provider of several of the largest parts suppliers in North America!

Repair Shop Websites, leading website provider for the auto repair and service industry, will be located at Booth 5 on Saturday, October 1, 2011. The executives at Repair Shop Websites are excited to get a chance to interact with the industry members that they serve on a daily basis. They are even giving people the chance to win a flat screen TV.

IGONC is a nonprofit association for the independent auto repair, service and collision industry, which is also the customer base at Repair Shop Websites. IGONC and Repair Shop Websites both strive to grow business for auto repair shops. Repair Shop Websites does so by providing affordable, professional, and interactive websites that they 100% manage with no contracts or commitments.

Visit Booth 5 on Saturday to learn about the leading web products offered by Repair Shop Websites at an exceptional price. You may just win a flat screen TV!

Repair Shop Websites, a leading national website provider for auto repair shops and independent garages in all 50 states and Canada, recently announced a partnership that has led to the development of Visual Inspection Plus (VIP). This exclusive feature offers visual explanation technology for automotive service centers that is designed to greatly reduce or eliminate one of the leading reasons that repair shops lose customers.

Repair Shop Websites will offer the mobile application to all of their 1,900+ clients, enabling each shop to capture high-quality photos of a customer’s service needs and immediately post the photos online. Repair Shop Websites clients can feature expert illustration content next to each service photo eliminating customer doubts and suspicions about recommended repairs.
 

With Visual Inspection Plus (VIP), repair shops can now communicate with customers in real-time while offering them knowledge and transparency in the repair process eliminating doubts concerning the need or urgency of the service recommended.
 
“We are always striving to find new ways for shops to engage, retain and convert customers through the web. This unique feature Repair Shop Websites offers should impact the relationships shops have with their customers as well as their bottom line.  This kind of customer interaction is usually only found at new car dealerships and national chains, and we are happy to offer it to all of our customers!” says Richard Benbow, Vice President of Repair Shop Websites.
 
Repair Shop Websites has been creating affordable and professional websites since 2005, and like other features, Visual Inspection Plus will be added at no additional charge.

Garner, NC – (September 8, 2011) Repair Shop Websites, a leading website provider for independent repair shops, has announced a strategic partnership with ClearMechanic, developer of visual explanation technology for automotive service centers.

Repair Shop Websites will offer custom access to ClearMechanic’s mobile application to over 1,900 clients, enabling each shop to capture high-quality photos of a customer’s vehicle and immediately post the photos online. Through its partnership with ClearMechanic, Repair Shop Websites clients can also feature expert illustration content next to each live vehicle photo.

Repair Shop Websites has been creating affordable and professional websites for shops since 2005 and their team of professionals is always looking to improve their service and stay ahead of competition. Adding ClearMechanic’s mobile application and Live Photo Gallery programs to their clients‟ websites, at no additional charge and at no hassle, is an example of their unique service and commitment to quality.

The ClearMechanic mobile application is currently available on all Android devices and will be released on the iPhone in early September.

“Our business philosophy at Repair Shop Websites is to under-sell and over-deliver services for long term customer satisfaction,” said Richard Benbow, Vice President of Repair Shop Websites. “Constantly revamping our product through partnerships is something that sets Repair Shop Websites apart from others. Because we ask for no contracts or long term commitments, our product has to be as dynamic and cutting-edge as today’s technology. Our websites have a history of leveling the playing field and allowing our shops to compete with anyone in their market. This is yet another tool to strengthen that position. I am glad that we can offer the “Freemium package” to every one of our customers at no additional cost. This is possible due to the arrangements we have with our partner ClearMechanic.”

Repair Shop Websites clients using ClearMechanic can also subscribe to several optional premium offerings. For more information, please contact Repair Shop Websites or ClearMechanic.

Ken Hite, Vice President of Corporate Strategy at ClearMechanic, notes that, “Repair Shop Websites provides a unique opportunity to work with a multitude of repair facilities. Our core philosophy at ClearMechanic is to address the primary concerns cited by consumers for not returning to a repair facility: 1) trust; 2) lack of communication between the repair facility and the consumer; and 3) lack of understanding by the consumer as to what the repair facility is recommending for repair.” Hite added, “Repair Shop Websites and ClearMechanic will work collectively to provide for transparency in automotive repair and validate repair recommendations with real time photos.”

About Repair Shop Websites:

Repair Shop Websites specializes in affordable websites and marketing practices that educate, engage, and entice our client’s current and prospective customers to choose their company time and time again. In just 10 to 15 minutes on the phone, Repair Shop Websites can have your company online and begin leveling the playing field with a website that uses cutting edge features, Social Media, and Search Engine Optimization.

To learn more about Repair Shop Websites, go to www.repairshopwebsites.com or call 1-866-665-1605.

About ClearMechanic, Inc: ClearMechanic develops visual explanation technology for automotive dealerships and repair shops. Its flagship products include mobile applications, expert illustration content and web-based tools to “visually explain” repairs to customers. ClearMechanic has documented a 20-40% increase in success on additional service recommendations when customers are shown photos of their defective vehicle parts. ClearMechanic also owns a comprehensive database of 1,000 technical diagrams and illustrations explaining the location and function of vehicle parts and systems. All content has been approved by master technicians for accuracy.

For more information, please visit www.clearmechanic.com.

Automotive service and repair shops have recently discovered that some of their long time customers have started doing business with shade-tree mechanics that have set up shop in their garages. These people may not have the expertise, the equipment and certainly not the warranty but they are doing it for a cut rate and getting their parts from the junk yards and buying the cheapest parts they can find from auto parts stores…and they enjoy tinkering with cars. These customers are getting what they paid for…a cut rate service or repair and no warrantee!

I was reading an article in Advertising Age this week. The writer was sharing his amazement. He was working on a bid for a web project for a client when the marketing director informed him that they appreciated the months of effort he and his company had put into the project, but they had decided to go in another direction. It turned out that the man who owned the coffee shop next door had built his own website and offered to do theirs too. When looking at the site, it was just an online brochure…but it was cheap! I am sure they got exactly what they paid for…not much.

I know I have been similarly amazed when a shop owner has decided to turn their marketing over to a relative with no experience. They were cutting their budget and this relative needed a part-time job and liked to dabble a bit. They obviously felt an expert wasn’t necessary. Again I am sure they got exactly what they paid for.

Have you noticed how many people claim to be experts in social media? What constitutes an expert in this field? Are there social media degrees? No. Are their social media certifications? No. Many times it is just someone sitting at home in their pajamas trying to make a few extra dollars. We must all be careful who we allow to interact with our customers. Be very cautious who you pay to do this service for you.

The point of this article is that in these trying economical times it is so tempting to pay less money to get a job done without thinking it through. Consumers are looking for creative ways to save the family budget and business owners are anxious to keep their bottom line intact. In the quest to save money we (I use “we” because we are all consumers) are often overlooking what real value is. Consumers need to be reminded that expertise equals value because the job will be done right and experts back up their work with warrantees and guarantees. How can you spread the word?

• Your website is an excellent place to start. You may need to spell it out for customers and prospects that expert car service and repair saves them money in the long run and keeps them and those sharing the road with them safer.
• Post an article on Facebook and/or write about it on your blog
• Remind others through every communication you use (online, direct mail, deal sites, reminders, group meetings such as Chamber and BNI)
• It may be time to explain your credentials once again. Many consumers still don’t know what ASE means! This is not the time to hide your education! Let consumers know that you and your staff have ongoing training to keep up with the never ending changes on today’s vehicles.

We all know someone in this economy who has lost their job. We all know businesses that need to trim the budget. What we must decide is…do we want experts or amateurs? Do we want just cheap or do we want value? We all get what we pay for.

Rhonda Hiltbrand
Chief Operating Officer
NWZ WORX Multimedia & WorldWide Connectors
Automotive Marketing & Business Consulting, Direct Mail & Technology Services
4270 Mt. Carmel Tobasco Rd.
Cincinnati OH 45244
800-473-0202
FAX: 513-688-8303
rhonda@nwzworx.com
www.nwzworx.com
www.motorvehicleconnectors.com