By Eric Schurenberg – CBS Moneywatch (It has been a rough few years)

34% Percent of Americans who say they or their spouse lost a job in the recession

27% Percent who say their personal finances won’t recover until after the end of this year

24% Percent who say their personal finances won’t ever fully recover

32 – U.S. ranking in consumer confidence of 53 nations worldwide

You know you need to market to keep business coming in so what is a shop owner to do?  When budgets are tight you can still market your business.  It takes more effort but does cost less!

Website – Be proactive with your website.  If you don’t have one, get one.  I can recommend a wonderful company that will have you up and running in no time. You don’t want a static website.  That is just a brochure.  You want one that you can add/delete and change up from time to time.  You don’t have to spend a fortune either. Check out this company.  You’ll be glad you did!  www.repairshopwebsites.com.  If you do a newsletter or a flyer or any type of marketing, they will be glad to place it on your website for you.  Just think…you can mail out or email a marketing piece to your customers, then let it do double duty by placing it on your website for prospects to see!  We send our mutual customers’ newsletters/flyers/blog posts to them and they place it on their website!  Double duty marketing!!

Facebook – I have so many customers who scramble to set up Facebook…then completely forget it.  Facebook alone won’t get your customers to come in more often.  You actually have to be a presence on Facebook…frequently. I’m not saying you have to say something each and every day…but at least once a week!  Facebook allows customers to know you on a more personal level.  You can put a coupon on Facebook too!  It takes time…but doesn’t cost you any money at all!

Email Blasts – Print mail is great but it is more expensive.  If you collect email addresses you can send an email blast instead.  For example, NWZ WORX can still write, design and layout your piece, but instead of printing and mailing, we would email it for you at a fraction of the cost of print/mail.  It still looks like you emailed it! Or…you could just send a text email yourself. It takes effort…you have to collect the email addresses.

The Telephone – If the above are not an option, then consider making telephone calls.  Customers usually enjoy talking to their car care provider.  You may just get a voice mail but cheerfully remind them of their next service and that you look forward to seeing them soon.  It just takes time.

Joint Effort: Join forces with a collision shop and share the cost of your marketing piece.  You both need the exposure!

I hope this helps!  Don’t get discouraged and whatever you do…don’t stop marketing.  Large corporations actually ramp up their marketing when business is slow and spend more.  I completely understand that this may not be an option for you but I wanted to send you some alternatives.  When the dollars are low you can still reach out and benefit from marketing.  It just takes more effort and time.  It will see you through until the economy turns around.  If you stop marketing yourself altogether, when it does turn around you may be left behind if your competition kept on marketing.  Those who market themselves will win!

If you are one of these shops I am here to help you like always!  Just contact me!

Thanks!

Rhonda, www.nwzworx.com

Then along came websites.  At first they too were very expensive and took weeks or months to put together.  Overtime though they have evolved so that they are very affordable and can be functional in no time.  People today are surfing the web instead of letting their fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages.  Today, if a business doesn’t have a website they are viewed suspiciously by the general public as a non-reputable business or at the very least as a not very state-of-the-art shop. 

My advice to all shop owners is to rethink how you spend your hard earned dollars.  If you feel you must have a presence in the phone book, make it a one-line bold listing or a very small ad.  You will be in the white pages anyway and most people know where your business is and the name of your shop because seeing it as they drive by is why they are considering doing business with you.  They can go to whitepages.com and put in your business name to get your phone number too.

One of the business trends predicted for this year is the combination of direct mail and web-based campaigns.  This trend started in 2009 with much success and shop owners are targeting their best customers with direct mail that will lead the customer to their website to visit personalized URL’s that deliver segmented targeted information.  Web-based campaigns are keeping businesses thriving in this economic downturn and customers and prospects of all ages are very web savvy. Gen Y is set to be the largest generation replacing the Baby Boomers as the biggest group and they grew up with the web.  They certainly won’t be using Yellow Pages. 

If you don’t have a website yet, get one very soon.  You will be pleasantly surprised at how affordable it will be and what it can do for your business.  

By Rhonda Hiltbrand

NWZ WORX Multimedia

 A Repair Shop Websites Partner Story