Auto body repair business marketing for less than $100 a year.

There are ups and downs in any sort of business, follow these five marketing strategies to keep a steady flow of business. I have been in the auto body repair business for over 16 years, and have done countless studies on the marketing of this type of business. I have formulated five steps plan that costs less than $100 a year to run.

• Step one, build a website. Have a functioning website. I hope that a majority of shop owners have completed this step years ago. But if not, do not worry, technology costs have dropped. You can use a simple premade template site, add photos, contact information, and have it up and running in less than a few hours. You can buy a domain (example.com) from numerous providers. I would recommend GoDaddy.com; they offer great customer service and numerous website templates. You can buy a domain for as little as $7.00. Please, refrain from any domain not a dot com; avoid .net, .us, etc. These tried hard to work, but dot com is the easiest and most recognized. You can host a simple site for as little as $4.00 a month. Studies show that consumers are not using the phone book anymore that is history. People go onto the internet and type in a search engine what they are looking for. An example is as follows, I need some auto body repair work done, I am new to this area, go to www.google.com and type “auto body repair”; it would pop up numerous ads in the surrounding area. If your ad is not there, you are not going to get that call. So step one, get a good looking website.

• Step two, list with major search engines. Now that you have your auto body repair site up and running, list it with some major search engines. This is free, takes less than a minute, and will get you great results. I would list with Google, Yahoo, MSN; these are probably all you need. Just type in the search box, list url on Google, Yahoo, and MSN. That should bring up the submission pages. Submit your site and wait. It can take up to three months for your site to be indexed. No need to be disappointed, it all takes time.

• Step three, list with directories or classifieds. Every heard of www.CraigsList.com ? This is one of the highest traffic sites on the internet. Will work wonders for your shop, and is free. Takes less than three minutes to post an add. You obviously would post your shop information under, services – automotive. Cragislist is meant for local areas, so best to only list in your areas, if you attempt to list all over the country, your account will be deleted. Another great local site is www.LaborTrader.com This site has numerous areas for your listings, listings are by county. You could list all of your services, auto glass, body repair, towing, mechanical, etc. Labortrader.com also has a great contract system, you are able to get all your work in writing, and a rating system, LaborTrader.com also is completely free. Make sure when you list on these sites to also list your website, it will be linked to your listing page. This will direct interested customers to your site if they desire more information.

• Step four, get connected via message boards. There are message boards and forums for pretty much every industry. CrashChat, www.CrashChat.com was just started and is strictly for the networking and discussion of the auto body repair industry. Get talking and connect with others in the auto body repair field. Keep in mind; we are all in this together. Let’s help each other out. Spread our knowledge. There will also be a directory soon, to where you will be able to list your body shop, towing facility, etc. When using forums and message boards, make sure to list your website address. Let your address get spread around, get people interested.

• Step five, start an email campaign. This is not nearly as hard as it sounds. What you need to do is start collecting customer’s emails. If the customer or user gives you permission, that is called “opt in” and you will be able to send them information pertaining to your business. You could collect emails from customers visiting your shop, or put a sign up list on your website. Again, as long as the email addresses you are sending information to are “opt in” this is not considered spam, and you have a great marketing tool. I would not bombard customers with random information, but send them a monthly email with all your specials, changes, updates, etc. A great email marketing campaign is offered through GoDaddy. Again, Godaddy is easy to use and there customer service is stellar.

Please follow these five steps, see if it can help your auto body repair business advertising campaign. Consistent marketing is needed to stay afloat in any business. Rome was not built in one day, give a try and do not give up. Please also share your stories and anything to do with the auto body repair industry at www.CrashChat.com

Auto body repair and the economy

Let’s face it, fuel prices are high, food costs are high, your neighbor is loosing their home. Times are not the best. What could be worse? Maybe an auto accident?

Your car has sustained $1500.00 in damage; your insurance company pays you less a deductible. You schedule your vehicle to be repaired at your neighborhood auto body shop. Two days before you take in your vehicle, you get a nasty credit card bill. You start to ponder, what if I took the money from my auto claim and paid off my credit card? I could live with a distorted fender and hood, there does not seem to be any sort of safety issues. When I get back ahead financially, I will get my car repaired. The problem is, most people from this point will never repair that vehicle.

The auto owner has certain obligations to their secured interest with a settlement check. An auto owner is obliged to repair their vehicle if that vehicle is leased, if they neglect to repair, they will be charged when the vehicle is turned in. If the auto has a loan, the vehicle repairs can be neglected, but if the vehicle was repossessed, the auto owner would be charged for the damages. That is the secured interest would try to collect, if the vehicle is repossessed seems like it is a lost cause. If the auto is 100% owned, than it does not matter what the owner does with the insurance payout.

There is a significant industry impact due to customers declining repairs. The local auto body shop now looses that work. That repair employs numerous people in the shop, numerous parts and supplies vendors, and keeps the industry on its toes with new technology and innovations. The only way for a shop to keep absorbing blows like this from cash strapped consumers, is to take drastic cuts in what is owed to them, cut their estimate, or even eat the customer’s deductible, which is not even legal in some states. Why would a shop need to work to just keep the lights on, might be better to just close the doors. The insurance company pays the retail estimate, they by no means encourage the customer to cut deals with the shop, there objective is to put the customer back in there prior position. The repair decision ultimately lies on the finicky auto owner.

Auto body repair at your service. Auto body shops need to reinvent their desire. Some auto owners still think of a shop as a dusty, backyard garage. When in fact, a lot of these shops are million dollar state of the art facilities, utilizing highly trained technicians. I have seen numerous shops with very nice front offices and waiting rooms. These are not dealerships, but independent shops. I think the best way to handle this every changing economy effect on the auto body repair industry is to bond with the customer. The customer is always right, I know sometimes this is hard to stomach, but unfortunately one happy customer might tell one our two potential or current customers, and an unhappy customer will tell twenty people.

A shop might want to utilize some reasonable concessions. Back to our example, the auto owner’s vehicle is inspected by the insurance company and is paid less the deductible. The auto owner takes vehicle to shop and schedules repairs. The shop at that time could work out some concessions with the owner, such as usage of alternative parts, does this 2 year old vehicle really need a $400.00 oem (original equipment manufacturer) headlamp assembly, or would I be ok, with a $180.00 used (like kind quality) assembly. (Disclaimer: all states have slightly different insurance laws, pertaining to insured’s and claimants, this is just an example) Would I be ok with the usage of a remanufactured bumper cover, used bumper cover, or aftermarket? It would save some money and my vehicle would be repaired and accepted by my leasee. These are all acceptable practices. You as a shop owner or technician, need to make the auto owner understand how important it is to get there car repaired. There could also be numerous safety concerns. The shop needs to explain to the auto owner about hidden damage, and the decline in value of their vehicle.

In this every changing industry, it seems that there are hurdles that constantly need to be jumped. A vehicle is the average American’s second highest valued asset; it always amazes me that people do not want to keep their vehicle in top condition. I think that a few tweaks with customer service and salesmanship, you should be able to get repairs lined up in this tough time.

www.CrashChat.com

CrashChat networking and discussion for the auto body repair industry. Body shops, technicians, appraisers, adjusters, estimators, and anyone in this industry is welcome.

CrashChat Auto Body Repair Forum

Hello everyone, my name is Adam Kreeger. I created CrahChat.com so there would be a centralized location for the discussion and networking for all involved in the auto body repair industry, It would be great if all new members could introduce themselves. I have been in the auto body repair industry for over 16 years, I started in a shop sweeping floors and washing cars, moved up and learned pretty much all repair techniques. I am now an insurance auto appraiser, I have been in this position for the last 6 years, I would like to share and combine my advice and knowledge and discuss this industry with anyone else in this business. Knowledge is power. Look forward to talking to all of you.

If you are a technicians, appraiser, estimator, adjuster, or are involved in the industry in anyway, you are welcome to the community.

Click here to go to CrashChat, lets get talking.