Servicing automobiles is not exactly a glamorous business. Consumers don’t clamor to visit your shop nor desire to do business with you, and if they need to contact you, they are likely not in a great mood. Because of this, you need to connect with customers as much as possible to keep your brand top of mind. So when that fateful day comes when they do need car maintenance, they will know exactly who to call.
Here are some ways you can stay connected with clients:
1. Referrals
One of the most powerful ways to gain new business and connect with more clients is to encourage referrals. Referrals are especially important for automotive service businesses since the industry comes with a dose of skepticism from consumers. People will be more open to working with you if they receive a good word from a happy customer.
Here are some tips to encourage referrals:
- Your happy customers are gold. Don’t let one get away without encouraging them to refer others to your business.
- Offer an incentive. Some people either won’t remember to refer you or they won’t want to waste their time. To increase participation, offer an incentive like a discount off their next service or a free car wash when they refer someone to you. List the incentive on the invoice or in a special flier as well as on in-store signage.
- Gather reviews. In addition to referrals, encourage delighted customers to leave a review on your Yelp or Facebook Page or wherever your services are listed.
- Encourage customers to connect with you on social media. This way, if they don’t get around to writing a review, seeing your social posts will remind them of the good service they received and keep your brand top of mind when it comes time for a referral.
2. Strong web presence
Even though your automotive business may be a strictly brick-and-mortar establishment, your customers are online, and they use the internet to search for local service brands like yours. Even if they get that referral from a happy customer, they will flock to the internet to check out your website presence before they call.
To impress potential customers, keep your website modern and updated. Doing so will help you outperform your competition. In addition, create a social media presence so you can communicate in the places where your customers are talking. Lastly, consider starting an email marketing list and gathering subscribers from your website and/or social profiles to stay connected. If consumers opt into your list, this means they are okay with receiving messages from you. As your email list builds, you will have direct access to potential customers to whom you can send ongoing promotional and engaging messages.
3. Voice broadcast
Staying connected with clients is easy with voice broadcasting, a service that enables you to send pre-recorded custom voice messages to all of your customers simultaneously. Voice broadcasting can help you not only connect with and attract customers via promotions, but also alert them of upcoming maintenance and billing reminders. Also, eliminate workforce costs and advertising expenses by replacing manual calls and traditional mailers.
With CallFire’s cost-effective voice broadcasting solution, getting started is as easy as uploading a list of customers, creating a message and clicking your mouse to send. The software also tracks which messages reached your customers and which ones went to answering machines.
CallFire is an industry veteran and a leader in providing automotive businesses with the tools they need to cut costs, reach more customers and increase sales. Let us help you succeed and connect with more clients by using voice broadcasting. You can get started by signing up for a free account here.