THA 111: Building New Customers
from Town Hall Academy Hosted by Carm Capriotto: Automotive Aftermarket Professional
Greg Bunch is the owner of Aspen Auto Clinic, a five-location automotive and service business in Colorado. Greg started his passion for cars at 15 when he began rebuilding a 1966 Volkswagen Bug. Greg has moved from a Volkswagen mechanic to ASE Master Technician, to Management, to starting his shop 18 years ago in his garage, to an award-winning multi-location business. Greg is currently a board member for the STEM-based charter school call “Automotive Institute of Science & Technology” and on the Advisory board of Ratchet and Wrench Magazine. Greg is also a board member of the Autocare organization and a certified instructor for the Worldpac Training Institute and Carquest Technical Institute. Greg’s unwavering passion for the industry has also led him to form a company called Transformers Institute, a coaching and training company dedicated to transforming the automotive industry. Listen to Greg’s previous episodes HERE. Transformers Institute HERE. David Roman began his automotive career in 1999, attending an automotive technical school at a local community college. While attending college, he took a part-time job at a large parts retailer, hoping to gain some experience in the field. This part-time job turned into full-time employment, as he was promoted to management, culminating in placement as a store manager in East Central Illinois. David discovered a passion for helping people and sharing his automotive knowledge. This passion for serving others allowed him the opportunity to successfully manage multi-million dollar operations in Illinois, the St. Louis area, and eventually Kansas City. His approach to customer service garnered him several accolades and awards, something he eventually wanted to bring to automotive repair and service. In 2012, he opened Done With Care Auto Repair with the goal of bringing exceptional customer service, transparency, and honest work to his clients. The business was started with only some savings, no prior clients, and no history. Over the last six years, David has been able to bring a servant’s mentality to helping his clients with their automotive needs resulting in loyal customers, excellent reviews, and a solid reputation. Find other episodes that feature David HERE. Key Talking Points: David Roman New customers come at a price (sweat equity or dollars and cents). “Word of mouth” is a cop-out. It’s easier to say then, “I don’t know anything about marketing, even though it’s the most important thing I do and I don’t want to bother learning.” Unless you have some type of system that’s measurable and can be articulated, you’re not doing any type of “word of mouth” marketing. You’re most likely doing nothing. Attracting new customers requires an understanding of your...
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What this episode covers
Building New Customers David Roman from Done with Care - Auto Repair from Merium, KS and Greg Bunch from Aspen Auto Clinic from Colorado Springs and also the founder of Transformers Institute bring their A game to this discussion. We covered a wide spectrum of strategies on customer growth and trust. We enveloped the marketing side of finding new customers and then how to complete the relationship once your service writer brought them from the phone call and into the shop. David says that a big deception in opening a business; you think you are going to do what you are good at doing, however, you must be good at marketing; to make the phone ring. The CEO must make the phone ring or you’re going to have to spend money to hire a professional to do it. Greg says that we must educate new clients on who we are, what we do, and why we do it. Greg wants you to Invite your new customer to talk to the tech and walk them through the findings of the inspections. He says that your customer struggles to find a trustworthy mechanic, so if you want to build a long term customer; earn their trust.
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