ACtion Magazine - April 2017 - 36

Marketing panel: A shop owner's perspective

Andy Fifﬁck, MACS chairman and CEO, led a panel discussion on marketing at the MACS annual event. Panelists included Melanie Gann of Four Seasons, Christian Klein of RPM Auto Marketing, Jim Atkinson of Car Repair Company,
Brittany Gumucio of Rad Air Complete Car Care, Heather Adams of Adams Mobile Air and Caroline Acebedo of Marks
Air.
But to respond to the original question, there was general agreement that FB was the best social media site to explore. But from what
I have learned in my experience, it takes a customer seven impressions to turn into action. This means that after hearing, seeing, interacting with your shop's name and reputation, a prospective customer
will form their opinion of your business and store this information in
their memory until ready to act. Now with a service shop, or an A/C
repair shop like ours, customers won't look for A/C service until the
A/C stops working, but when that happens they want it fixed yesterday. Your shop needs to be already in your customers' minds when
this happens so you are their first call.
Another question that was posed was, "What is the best way to
spend your advertising dollars? Print, internet, promotions?" What
has proven most beneficial for our shop, by far, is word of mouth.
People tend to believe the experiences of others, and those testimonials strongly influence decision making. This is why online reviews
impact our purchasing choices. The second best way to utilize your
ad budget is the Internet. The Yellow Pages have been replaced by
the internet. If you think about where people go to obtain information today, you soon realize that almost everyone uses the Internet.
Your website is the front door to your shop. People can research your
business and find out much about you through the web. These first
impressions are why the Internet and your website are so much more
important than all other media and should be a critical component of
your marketing plan. Of course, one bad review can have adverse
impact on your shop's reputation. Your website should showcase
your shop and your work. Go out of your way to share your work,
your employees, your history, your current customers, your positive
reviews and testimonials with prospective customers who visit your
site. These features on your website can engage visitors longer and
give them more information, making impressions that add up to that

ACTION * April 2017

magic seven visits it takes for instigating action when the time comes
for converting that prospect into an actual customer.
The final question from the presentation I address is "How do you
know what form of advertising is working and when should you cut
or add to the budget?" For this query, I always rely on measurability. This is key! Channel your advertising strategies into campaigns
unique to specific media. This way you can measure your campaign
results and determine what is working. If your media campaign has a
total cost of $500 and you can equate the dollar value in shop tickets
resulting from customers responding to those ads, then you can ascertain the success or failure of the campaign. If you have a successful
campaign it is likely worth repeating. Consider that what you have
spent you have recouped and at the same time, you have gotten your
foot in the door with another one of those seven impressions stored in
the mind of other customers, in addition to the actual revenue generated by the campaign itself. If you have not regained money spent, it
is time to look at another avenue of marketing.
With these tools, you can begin your marketing endeavors and
ad campaigns that will go a long way to put your name in the minds
of your prospective customers for sales today, tomorrow and in the
future. ❆

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - April 2017