6 minute read
They Go Somewhere Else? Alfa Romeo is Latest Stellantis Brand
Almost every day on my way to the offi ce, I stop by a neighborhood convenience store, called Wawa, for a la e. ‘Wawa’ – kind of a weird name, but it’s a cool place. They make good la es there – be er in my opinion than Starbucks, and I don’t have to wait in a huge, slow moving line. If you know me at all, you know that I hate lines. That’s why I’ve always said that I hate cashiers in service departments, because they create lines and lines piss people off , so I hate lines; everybody hates lines. Anyway, this ar cle isn’t about cashiers or long lines, it’s about something much more important. It’s about service adver sing and traffi c and opportuni es and profi ts. Now, when I go to Wawa, I always get the same thing. A 16 oz hot la e, whole milk, no fl avor and I like it “not s rred”. I’ve done this for a long me and the workers there kind of know me. They call me James Bond, because I like it, “shaken not s rred”, referring to the way he likes a cocktail, except I don’t like it shaken, I just like it “not s rred” but, they think it’s funny, so I laugh and go along with them. That’s right I tell them, “I’m 007, Bond, James Bond”. So anyway, here is the deal. The la es at Wawa have always been $2.99, but the other day, I no ced that the price was now $2.00, not $2.99. While the guy was making my la e, (I call him “Goldfi nger”) I told him that I no ced that the price had dropped and that it seemed like they were just giving money away. I mean I would have bought it anyway at $2.99 like I had always done, I told him. Now this is the good part and the part that really blew me away. He told me (this is the guy that makes la es at a convenient store), that when the company decided to drop the price by 99 cents, it really hurt their margins, but at the same me it increased traffi c and overall sales enough to make even more with the volume – plus, now get this, he said it also worked as a great way to say thank you to their loyal customers like me. The goal for that, he said, was to a ract more customers and keep people like me coming back over and over instead of going to the compe on. Wow! Margins, upsells, traffi c, volume, reten on…this is from the guy that makes la es for a living and probably makes maybe $9-10 an hour! I was impressed! So, if you were wondering where my story about la es is going, I will land the plane. My company, Car People Marke ng, does service adver sing for about 450 dealerships and what amazes me more than anything is how many service managers don’t understand what the “la e guy” at Wawa obviously gets. That being compe ve and driving traffi c and boos ng reten on and crea ng opportuni es always equals sales and gross and profi ts, it just does. That isn’t rocket science, it is common sense. But believe it or not, when we talk to lots of service managers about being really compe ve on just 2 services (oil changes and re rota ons), they get hung up on trying to make a profi t, instead of looking at the opportuni es those basic “in-demand” services create. Those guys, (I hope you aren’t one of them) are literally stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. Think about it this way. Most dealers, depending on the carline, average anywhere from $150-$350 per repair order. You should know your average CP repair order sales number for parts and labor, if you don’t, fi nd out, and fi nd out now. Continued on Page 33
Continued from Page 32 Then a er you see how much it is, it will be obvious, that the more customers you can get in, the more money you will make. And think about this. Customers know what an oil change is, they know when they need it and they know what a good deal is…they just do. So why not take advantage of those facts, be super compe ve on oil changes and re rota ons to get them in so your advisors and techs have a car and a customer in front of them to sell to. And here is something else to consider. I think you need a low priced conven onal or semi-synthe c oil & fi lter change off er to en ce customers with older cars in. The average age of a vehicle on the road is 11.7 years, so every car is not a “new car” like some guys want to believe. The dealers we do business with have an average age of 5 years old and 75,000 miles on them. They are not new cars! And besides, every car doesn’t need or use full synthe c oil, so if you only adver se full synthe c, even if it is a good deal, you are aliena ng a ton of vehicle owners out there, and those cars, the older ones are the most likely to need service and repairs or they maybe will need a new car! Those prime, poten al customers don’t visit you, they end up at Pep Boys, or Firestone or Goodyear and they spend a ton of money at those places. So, here is the closer. It’s an old phrase, but it fi ts, “think outside the box.” Make sure you have oil change off ers that en ce older and new cars in for service. Don’t worry about making a profi t on oil changes and re rota ons…make the money on the upsells. Make sure you have a $10 re rota on or even free (70% of your gross comes from around the wheel) so all you want to do is get the wheels off . Make sure you adver se, don’t be the best kept secret in town and make sure you answer the phone when it rings. 85% of service customers call fi rst, they want to know how much, how long it will take, if you have the parts and if they need to make an appointment. You have to give customers real reasons to do business with you and you have to say thank you to your loyal service customers with “everyday low prices” on the services they need most so you can earn the other work. And last, but not least, think like the Wawa guy. He gets it. He knows traffi c is what makes the world go around and that price, whether you want to believe it or not, drives customers to your store. You may not be a coupon clipper and a few bucks might not get you to do business somewhere, but most of your customers are driven by coupons and great deals and saving a dollar. Come on, I know and you know that you are much smarter than the la e guy is. Just don’t overthink it, remember nothing happens un l you have a customer in front of you, right? Answer this ques on, “How much do you make when they go somewhere else?” You don’t need a calculator to fi gure that one out, right? by Jared Thomas Car People Marke ng
