Take a 10-minute tour

The money-making 10-minute tour for vehicle repairers

SPENDING 10 MINUTES WITH YOUR CUSTOMER COULD UNLOCK THOUSANDS IN ADDITIONAL REVENUE Auto Channel is the best way to reach the wider automotive industry. The publication is direct mailed to 11,298 New Zealand businesses in the following automotive sectors:

Behind the scenes and behind the counter or customer area, if you are lucky enough to have one, is all the secret stuff that makes up a vehicle workshop. Most people can imagine or occasionally glimpse the technicians, hoists, toolboxes and the weird and wonderful machinery behind the space marked ‘Employees Only’.

That’s where technicians lurk, carrying out whatever magic or arcane processes that are at their command to somehow fix our vehicles, which only really works without prying eyes watching their every move.

Some workshops will take customers out back to discuss their vehicle, but the thought of giving a customer a tour of the workshop is asking for trouble.

In fact, why would anyone want a tour of a room full of hoists, loud air tools, and the smell of exhaust fumes? It would surely be a boring tour because once you have seen one shop, you have seen them all.

Well, maybe it's boring for you but it won’t be for your new customers, precisely because they never get to see one for themselves.

Most workshop operators assume letting customers in is a health and safety issue but it is not, if you or an experienced member of staff is guiding them. After all, you work there safely every day, and the customer will have that expert knowledge right beside them.

A tidy workshop with a clean and clear floor — a workshop you are proud of — can easily exceed customer expectations. Showing specific equipment, especially any new equipment that delivers additional quality or accuracy, will register with them, and that memory can be triggered when they want additional services in the future.

The power of a workshop tour is that it is a unique way to build trust with your customers. In as little as 10 minutes, you create a relationship that could last a lifetime. Your new customers get one-on-one time with you, and you get the same one-on-one time with a customer you have just acquired.

If you structure your shop tours correctly, you can even use this opportunity to capture valuable customer data. This is also your opportunity to learn what you can about your customer. The moment you introduce yourself, pay attention to your customer's appearance. What are they wearing? Do they have accessories? Take notes.

After you introduce yourself and get your customer's name, ask them about their career. Take notes.

As you take your customer through your workshop, use this opportunity to share your company’s approach and values. Be ready for them to interject and ask a question. This is your time to listen because their questions, comments, or stories illustrate what they care about. Every time they say something, take notes.

GIVING AND RECEIVING

The intent of a workshop tour is to get them to open up and share a piece of their personal life with you, which could give you an opening to future business or at least build a personal relationship with them, which is the thing most likely to bring them back, all else being equal.

Record everything you hear and see from every workshop tour. Your notes will reveal patterns, like repetitive careers, marital status, core values, residence and work locations, consumer buying behaviours, hobbies, interests, pains, and joys. All of this data is valuable intellectual property that no one else has but you.

A shop tour is a clever way to gain insights into your customers. It can help build a picture that may pave the way to new ideas, sales, promotions, processes, or additional revenue streams for your auto shop.

Accelerate your knowledge of your customer. Spending 10 minutes with your customer could unlock the path to thousands of dollars in additional revenue.

Automotive workshops Parts importers and distributors Transmission specialists Automotive recyclers Towing operators Panel beaters and painters Crash repairers Tyre dealers Suspension and underbody repairers Steering specialists Towing operators Auto-electrical repairers New- and used-car dealers Air conditioning repairers Heavy machinery dealers Trucking and transport

Auto Channel Issue No. 50 distributed 30 August

Editorial: editor@autochannel.co.nz Advertising: Mike White michael.white@parkside.co.nz

All other enquiries to: autochannel.co.nz Auto Channel is produced by Parkside Media, publishers of NZ’s three biggest-selling automotive magazines NZ Performance Car, New Zealand Classic Car, and NZV8.