Every automotive shop—or business for that matter—wants more clients to walk through their doors and purchase their services. Traditional marketing efforts like online, mail, and radio advertisements are useful, but some customers don’t find them trustworthy. In fact, consumers are much more likely to trust a referral than an ad that appears on their smartphone—by about 50 per cent. If you’re looking for ways to grow your business or clientele, generating referrals is a great way to do just that.
Are you interested in managing an auto repair shop after your automotive training? Read on to discover four ways to generate more referrals.
1. Automotive Maintenance Technicians Can Implement a Referral Program
If you find yourself looking for a way to bring new customers into your shop after completing an auto mechanic training program, a referral program is a great place to start. Referral programs don’t necessarily have to be complicated. In fact, you can scale the program to align with your shop’s objectives.
RewardStream recently conducted a study. According to their findings, 28 per cent of respondents claimed getting rewards would make them refer more. Implementing a referral program will depend on the infrastructure of your shop. You may have the ability to purchase referral program software that streamlines the process. However, for some shops that might not be possible. In that case, you can supply your customers with simple paper referral cards. They can write their name on the referral card and give the cards to their friends, who can then bring the card with them into your shop. In order to make it a win-win for everybody, reward both the customer who made the referral and the new customer as well.
2. Reach Out Over Social Media to Ask for Referrals
Referrals are well worth the extra time and effort. According to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, customers who are referred to your business will spend 16 per cent more money over the course of six years than customers who weren’t referred.
If your repair shop has a strong online presence, there’s likely tons of untouched potential just waiting to generate referrals. Reach out to clients who are interacting with your business in a positive way and ask for a referral.
Connecting with clients on a personal level will make them more inclined to recommend you to their friends and family. In addition, by interacting with your clients online there’s an increased chance their social media connections will see that interaction and check out your company’s page.
3. Automotive Maintenance Technicians Can Ask Reviewers for Referrals
There are plenty of platforms for rating businesses nowadays. Yelp, Facebook, Google Reviews, and even your own website are all examples of places where you can find customers who are expressing their satisfaction with your business.
Customers giving you positive reviews on these platforms are more likely to refer someone to your shop. Reaching out to your positive reviewers and telling them about your referral program, or even developing an enticing reward just for them, could help generate more referrals to your business.
In order to harness the power of your reviewers, consider reconfiguring your website so that when someone reviews your automotive maintenance technician business, it sends a prompt for them to check out your referral program.
4. Work with Other Automotive Companies to Create a Referral Agreement
Another great way to get referrals is to work with other automotive organizations in your area. Referrals from other trusted industry professionals are a sure-fire way to bring in more customers.
If your auto shop specializes in certain kinds of repairs, you can partner with a shop that offers noncompeting services and refer customers to each other. Or you can approach local dealerships that don’t have repair facilities and ask them to refer customers to your shop. Other ideas could include partnering with car washes, automotive detailers, or auto parts stores. By reaching out to other local businesses, you can boost referrals and take your automotive shop, and career, to new heights!
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