The number of cars is getting bigger and bigger, but the business in the automotive aftermarket is getting more and more difficult to do. Under the background of the market downturn, the automotive aftermarket is full of huge changes, and those who fail to keep up with the trend will be ruthlessly eliminated by the industry!
So how should the aftermarket maintenance store be operated and managed to achieve sustainable profitability?
1. Clarify the market positioning of the store
In the wrong direction, efforts are in vain. Every successful auto repair shop owner is very clear about their own positioning: what they are good at, what they are suitable for, what they can do well, and what resources they have… If you can’t clearly define the positioning of the store, you will do all projects, and in the end only one will be do not do well. The location of the store is not clear, and in the end, it will only be an empty bamboo basket!
The beginning of opening an auto repair shop is to be specialized. A good auto repair shop either specializes in special vehicle repairs, with a narrow vehicle width but a large depth span; or special repairs, such as engine repairs, air conditioning repairs, etc., with a large vehicle width span but a small maintenance depth span.
An auto repair shop that does all kinds of models and projects must do it well and not succeed. Only by clarifying its own advantages, bringing the advantages into full play, and focusing on investment after the positioning is clear, can the auto repair factory become bigger and stronger.
2. Store image
We know that garages deal with cars and sludge all day long. The image of many repairmen is muddy and dirty. Customers are reluctant to let the mechanic enter the cab for fear of soiling the seat cover. Auto repair stores can improve this problem and improve customer service experience by formulating a tooling management system.
Some repair shops do not take the initiative to give bills after repairing the customer’s vehicle. When a customer asks for an invoice, he makes excuses and is unwilling to give it. The customer will be very unhappy, he will think that your store has no strength and irregularity. Clients are quietly lost.
Some repair shops give customers a handwritten repair document, and the handwriting on the repair sheet is crooked. This can easily reduce customers’ trust in the store, and it is difficult to attract customers to buy again.
The above problems have led to many low-end customers in maintenance stores and low profit margins.
3. Integrity management, abandon profiteering thinking
Some repair shops offer casual quotations and experience quotations when they come to repair the car. Customers feel that there are no standards and always wonder if they are being slaughtered. This makes bargaining easier and lowers profits.
Therefore, even if the repair shop posted a quotation list on the wall, it would be much better. If there is a computer management system that can give customers accurate quotations, customers will definitely feel different. Not only will the level of the store be improved, but the customer counter-offer will be much less accordingly.
Integrity is the foundation of an enterprise. If an auto repair shop wants to achieve sustainable profitability and real success, it must abandon the profiteering thinking, be down-to-earth and operate with integrity.
4. Improve professional skills
The owner of the auto repair shop should equip the maintenance personnel with professional maintenance tools, so as to achieve twice the result with half the effort, shorten the maintenance time, improve the work efficiency, and at the same time improve the satisfaction of the car owner, so that the business can be done for a long time.
In addition, the auto repair shop should also continuously improve the professional skills of maintenance personnel, be willing to invest in this area, and allow qualified employees to participate in more technical training or book learning.
5. Learn to share profits
The owner of an auto repair shop must have a sense of sharing. Life is not something that one person can do, and business is not something that can be done by one person. It also requires the cooperation of the team. Therefore, it is necessary to give some profits to reward employees and enhance their enthusiasm for work.
6. Customer service and management
Like the traditional retail industry, whoever has more end customers will be able to remain invincible in the future competition. Only with more and more customers, the scale of the store will become larger and larger, and the benefits will become better and better.
● Master customer information and classify customers
The store can collect the customer’s contact number, Whatsapp, etc. Every customer registration and consumption entry is an accumulation of customer resources, which is an extremely valuable resource for a store. Different customers have different consumption thinking, consumption ability and consumption habits. This requires the auto repair shop to label and classify customers according to different types when communicating with customers and serving customers, and to carry out customer management and communication according to customer types.
● Regularly and systematically return visits and care to customers
For car owners who come to the store to repair their cars, they should conduct regular and systematic maintenance visits and maintenance reminders.
You can make a maintenance return visit to the customer within 10 days after the customer comes to the repair shop for maintenance: how is the repaired car? Is there anything unusual? Are you satisfied with our service attitude? Any good advice for our work? and many more.
Return visits and non-return visits are definitely different for customers. Customers will feel that the repair shop that has a return visit is very formal and responsible. It is very likely that he will choose this auto repair shop the next time he needs services such as car repair and maintenance.
No matter what maintenance projects the customer does here, they should record how many miles they have run so far, and at the same time ask the customer: How many kilometers do you run in a month? You have to figure out when the car is about to be serviced. When maintenance is about to occur, call to remind customers.
Insist on taking the initiative to send text messages and push messages to customers during the Chinese New Year, festivals and activities in the store. Don’t underestimate these greetings and reminders. Long-term persistence will make customers feel the sincerity and humanity of the auto repair shop, which will make customers remember this friendship and be more willing to choose your auto repair shop.
7. Supply of auto parts
Auto parts are very important for auto repair factories. Stores should control the timeliness of spare parts supply, supplier after-sales service, etc. Correct procurement channels, reasonable prices, inventory and standardized in-out and out-of-stock systems can efficiently complete car repair operations. It can also minimize the backlog of funds.
8. An excellent store owner
If you want to be an excellent auto repair shop owner, it is far from enough to have money and resources. The owner of the auto repair shop needs to constantly learn, change the pattern, and improve himself in order to better improve the operation of the store. Not only to learn from peers and predecessors, but also to learn professional knowledge in business management, finance, strategy, marketing, etc. from outstanding business managers in other fields.
If you can’t be a superman, then be a person who dares to take responsibility. If you can’t be a perfect person, then be a charming person. To be an excellent auto repair shop owner, you must be diligent, persistent, embrace change, keep pace with the times, love learning, and dare to innovate.