Is Your Shop Better, Different or More Unique Than Your Competition?

There are more than 35,000 auto body shops and 100,000 auto repair businesses registered in North America. What makes your shop different than the rest?

The single biggest challenge most shops have is they were started by technicians with marketable skills of some sort, rather than managers. (Think about all you ex-body men, painters, auto technicians.)

So why are today's shop owners/managers surprised when they find out all they have is a me-too shop based on a fundamentally flawed model of other me-too firms?

No matter how big or small your shop is, a great way to differentiate yourself is to adopt a business model that doesn't fit the conventional mold of your industry. Here are a few examples from big business:

• Herb Kelleher started Southwest airlines with an idea on a napkin... discard the industry's old hub-and-spoke model and discount fares dramatically.
• Ray Kroc threw out the conventions of the restaurant business and introduced assembly line production at McDonald's.
• Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, started selling books out of his garage, proved all the naysayers wrong and built the world's largest on-line retailer.

Those companies were built on a proprietary system of doing business that differentiated them from the competition. For Ray Kroc it wasn't the hamburgers, it was how the hamburgers were made. It was the business format franchise.



What Makes Your Shop Different - 4 Minute Video

So if you own Joe's Auto Body and Repair and you want to build an empire, you have to do a lot more than just fix/repair cars - you also have to be a strategist, manager and an entrepreneur. If that's not possible, then hire your weakness!

The point is, if you want your business to pay off, do something different!  Being good isn't enough today. You also have to be good in different ways. You can't differentiate yourself if there's nothing different about the way you're doing business.

Thirty years ago you could differentiate your business simply by doing better advertising than the competition. But that's not enough anymore and you probably can't afford it anyway!

It's tough to be different, especially for auto body and repair shops. The good news is, if it were easy, all your competitors would be unique and exciting, and you wouldn't stand a chance.

The fact is, you don't have to do everything well in order to succeed. You just need to do some things differently and some things well. 

Below are some ways your shop can differentiate itself:

• Service 
• Processes 
• Specific or Unique Niche Market
• Special Offer/Guarantee
• Solve a Unique Problem
• Offer an Experience not Just Service
• Unique Way of Doing Business

Finally, how do you identify your unique differences? Ask!

Interview your existing clients. Interview your existing customers and strategic partners. So what do you ask them:

• What made you decide to hire us/buy from us?
• What is the one thing we do better than others you do business with? 
• What is the one thing we can do to create a better experience for you? 
• Do you refer us? Why? 
• What would you "Google" to find a business like ours?

If you are not better, different or unique as compared to your competition, then your only advantage is price. Competing on price is not a long term strategy unless you are Wal-Mart!
 
**Blog written by Frank Terlep, CEO of eMarketing Sherpas**

6 Ways Auto Body and Repair Shops Can Get More and Better On-Line Reviews

1. Pay attention to the reviews you already have: It may sound obvious, but you can't generate good reviews (at least not legally) unless you have happy customers to write them. No amount of asking for user reviews or soliciting feedback will help compensate for a bad first impression. Start by making sure to resolve any issues that particularly bother your customers if you possibly can.
2. Respond quickly to bad reviews: Resist the urge to defend your company, product, or employee, an approach that almost always makes things worse. The key is not to fire back at the customer, the key is to examine the problem and resolve it. Also, if a bad review is warranted, thank the customer for the review and apologize for the bad experience. We find customers will often go back and update a negative review once the issue has been resolved, so you can turn a negative into a positive if you act quickly.
3. Consider asking for reviews: Not good reviews -- just reviews - and not until the end of the transaction. You don't want to be pushy, but after you've repaired their vehicle, it makes sense to ask that they provide feedback on their experience. Use QR Codes, email, text messaging or a simple handout requesting the customer provide you with feedback.
4. Make your Web presence known: "If your customers are under 30 (the most likely to be in an accident and tech saavy), encouraging them to post a review may turn them off. Instead, simply engage them in the online world via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, QR codes and other on-line. Utilize signage in your lobby, on your counter or QR Codes on your invoice or documentation. Customers in this age bracket are so accustomed to posting online about every experience they have, they'll almost certainly share their thoughts about your product or service without any prompting.
5. Remember, it's a numbers game: The more reviews you get, the more likely you are to get one or more bad reviews. Even if you are providing the best service you can, some people will tend to complain. So your goal should be a large number of mostly good reviews. If you get 10 reviews and seven are good ones and three are bad, that's a lot better than one good or bad review!
6. Make reviewing as easy as possible: Include review options during and after the repair process. Inform the consumer when they arrive at your location all of the different ways they can provide feedback. Create a "Give us your feedback" document you can give to the consumer when they drop their vehicle off. Include review links during your email or text based repair process updates. Have QR codes in your lobby that link to your review pages! Send the consumer a follow up email or text message after the repair asking for a review. Remember to provide the consumer with choices.

**Blog written by Frank Terlep, CEO of eMarketing Sherpas**