One of the first steps in creating your auto body and repair shop's marketing strategy is to determine who/what target market you are going to focus on. In the case of auto body shops there are typically 5-6 different "customers", not all of them are ideal.
Your Ideal Customer/Strategic Partners
They are Consumers, Insurers, Claims Management Companies, Dealerships, Fleets, Agents, and other local businesses.
When it comes to auto repair businesses you have the Consumer, Fleets, Warranty/Insurance Company, and Local Businesses.
The main reason auto body and repair shops want to focus on an ideal customer is they can't be all things to all people. For example, if your auto body or repair shop is not Mercedes, BMW or Jaguar certified those drivers or dealerships are probably not your "ideal" customers.
On the other hand, if your auto body or repair shop is certified by one or more of these organizations, you probably don't want to waste too much time on fleets.
The #1 priority when it comes to an auto body or repair shop locating its ideal customer/strategic partner is profitability.
The #2 priority is that they refer your business to others. The referral matrix image indicates an auto body or repair shop's ideal customer/strategic relationship falls into the upper right quadrant.
Another key component of determining an auto body or repair shop's ideal customer are demographics. Demographics are the common characteristics in an auto body or auto repair shop's target consumer market.
Some examples are:
- Age: We know 16-35 year olds are more likely to crash their car than 55 year olds.
- Employment Status:
- Occupation:
- Income:
- Educational Level
- Type of Car They Drive
- Social Media Likes
- Twitter Conversations:
When an auto body shop wants to use a formal process to determine its ideal strategic partners they might use the following criteria:
- # of insureds in the local market
- DRP requirements/concessions
- Business philosophy
- Ability to refer business
- Business processes
Another way to identify an auto body and repair shop can identify ideal customers/strategic partners is their ability to solve these customer/strategic partner problems/frustrations.
For example, if you know of a dealership that is having quality issues with their existing collision center partner and you have a history of delivering quality repairs you have the ability to solve that dealer's problem.
Finally don't be afraid to "fire" customers and/or strategic partners. Remember if they are not profitable and they don't refer you, you probably don't want them.
**Blog written by Frank Terlep, CEO of eMarketing Sherpas**
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