Understanding Your Customer

Most car owners typically don’t think about their car’s daily needs or regular maintenance until something breaks. Suddenly, all of their fears and worries come to life and they panic. They begin to think about all that could go wrong including:

• Will I be able to drive my car again?
• Will I have to take a day off work to take my car to the shop?
• How much is this going to cost?

As an auto repair shop, you and your team are only responsible for taking care of your customers cars… right? Not quite. You’ve probably had times where you felt like you were taking care of your customers more than their cars. You’re not the only auto shop running into this issue: plenty of “confessions from a mechanic” articles have been written explaining the difficult customers that have walked through their doors. We understand that this is common and certain customers won’t change, but what if one of those customers needed a more detailed explanation of their car problems before they became your biggest fan? Every customer has the potential of being your best promoter, sometimes it will just take an extra push from your team at the shop. 

Think about when you are going into a situation and aren’t sure how it will go because it’s not your specialty. Most car owners don’t know much about the ins and outs of their car and rely on the professionals to take care of it. Unfortunately some auto shops have given the industry a bad reputation by overcharging for services people don’t need. For this reason, car owners are scared of being taken advantage of and respond by constantly questioning repair estimates and trying to negotiate their bill.

It’s important to understand that their frantic and sometimes angry questioning comes from a place of fear. Rather than respond with anger, it’s best to calm them down by being reassuring. Focus on educating them on why the repair is necessary and how you’ve made the repair in the best way possible. To help provide the best reputation for your shop, it’s important you understand and relate to your customers questions or concerns. Ultimately, customers want to be treated fairly when they bring in their vehicle for repair. To help establish that trust with your customer, start by trying to make them feel comfortable.

Make Your Customer Comfortable

1. Establish Trust – Car owners want to bring their car to a shop they know will give them a fair price and great service. Make it clear as to which services are necessary and which services are preventative. No one wants to be told they will need to spend hundreds of dollars on repairs when they came in for a routine oil change.
2. Show the Problem AND the Solution – Cars are complicated and most car owners haven’t studied the parts of a vehicle like you have. Customers will be more understanding of the repairs needed for their car if they can see them first-hand. Whether it’s a dusty air filter or replacing spark plugs, bringing your customer to the vehicle to show them where the issue originated and how you’re going to fix it will continue to establish trust between the shop and the customer.
3. Reward The Regular Customer – Retention is just as important as getting new customers. It’s important to honor those customers that have been coming to your business regularly overtime. You can do this by offering a discount on an upcoming service or work with a local shop to provide a gift card after a certain number of visits.
4. Set Realistic Expectations – You and your customers time are most important and leaving them wondering about how long their car will be at the shop will lead to lack of trust. Be honest about the time needed to fully repair their vehicle and whether or not your team will be able to get it completed today.
5. Employ The Best Team – To be the best auto repair shop in your area you have to employ the best team members. A team that values the customers and the service they provide will help make your shop the most trusted in your city.

To help your shop develop a trustworthy reputation, you can develop a code of ethics to display in the shop. This code of ethics represents your shop’s core values amongst employees. Within an auto shop’s code of ethics, it is important to mention your responsibilities with customers and vehicles.

Being the best shop in your city starts by developing trust with your customers. Happy customers can be one of the most helpful ways to generate new business. In the auto industry, many people rely on suggestions from friends and family to make a decision on what auto shop is the most trustworthy in their area.

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