Garage Support 3 ROI

Getting Your Business Ready With your working calendar shifting in response to the effects of Covid, there are a few things you could be doing now, to set yourself up for success over the next four months. We’ve put together this handy guide on how to get your business ready using readily available tools.

Website If your business has a website, it’s important you keep it updated with all the latest contact details and services your garage has to offer. Think of keywords that your customer might type in when searching for your garage. Make sure you use them on your homepage, to improve your websites organic ranking on a Google search. If you want to drive more traffic to your website, we advise looking into search engine optimisation (SEO). This will require some cost, but you can do this relatively cost effectively – Google provide some easy-to-use advice on how to do this yourself.

Database We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again; having an up-to-date customer database is crucial for keeping on top of work, helping you to keep track of customer’s historical visits and when they might next be due an MOT or even new brake pads and discs. Reach out to these customers by phone, and remind them their MOT is due soon, ask them if they want to get booked in. If you don’t currently have a customer database our cloud based CarSys GMS, could be a helpful tool in keeping your data all in one place.

Reviews Good or bad – people like to make their opinion heard. It’s how you face into the bad ones, that can help your business really stand out – sometimes for the wrong reasons. Taking criticism and using it to influence positive change will help customers see that you’re a garage that cares about it’s customers. So next time you get a bad review, our advice is take a breath, and look at it from the customer’s perspective. Remain calm, see if you can resolve it with them offline and turn them back into a returning customer. If you’re replying to an anonymous review online, keep it calm and professional. Remember what takes you a minute, lasts on the internet forever. Don’t say anything, you’d later regret, or however unfair a review may seem.

Advertising If your garage is listed on Google, or websites such as Yell, make sure all your contact details are correct, so customers can easily get in touch. Reach out to any local advertising companies to see if you can get an advert in one of your local flyers or newspapers. Ask your returning and satisfied customers to leave a helpful review on Trustpilot, Google or your garage’s Facebook business page. Reviews are usually a key factor in customer choice, when deciding on what garage to visit.

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