Technology has created a significant generation gap between the Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964), Generation X (born 1965 to 1982) and Generation Y (born 1983 to 2005).Like this article? Sign up to receive our weekly news blasts here.

Communicating with these younger potential customers can be a challenge for body shop owners; marketing or advertising to them is even more confusing. But marketing to these two age cohorts will be increasingly important as they continue to supplant boomers as the primary target market for vehicle repair.

In his presentation, "Marketing to Generations X and Y," Bill Haas of Haas Performance Consulting presented an overview of how these generations are different from their predecessors, and the reasons traditional marketing is not reaching them.

"Things that we would traditionally use to get the message out like newspapers and the yellow pagers, or radio and TV, are really four things that Gen X and Y are not engaged with," Haas said. "That's now how they get their information or news. They get it via the Internet or their smart phone. If they are interested in sports or entertainment or local politics, they aren't going to go through a 20-page newspaper to get that information."

More importantly, more than 80 percent of their purchasing decisions are influenced by peer reviews. "They are looking at what are you doing on the Internet, what your message is, and what others are saying about you," Haas said.

It's extremely difficult for repair shops to get their message in front of an audience that doesn't consistently watch television, listen to the radio or read newspapers. These traditional channels are closed off for advertisers.

Oddly, Haas says a particularly old-school method of marketing – direct mail – is still effective with these groups. "It has to be a quick message, but people have had great success in using direct mail to get people to their website," Haas said. "When you have promotions or specials, you can use direct mail as a launching pad to your website."

If you are using these types of website promotions, remember that not every device is connected to a printer. If you offer a coupon, be prepared to honor it even if it's presented on the screen of a smart phone at the front desk.

Websites also have to be kept updated and fresh. 'If you don't change things, if it becomes stagnant, there's no reason for anyone to visit the site again," Haas said. "A lot of business owners think they've fixed all their problems by putting up a website. You need to keep it updated."

Haas said that Gen X and Y consumers are often tentative about going to new places if they aren't familiar with the location. "They want to have a level of comfort before they walk in the door," Haas said. "One thing that is helpful is to have a video that walks them through the process of engaging you as a client. Show them what it's like to walk through the door and have their vehicle serviced."

Gen X and Y not only like to read reviews of the businesses, they also like to leave reviews and other type of feedback. Make it easy for these customers to rate your performance on your own site.

Ask current customers for testimonials for the website. "We really need to look at a different way of getting customer feedback," Haas said. "Ask for it via email. Send an email or a text as a follow up and do it within a matter of hours of the service. Embed a link to the website so they can immediately post their feedback."

As for outside peer reviews, Haas says that shops should have a system in place to monitor what's being said about them on Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Angie's List, and other sites. "Most Web masters will do that for you," Haas said. "What you don't want is to find out that things are being said about you online that you are unaware of."

Because peer reviews are so important to generations X and Y, it's critical that shops not only monitor negative feedback, but also respond to it.

"Find out from the person making the complaint what you can do to make it right," Haas says. "People will see that you made an effort to make it right, and they will learn something about your business and your employees. You can't just leave it hanging out there on the Internet."