Car Care Month helps build long-lasting relationships

When the vehicles lined up last October for a car check event at a high school football game in Idaho, most of the drivers probably were there for the game not the free look at their vehicle.

But getting the preventive maintenance message out to people and forming lasting customer relationships is the ultimate goal no matter where the event takes place for shops across the country during National Car Care Month, slated once again for April.

“For us personally, the biggest benefit that we receive from doing events like this is we operate on a conviction that we’re not here just to fix cars,” says Rebecca Zanders, vice president of Heritage Auto Repair in Meridian, Idaho, which hosted the pre-football game event. “We’re here to serve customers. We try to constantly try to relay that to our team of employees, and that’s how we try to work out our business ethics every day. And so having car care fairs and the way that the National Car Care Council has it set up and the materials that they provide, it really allows the business to convey that message to their community and to their customers that we’re here to serve you.”

Whether your shop’s plans include a large check lane event, smaller inspections for current customers or simple marketing measures, letting consumers know your shop is there for them is a great way to build on current relationships and establish new ones.

“If you’re having a car care event as a monetary thing looking for some quick financial reward, you’re doing it wrong,” says Ron Zeunen, owner of Advanced Automotive in Wilmington, N.C. “That’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to give back to the community for supporting us for however long we’ve been in business. These people have patronized me, now it’s my turn to give them something in return and let them know we really care about them.”

But how do you know what to do and when to do it? Small or large, let’s look at your options.

If Big Is For You
The car check lane is a common event during April. While it can be a large undertaking, working with other shops, local college and high school automotive programs and, of course, your distributors and jobbers will make it a smoother process for you.

At car care events in North Carolina, the Independent Garage Owners of North Carolina (IGONC) take charge of the activities. Multiple shops work together at a single check lane event to work with consumers. They also involve automotive departments from local high schools.

Getting the events started begins six months in advance, says Zeunen. “I know it sounds like a great deal of time, but there’s a lot to do,” he quickly adds.

From finding dates and locations, to getting permits, volunteers, materials and advertising in place, there is a lot. He suggests forming a committee, and also provided Motor Age with a checklist to help plan events. You can receive the checklist by texting Motor16 to 88411.

These events are successful, because they keep things simple and traffic moving. One person is designated the service advisor and is the only one allowed to talk to the consumer. He or she relays all information the technicians find on the vehicle to the driver. Bobby Dunn, owner of Triangle Car Care in Raleigh, N.C., notes that this helps keep the consumer from being overwhelmed and feeling like they are being sold service.

Meanwhile, the vehicle’s make, model, year, engine size and other information is entered into a computer to find its maintenance schedule.

“That way we can be very specific and say, ‘Well, this car has 58,000 miles and in another 2,000 it’s going to need this, this, this and this,’” Dunn says. “Then in the course of checking the cars over, we make a list and that is taken around to the guy who’s the service advisor talking to the motorist, who tells them this is what we found on your car.”

They offer top off fluids and fill low tires, but only if the consumer gives them permission.

“We started thinking about it. If you check the car and it’s so low on oil that you can’t touch it on the stick, is it right for you to let them leave? You can’t tell them not to leave. But at the same time you don’t want them to leave and damage their car,” Dunn states. “We also have an air compressor set up there so if the tires are low, we will top off the air in the tires for them.”

The key, Zeunen adds, is to answer the consumers’ questions and perform inspections, but steer clear of selling and doing too much repair.

“You don’t want to get caught up in doing repairs at these events,” he says. “That’s not what they’re designed for. They’re community events designed to provide information. By providing the guidelines or forms from the Car Care Council, that’s how you make it look so professional.”

Back in Idaho, Zanders says they have found people sometimes are hesitant to just drive through a check lane and have their vehicles looked at by “just anyone.” To compensate for that, she says incentivizing people has been a huge boost to attendance.

Designate one person to talk with consumers during the events so they do not feel they are being sold to.

“We have found that when there’s an incentive, you get a much, much larger group participating,” she says, adding items like two movie tickets are a good offer to make.

Making it a charity event also can make the vehicle check lanes better. Last year, the Meridian Motor Fair was their most successful event, incorporating unique and classic cars, as well as other vehicles like fire trucks, cranes and miniature trains to draw in children. Also, the event was a fundraiser for the local Boys and Girls Clubs. Zanders says if you don’t incentivize people with coupons, pairing with a charity is another great option to draw in people and promote community service.

And that big, fun atmosphere is great to draw in new people, adds White.

“Repair shops will always, whenever we talk to them or they talk about these events, while these events are not intended to be selling events they’re good will events,” he says. “The core of the community car care events are free vehicle check-ups or free vehicle inspections. That’s the fun, that’s the circus part. They can be small or they can be really big with lots of other things going on with show cars and popcorn stands and state police checking the infant child seats. It can be as big as you want or as small as you want.”

Dykstra describe the Be Car Care Aware message as a good third party verification for business. His shops suggests customers check out the Car Care Council’s information and Web site to learn what should be done to their vehicles at various intervals.

“Our customers have really grabbed onto it,” he says. “They enjoy being guided to that site. They enjoy being told this is the part of the car we’re dealing with.”

That little bit of education is a help to his shop. White says simple things like displaying a banner outside your shop, offering inspections to customers for two hours on a Saturday and handing out Car Care Guides to customers during April all are simple ways to participate in National Car Care Month.

“You don’t have to host an event,” White notes. “That’s like the primo (idea), but you can celebrate and take advantage of it in many ways.”

Getting the Help you Need
Your distributors and jobbers are there for you during the business day with parts, but they also will be there for you when you’re ready to host a Car Care Month event.

Mike Moir, owner of NAPA Auto Parts in Meridian, Idaho, coordinates a car care fair, complete with vehicle check lanes, among his six local shops. After getting input from the shops, he sets up the basics like time and location, and then shops pick up shifts.

“I just kind of try to put it together for them so all they have to do is say, ‘Yeah, we’re doing this,’ and they bring their people and show up,” Moir says. “I don’t necessarily have our people go out there. We’ve done that in the past, but we mostly try to make it for the repair shops so they can take their professional technicians and go to the cars and mingle with the people and make contacts, network.”

Services to make sure your distribution partners help you with at the check lane event include checking and topping off fluids, tire pressure, light bulbs, windshield wipers and filters. Talk to them about providing items for goodie bags, the aforementioned materials from the Car Care Council such as CCM kits, as well as rags, fluids, oils and other items used during check lane events. They can help you out with these materials so you’re not pulling from your own stock.

“That’s where our vendors have really stepped up,” Dunn says. “They supply us with oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid so a car never leaves there lacking quantity of fluids if the consumer wants them, and they’re donated free.”

Additional help comes in promoting the events, whether they’re larger or smaller customer-oriented ideas.

Tim Trudnowski, president and general manager of Automotive Jobbers Supply in Spokane, Wash., says they pay for event advertising for Car Care Month events, and get the local community college involved by hosting the event there and utilizing its technician students to help at the event.

“It doesn’t take a lot of time and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. It really doesn’t,” he says.