My wife and I started my automotive service company at dinner one night. It wasn’t my first business, but it was my largest to date. For the first few years, I attempted to compete based on price and spent most of my advertising dollars producing ads that had the same “specials” that everone else ran. You see them all the time. Oil changes, coolant system flush, tire rotations, safety inspections, the list is endless. One afternoon, I was in a discussion with a potential new “customer”.  The dialogue got a little tense as he told me that in order for him to use our services, he wanted me to honor everyone else’s prices and accept cupons from competitors in the area including national franchise and chain companies. That’s when I realized, I was getting exactly what I asked for. I had been advertising for customers like him. I ran the same ads, acted the same way, competed based on price. For months I had been trying to figure a way to increase our busines volume and profit. Runnig ads making myself”competitive” seemed logical. Too bad, I got what I asked for.

That evening, I didn’t go home at 8. ( We closed at 6, but this is for another posting) I stayed and wrote down exactly what made our services different than all of my competitors. I wrote down what made my shop completely different from the others in the county. I also quit advertising in all the local papers, including the cheap ones called Bargaineer and PennySaver. I never ran any “teaser” advertisements after that day.

Two weeks later, I had developed a customer retention program and customer referral program. It was simple, but proved very effective. By asking my customers for feedback, I had all the answers to why they used our services. Price was the next to last reason for having their vehicles repaired at my business. This knowledge allowed me to market based on our value proposition and forever changed the way I run any enterprise.

There is nothing more valuable than the feedback from your clients. It takes everything you think you know about your business and turns it upside down. If you cannot write down exactly what makes your business unique, or lack the understanding of what your client’s want, I encourage you to take an afternoon and make some calls. Keep it short, be polite, ask real questions, and write down the answers. In front of you is a roadmap to increase the value of your business and client relationships.

Got an opinion or want to know more?  Please drop me a line at ron@ronhammons.com and I will get in touch with you. I always appreciate your feedback.

Ron