What steps are shops around the country taking to get work in the door? Here is a quick run-down of 10 ideas from 10 shops.
1. William’s Collision in Eloise, FL, has picked up some revenue by adding spray-in truck bedliners to its list of offerings.
2. “We are offering free pick-up and delivery, mobile estimates, photo estimates through Podium, and utilizing CCC Engage for free,” said Zach DeGroot of Riverbend Body Shop in Grand Rapids, MI. (CCC Information Services is making its CCC Engage photo estimating and CCC Mobile available to its customers at no cost through July.) “We’re also advertising special promotions for first responders and front line workers, like free car washes, vehicle disinfecting services and discounts on deductibles.”
3. A 30-second ad posted by Arrowhead Autobody in Duluth, MN, points to the mobile estimating and pick-up and delivery services the shop is offering customers, along with the added precautions it is taking to sanitize its office, loaner cars and customer vehicles.
4. “We are reaching out to all insurance companies to let them know we are open, and calling friends who are in car clubs to see if they need any clean-up work on collector cars,” said Joe Krebs of K&H Automotive Collision Center in Hamilton, NJ.
5. “We have upgraded our website and we are on Facebook every day,” said Sherry Card, owner of Collision Connection at Brookside in Tulsa, OK.
6. Randy Stabler of Pride Auto Body in Van Nuys, CA, said his company is contacting all past customers to offer discounted pricing on repair of minor damage.
7. Christy Jones of R Jones Collision 1 in Des Moines, IA, said promoting detailing services “has worked to fill in some gaps in our production.”
8. Sherry Martin, office manager at Pro Collision Center in Orange, VA, said the shop has brought in some complete paint jobs that it normally wouldn’t do.
9. Rosann Kramer of Runway Auto in South Burlington, VT, said she is starting a quarterly email campaign and a YouTube channel for short videos “so people can see who we are as a business.”
“We donate a vehicle every year through ‘Recycled Rides,’ and we haven’t used those donations in our marketing in the past, but this year I will be promoting our charitable endeavors,” Kramer said.
10. Many are finding ways to support other businesses in their community, like a “pay-it-forward” campaign started by Ernie’s Auto Body in Hayward, WI.
“With any collision repair over $1,000, the customer gets to choose a $30 gift certificate from several local restaurants doing take-out,” said shop owner John Magowan.
John Yoswick