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For those car shop owners who’re just starting up their business or haven’t figured out their path yet… Here’s something that will definitely help them. I’ll try to keep it very simple and concise…
As usual, noting good in life happens overnight but if you follow the steps I’m going to describe below you will see great results in a year. Whether you’re in the city or in a rural area, you will want to build a healthy business that generates consistent ROI. Knowing what to do and what not to do will certainly change your game forever.
Why so many shops across the car repair industry struggle to attract high-profit customers and retain them over time?…
- First, because the high-profit customers don’t like to hang around in the same shop together with the low-budget customers.
- Second, you got to find where they hang out and “invite” them to visit your shop.
- Third, they want to make sure they spend their money on value.
If you imagine a situation where a wealthy guy brings his car for repair in a workshop that looks like a junkyard full of old cheap cars. What quality of service would they think you maintain and what value for the price you offer? So if you decide to go ahead and establish a class and trust in your business you got to distinct your desired type of clients from the mass. Whether it will be “fat wallets” or “flat wallets”, it’s your choice.
Let me mention what “high-profit client” stands for first – a person, household, or company that over time yields a revenue exceeding by a high amount the company’s cost for attracting, selling, and serving that customer. Straight talk, 10 high-profit customers easily beat 100 random customers on ROI because the workshop generates bigger profit with fewer efforts in lesser time.
I’ll spot the light on the wealthy customers and share my opinion on why you need to keep the price up. Contrary to what is deemed, the desire to make more money out of your business doesn’t make you a bad person. Loving money doesn’t make you a bad person. Being rich doesn’t make you a bad person. If you provide exceptional customer experience, logically, the high price is even a must. If you provide cheap services every normal person would assume there’s something wrong, so in this case, you gonna lose good customers to your competitors who price higher. Usually, car shops that try to attract clients with low prices face the risk to stay trapped and struggle to put the two ends together because it’s very hard to explain why they raise the prices if they wish to do so. It keeps holding them back and even makes them dependent.
As a simple example, when a client goes to a Lamborghini shop they never negotiate the price, they just leave their money on the counter. When a low-budget customer goes to a low-rate shop they nearly always argue the price. Why is that?… Because of the appearance, the culture, the attitude, the service in those particular shops suggests that. If your shop and service look like a $1k car, clients will always want to low-ball you. If your service, waiting room, and the bays look like a $200k car nobody will negotiate.
So, it makes sense to build a premium shop and charge premium rates that no one negotiates. And it doesn’t make you a greedy or a bad person. It makes you a person with goals because the money will give you more leverage and let you do more good in the world. Case studies show that businesses that charge high rates are able to provide exclusive customer experience and consistently improve their services over time. It doesn’t work that well with the low-rate businesses.
How much you charge doesn’t matter to the client when the value you offer exceeds the price. They are interested in your quality and speed of service, what your level of expertise is (not experience), they look at your quality of parts, they want safety on the road – are you able to deliver that, they look at how you treat them – do you follow up with them and how, are you caring, do you understand them… They look at how you maintain your shop – are you sloppy, have you quality tools, are you well-trained to provide a quality service, what does your team look alike, do you invest in their training, do you treat them well…
With that said, it absolutely makes sense to commit and become the best in your particular market niche, hence, acquire and retain an aligned with your class clientele. Once you’ve acquired a client like this, once you’ve made them happy you should ask them to spread the word about you in their circle. Apparently, they hang out with people of the same kind (like the saying goes birds of a feather flock together)… If you want that type of customer, do your best to get more of them asap.
There are different tactics that could help you deliver customer excellence particularly to this type of client, keep them engaged and make them come back for more… But I’m gonna talk about this another time.
Common mistakes that shop owners do while thinking they improve their reputation and convert more leads are:
- serving any type of customers (and often stumbling across bad clients);
- overbooking the schedule (so that they get easily overwhelmed and stuck);
- servicing as many makes as possible and doing all types of repairs (trying to be good in everything but proving poor overall);
- aiming to beat other shops on prices (and attracting flat wallets)…
Other case studies prove that these tactics are the fastest way to “kill” your business.
But how you can keep your schedule booked out, reduce the workload and work with profitable customers? These few steps will help you transform your workshop, but a certain level of commitment, consistency, work, and patience is necessary…

The 10 golden steps to become a successful auto repair shop
- Shift your mindset from “do-it-all” to “be the best”;
- Educate on how to leverage and market a “healthy” car shop (you’ll have to take a few courses)
- Narrow your bandwidth to 3-4 models of vehicles mostly owned by profitable clients so that you can get quick traction and momentum ( Not very effective in the rural areas, but you could adjust the other tactics for compensation);
- Limit your range of repairs so that you become specific and reduce your liabilities and costs;
- Hone your knowledge and skills so that you become the best;
- Spread the word by the most effective online and offline channels;
- Overlay your expertise and style, get a reputation and recognition;
- Stay committed and focused, don’t freak out or give up, don’t change your direction, be transparent, honest, and consistent in everything and with everyone;
- Focus on profitable customers who don’t argue your prices, repel the others over time;
- Stay engaged with the clients who share your values, repel those who don’t over time. Apply the same strategy to your team members (but let all of them know what you stand for in advance so that you avoid confusions);
Sticking to the steps above will affect you as follows:
- reduce the workload and increase the profit margins,
- save a lot of time and avoid headaches, get more free time,
- stay consistent and focused in what you do,
- maintain and increase your class,
- build a reputation and get recognition,
- have fun when you do business,
- get peace of mind and security for your future in the industry,
- get the feeling you never want to retire, etc…
But again, without commitment, consistency, work, and patience it won’t happen. Believe it or not, 2-3 years down that way will pay off for the rest of your life.
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Vladislav Gerginov
The Garage Mentor founder and CEO