
Tim Evans immediately noticed an increase in business after embracing the idea of marketing. The biggest result is that were still in business, says Tim. A lot of shops cant say that.
Evans Tire and Automotive Center is located in a highly competitive area in Smithfield, North Carolina. Like many other shops, sales began to slip. Tim knew he needed to do something to keep his repair shop open. Tim explains, Marketing really became a priority for us and its gone over well with the community. Now were known in our area for doing a lot of unique things with our marketing strategies.
Overview
As with many auto mechanics, repairing cars has always been in Tim’s blood. He was raised with a father that was a mechanic and owned his own shop since 1972. Tim jumped on board in 1980 and then later took it over from his father. His shop currently has a 13 to 15 bay capacity.
Serving the Smithfield community for more than 30 years, this shop offers a full line of tire services and auto repair for all makes and models and also sells competitively priced tires. Tim’s shop is an American Car Care Center where customers can benefit from warranties on automotive work, flat repairs and road hazards.
Challenges
Tim was faced with the challenge of keeping his auto shop open in a highly competitive area. As other shops were closing down he connected with Ron and learned how to attract and maintain the right type of customer.
Tim needed to find customers that would require repeat business. He had to learn how to market to these potential clients to first of all keep his shop open and then secondly to expand it.
Goals
Differentiate the shop from the competition.
Decrease overhead.
Increase capital, cash flow and net profits.
Implement streamlined operational systems.
Methods
By examining buying habits and the overall financial trend of the community, Tim was able to identify his desired customer and then develop a number of strategies that would successfully reach them. Its not about having one strategy that works really well, says Tim. Its about having 100 different strategies that all work a little bit.
Tim also utilized the methods that he learned from networking with other shop owners in Ron Ipachs Elite Mastermind groups. He explains, You can learn so much from your peers. All of these people in the group bring different experiences to the table. And you can get input on your particular challenge from numerous different people its been invaluable to me.
Conclusion
I wonder if we would even be here if we had not started marketing, says Tim. Marketing is a necessary evil; youve got to be in contact with your clients. Its very competitive out there, complexity of the world as a whole; youve got to market!