Unremarkable?

With every passing birthday, it seems like I spend more and more time in medical offices and clinics getting poked, prodded, and tested for one thing or another. For me, the test results keep coming out the same – unremarkable. Of course, that means normal, ordinary, or nothing worth talking about. You might think that’s a reason for celebration. That’s what I used to think too.

When I was younger, when a doctor said the test results were unremarkable, that was a relief because I was feeling fine and was just getting a routine checkup. I didn’t want them to find anything wrong or remarkable. However, now that I’m older, I want them to find something to explain why I’m feeling the way I’m feeling. Now, unremarkable just means there’s nothing wrong that they can treat. “It’s just part of getting old, so live with it.”

Let’s consider the term unremarkable, as it pertains to your business. Do your customers have any reason to remark to others about their experience with your company? Or is your service ordinary, normal, and not worth talking about – unremarkable? Of course, you want your customers to tell others about their great experiences. The flip side is bad service, and people also talk about bad service experiences. So, are only the extremes remarkable?

In most cases, car repairs are something nobody wants – even when they need them. Worse yet, preventive maintenance is even less eventful because the car doesn’t even work differently after they part with a few hundred dollars. At least in the case of repairs, there’s usually some improvement in the car’s performance, providing some justification for the money spent.

Let’s face it; most car repair customers are satisfied with unremarkable and happy with the occasional remarkably great experience. They don’t come to the repair shop expecting anything special. Unfortunately, it appears that repair shops are also content with this result, as well. You might even think of being unremarkable as a safe place for car repairs.

However, what if you could operate in the safe zone of unremarkable, but still provide a remarkable experience for your customers – an experience they’ll talk about and keep coming back to get. In this article, I’m going to share some stories of how businesses are turning unremarkable events into remarkable experiences, and you can do it too.

Restaurants are examples of businesses that depend on word-of-mouth reputations. They’re in the business of providing dining experiences. Except for chains like McDonalds, which stake their success on consistently occupying the unremarkable space, most restaurants depend on providing remarkable experiences.

Sometimes it takes nothing more than showing that you care. I recently had “remarkable” experience at a small local restaurant – not a place you’d expect to find anything special except good homestyle cooking. I ordered a traditional bacon and egg breakfast with home-fries and an English muffin. The server told me it included a side dish, but I declined because I’d experienced their generous portions before.

After eating the meal, I was still a little hungry, so I asked if she could suggest something to “top off my tank.” She reminded me that I could still choose one of the side dishes that came with my meal. I’d forgotten all about that. The impressive thing was that she didn’t forget, and she cared enough to offer it. I wonder how often we walk right passed opportunities to show how much we care.

Recently, I heard a radio program about customer retention and referral statistics for traditional restaurants – not fast-food chains. While the percentages are likely different for auto repair shops, the concept still applies.

• 51% of highly satisfied first-time customers will return for a second visit.
• 67% of highly satisfied second-time customers will return for a third visit.
• Highly satisfied third-time customers will return until they’re given a reason not to.

While some of them tell others about their experience, the most likely to talk favorably are the highly satisfied first timers. However, the returning customers are the more likely to talk about a negative experience.

During the program, the host featured an award-winning restaurant owner who shared several creative ideas he’s implemented to leverage the above statistics. See if there’s anything you might want to start doing?

• He began, “We’re not just serving the customers in front of us, but everyone in their circle of influence. The goal is three-fold – give service that people will return for, tell their friends about, and favorably review on social media. We look for opportunities to do things that our guests will remember and talk about.” (Could this work in your shop?)
• The staff is trained to ask every table if they’re first-time guests. If they are, they subtly identify that table by the napkin color. That way the whole team knows. (What if you used color-coded mirror hangers or another method of identifying first-timers?)
• The manager/owner usually stops by all the tables but always visits the first-time guests and asks how they’ve enjoyed their meals and the service. Any problems are appropriately addressed immediately. (Is this something you could start doing?)
• When the waitperson brings the check, they suggest something special to try on their next visit and give a gift card to use next time. (Why not offer a gift card for another vehicle, or one for a friend or family member, or both?)
• When a customer makes a reservation, like most restaurants, they get their phone number, but it doesn’t end there. A few days later, they make a follow-up phone call with the customer to see how they enjoyed their meal and experience with the facility and the team. (In your shop, you get the phone number of every customer; do your customers get follow-up calls?)
• When somebody books a reservation for a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary, in addition to the phone number, they ask for their mailing address. He says that nobody objects or even asks why, but they get it so they can send a handwritten note to them, thanking them for choosing the restaurant for their special occasion. (Have you ever sent a thank you note to your customers? You have their addresses, so it seems like a logical and simple step.)
• This last strategy is genius, but it takes a little more effort than any of the others. He called it “Farming Social Media Mini-Influencers.” (This is worthy of its own paragraph.)

We’ve all heard of Social Media Influencers. Many of them make boatloads of money by influencing thousands of their followers to try or buy stuff. Most of them are international in scope, but there are some localized “Mini-Influencers.” Some aren’t even aware of their influence. You don’t have to look any further than the reviews of your shop to find a few examples.

So, here’s what this award-winning restaurant owner does. He pays a tech-savvy employee to read reviews about competing restaurants, serving his target clientele. Whenever they find a positive review from someone with a substantial number of followers, they send the influencer a “private message,” inviting them in for a discounted meal. It’s important that it’s a “private message,” so others don’t see the offer, and he says they don’t make it an overt quid pro quo offer. The offer might read something like, “We heard you liked XYZ Restaurant. We’d love to have you give us a try. Bring this message in to receive $XX off one of our signature entrees. He says he’s found that because these types of people tend to post reviews, this little trick pays off.

If you’re a transmission-only shop, you might need to search the general repair shops in your area and offer a discounted transmission service or free performance check.

Invest time and money in building strong relationships with customers.

• Give all customers personalized attention, but make sure the whole team knows which are first-time customers. They’ll be more uncomfortable than previous customers.
• Train your staff to provide personalized service and attentive communication both in-person and over the phone.
• Listen carefully and act on opportunities for “Yes-Able” solutions to their problems.
  • Rides home and back or to work
  • Rental or loaner cars
  • Financing programs
  • Clean, comfortable, good smelling waiting rooms and restrooms
  • Snacks and beverages
  • Look for ways to show them that you care.
• Offer complimentary road tests and basic testing to prove your commitment to customer care.
• Keep them up to date with repair progress reports – daily if appropriate.

Unremarkable becomes remarkable with a simple “live” phone call. Customers appreciate knowing that you cared enough to make a follow-up call. Every customer (especially first-timers and major jobs) deserves a “live” follow-up phone call. You’ll probably be the only auto repair shop to ever follow up with them. They’ll be so appreciative and impressed that they’ll tell their friends about you. It also gives you another opportunity to ask for a 5-Star Review and to find out how they heard about your shop. If they were referred to you, now is your chance to call the person who referred them, so you can thank them too.

This is like the manager stopping by the table to see how things went with your dining experience. If it turns out that they are unhappy with something, you can nip it in the bud and make things right with them before they tell other people.

If you are like most shops, you’ve probably done this sporadically in the past. However, unless you’re committed, it won’t get done consistently. It’s not something people want to do, so they’ll find things that get in the way or find a reason they don’t have time.

A couple of years ago, I received a handwritten thank you note from a local business. I was so impressed that I wrote an article about it in GEARS and talked about it in my EXPO seminar that year. Of course, many of my friends and neighbors heard about it too. Here’s why you should send handwritten thank you notes. Nowadays, we don’t get much “snail mail.” Your letter will be noticed, opened, and read. Also, it will likely result in the customer commenting to a friend about it because it’s so remarkable. You should consider this for all new customers, at the very least.

In conclusion, your business depends on loyal customers who return and refer their friends. Nowadays, social media presents tremendous opportunities to reach more people when your customers post favorable reviews. What are you doing to encourage them to return, refer, and review? It begins with turning an unremarkable event into a remarkable experience.

Follow-ups are the secret sauce, and they’re too important to leave to chance. They remind people to remember you and tell others about you. If you’d like some free guidance on systematically automating “live” telephone follow-ups and “handwritten” thank you notes, reach out to me by phone at (480) 773-3131 or by email at CoachThom@gmail.com.

About the author — Thom Tschetter has served our industry for over four decades. His article topics come from our readers and Thom’s years as a speaker, writer, certified arbitrator, business consultant, and his own in-the-trenches experiences. Thom owned a chain of award-winning transmission shops in Washington State, and ATRA presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of training for the transmission industry.

Learn more about Coach Thom Marketing and get unlimited free access to sales and marketing articles and videos in our online library. Initial consultations and guidance are always free. CoachThomMarketing.com Phone: 480-773-3131 Email: coachthom@gmail.com