The keys to effective price advertising for your auto repair shop…

Believe it or not, price advertising is a good thing. Everyone likes to find a good value, and price advertising lets people in your community know that you are looking for ways to help them save money. The problem most shop owners come across is that they’re unsure of exactly how to price advertise.

When you advertise something like an oil service at a discounted price, a number of predictable things will occur. First of all, unless you use a media that specifically targets your ideal customer, you’re going to get a lot of the wrong people coming into your shop. If you’ve been in business for any period of time, I am sure you have experienced this in the past. Ironically, at the same time that you’re bringing in the wrong people, your auto repair advertising is sending a message to the ideal customer, who you haven’t had the chance to meet yet, that you’re looking to entice them with a low price.

As you can imagine, this will often make these customers anxious, because they’ll wonder if you’ll try to compensate for the discount by recommending other repairs and services. Pretty much a lose-lose situation, right? That is, unless you do what your competitors would never dream to do, and make your ideal customer an offer that is hard to refuse; an offer that also reassures them that you’re not just trying to bring them with the hopes of an up-sell. So here’s the most effective way to go about price advertising for your auto repair shop….

The first thing you’ll need to do is pick a social cause that a good percentage of your target customers will believe in, and it has to be one that you believe in too. Organizations such as the Fallen Soldiers Fund, or the American Cancer Society are good examples. Then you’ll need to put together a limited time promotion that supports that particular cause. When you put together your ad, you should lead with an image that is relative to the cause, such as a silhouette of a mourning soldier on his knees. You’ll also need to have a powerful headline such as “Help Us Help Them.” Your ad should then go on to tell the reader that for a limited time, if they bring in a check for any amount payable to the cause, you will perform a complete XXX service for only $XX.XX

If you run this kind of ad a number of things will occur. First of all, you are going to be sending a strong message to your community that you care about others. That in itself is a powerful statement that no amount of ad money can buy. Secondly, your target customers will be influenced by the ad because they more than likely have a charitable side to them. Not only will this kind of price advertising eliminate the anxiety that comes with suspicion of a low price bait and switch, but it will separate you from your competitors, and it will get people in your community talking about you.

Lastly, you have my promise. You’ll make new friends through the charity you support, and you’ll be sending a powerful message to your staff that you really do care … about people in need.