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Isn’t this a wonderful time of year? Nat King Cole is singing “The Christmas Song” on every radio station … children’s eyes are wide with wonder and delight … and kids from one to 92 are enjoying the special richness and blessings of the holiday season.

For autoshop owners and mechanics, there’s another important part of this season. It involves looking forward to 2018 and making sure your New Year is happy and prosperous. One of the best ways to ensure that you retain autoshop business is to send Christmas cards and gifts to your customers. In this way, you’ll express your appreciation and make sure customers know how much you value their business. The latest marketing research shows that having to attract a new customer is up to 7 times more expensive than retaining and reselling an existing customer. So consider Christmas cards and gifts that will help you do exactly that!

That All-Important Christmas Card

Although they may seem basic, Christmas cards are anything but. Most people LOVE to receive Christmas cards … so what are you waiting for? Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software such as that offered by Auto Bookings Online, you can send a special card to each and every one of your customers. People will remember your card, and appreciate the thoughtfulness you show in striving to retain their business.

What kind of Christmas cards should you send? The best, in our opinion, are those that are whimsical and/or funny, but specifically linked to what you do, and how it benefits your customers. For example, one popular card shows “Santa the mechanic” repairing the brakes of a car up on the lift. Can you imagine your customers NOT enjoying receiving that card? For other ideas and/or cards you might send, Google “Auto Repair Christmas Cards.”

Christmas Gifts That
Keep Customers Coming Back      

After you’ve sent your Christmas cards, consider going one additional, sure-to-be-appreciated step. Use your CRM software to send your customers Christmas gifts. You can get very creative with this, if you choose to. But one easy, simple gift you can give is a coupon to your autoshop. When mailed right to someone’s mailbox, coupons are a low-cost, high-visibility way for you to nurture good will and retain autoshop customers. Just a few of the offers you might make are:

• X percent off an oil change
• FREE oil change with any repair of more than a certain amount
• A certain amount off a specific service
• FREE (or X percent off) tire-rotation with the purchase of another service
• A certain percentage off the cost of an overall bill

We could probably write a book on all the various ways you can retain autoshop customers with Christmas gifts and cards. One of the great wonders of today’s online tools for autoshops is that it makes this so easy, fun, and rewarding to do.  

Auto Bookings Online is an online tool specifically designed to help auto-repair shops maximize profitability through better-managed customer bookings.