The Return: Digital Lobby TV

Reviewer:

Garrett Miska has worked for TJ’s Lube Stop for 17 years. He has worked his way up from lube tech to assistant manager to his current position of general manager, which he’s held for four years.

The Shop:

TJ’s has been in business since 1986 and prides itself on its customer service. The business has three lube locations and a mechanical repair shop in the Brazoria County community of Texas. The shop is the only Pennzoil Gold–branded location in the area, which makes it stand out to its customers, something that’s very important to general manager Garrett Miska.

Six years ago, when the staff was searching for ways to inform its customers on the different services, they stumbled across AutoNetTV and its different offerings that provide videos and animations to play for customers.

“I think we were one of the first to start using it,” Miska says. “We had built a new location and that’s when we started it up. We were looking for something for our lobby for our customers to be able to watch. It was something new and fresh.”

TJ’s uses AutoNetTV’s Digital Lobby TV in all of its locations.  

How it Works:

Digital Lobby TV is a monthly service that provides content for shops to play in the lobby. In order to use it, users need a TV; Miska recommends one that is 40 inches or larger. Tech support walks users through the installation process. Once it’s set up and registered, users get an online account where they can make changes and customize the content.

Each month, AutoNetTV updates the content, which allows users to be as involved as they want to be. Miska says it takes care of itself with refreshing content, or users can go in and customize what plays. For example, if a shop has a special on transmission flushes, Miska says you can make sure a video on transmission flushes plays. If there’s a certain service that your shop doesn’t provide, Miska says you can delete it from the loop.

The length of time depends on the customization, but Miska says he estimates the standard duration without re-showing content is four hours. Digital Lobby TV plays short clips from television episodes—like The Big Bang Theory—videos on different parts of the vehicle, tips on how often parts on the vehicle should be serviced, as well as ads. For example, TJ’s shop plays Pennzoil commercials just like the ones seen on regular TV.

Miska says that the average customer at TJ’s will see between 20–30 minutes of video and a couple of ads while he or she is waiting for his or her vehicle to be serviced.    

The Review:

Before Digital Lobby TV, Miska says his customers all just sat there reading magazines.

“They’re not reading the magazines anymore,” Miska says. “Time after time, customers will come up and ask about a clip they’ve just seen. For example, if there’s a video on the cabin air filter, they’ll walk up and ask about it. That translates to sales we didn’t have to come up with—it’s a great deal,” Miska says.

Miska says Digital Lobby TV does a good job of promoting services that are in the majority of the quick lube or repair shops out there. He adds that it also does a good job of promoting seasonal services. The fact that it’s customizable is also a big selling point for him.

AutoNetTV has a couple of partnerships, including one with NAPA. TJ’s Automotive Repair, which is a NAPA shop, uses Digital Lobby TV and Miska has really enjoyed the NAPA content that is provided. Miska adds that he wishes AutoNetTV would do even more of these partnerships.

The ROI:

Miska says that at all of his locations, a customer will come up at least once per day to ask about something that he or she has seen on Digital Lobby TV and request a service based on that.

Although Miska says it’s hard to put an exact number on it, Digital Lobby TV pays for itself each month and provides anywhere from an additional 20–40 percent of the monthly payment in sales.