Walk with me, if you will ... I’d like to take you on a tour of your facility, and while we are on this tour, I would like you to put yourself in your guest’s shoes. I’d like you to look through their eyes for a moment and consider how they feel as they enter your shop. What do they see? What can they touch? How is your shop making them feel from the moment they walk through the doors?
You may think this doesn’t matter if their car gets moved through your shop in a timely manner and is fixed right, but that’s shortsighted for the long game of business. Most high dollar spending is done in the emotional realm, and aesthetics play a role in that emotion.
Let’s be honest, car care is a higher dollar service, so a good first goal is to remove a roadblock from your guests’ brain, which is them deciding if you are even worth what they are spending in the first place. Now that we have considered a few first impression items, let’s take a walk outside.
If we are standing outside of your shop, do you like what you see? Is the front of your shop clean, informative, and welcoming? Is the parking lot orderly and easy to navigate? Is the landscaping tidy and nice to look at? Is your drop box covered so your guests can fill their envelope out without being pummeled by weather? And when you head to the front door, open it up, and step inside, are you happy with the front counter and how the write up area is? You should be, and if you aren’t, stick with me on this journey so we can discuss a few fine touches of shop aesthetics.
When we were given the opportunity to move into our current shop in late 2018, we knew we had the chance to make something great for our community. We wanted people to be in our shop and feel like they weren’t at an auto shop. We wanted them engulfed in modern conveniences, so we landed on the idea of creating a space with “professional comfort.” Furnishings and textiles were heavily considered. We could have put basic chairs in the waiting room, but we opted for blue leather chairs that matched our logo to keep that “professional comfort” feel going. We could have designed a cliché service desk area, but intead we built a stone counter and topped it with beautiful customized stainless-steel countertops to transmit the feeling of strength and quality. We painted focus walls for articles and awards to show off a little, and we took time to consider how every textile would affect our guests. We knew the visuals mattered with the level of shop we were looking to grow. It had to match the verbiage and the mission we were about to implement.
I am not telling you to go out and buy leather couches. In fact, we don’t even have ours any longer because we closed our waiting room down in 2023 to create a marketing office and boost our curbside services. I am simply asking you to be mindful of your space. A bright, clean space does wonders for calming a stressful situation and creating a sense of comfort. Dingy and cluttered areas enhance stress and anxiety. So, look around. When was the last time the walls were painted? How are your floors? Is the lighting bright and welcoming? How does it smell when you walk inside your shop? Are the bathrooms clean and well stocked? These are all quick touches that don’t cost much, but vastly improve your space’s feel.
I urge you to take a moment and just stand in the space where your guests stand and check in with all your senses. If you don’t feel great in the area you’ve created, what small adjustments can you make to feel better? Slight changes often make a big difference.
Walk back outside with me, but at night. Look at your signage. Are your signs backlit or are bulbs out? How are the shops’ exterior and parking lot lights? I was taught, as a young girl, never to walk through doors I can’t see through, and never be in a dark parking lot alone. So, if your guests are like me, we are looking for well-lit areas to leave our cars in. Somewhere that feels safe. Lighting not only enhances your curbside appeal, but it also adds a level of safety to your shop that many appreciate. Is there a light by the key drop box so people can see and write their information without feeling the stress of being in a dark area? These are appreciated items that show you care and that you've thought about the safety of your guests. If you’re thinking about them and caring for them here, they are more trusting that you’ll take care of them under the hood too.
Take care of people. Think about what they need. As auto shop owners, it’s our job to bring good car care to the communities we live in. That’s a given, but you have the opportunity to create an experience that surpasses that the same basic car care the shop down the street is providing. You can go above and beyond with the small touches that make big differences.
Dare to be different. Be perceptive of what your guests need before they even know they need it. This is where the magic happens when building relationships with a new guest, or even a new employee. It lies in the details.
