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How Do You Secure Repeat Customers?

Gemma Rowlands

Gemma Rowlands

New Member
Try asking THEM to hold while you get yourself a drink or something. It's not so nice for them then! Agree about avoiding premium lines where possible, I hate calling those.

I actually went through a phase in my teenage years of singing to people on the phone when they were cold calling. I always thought of the songs at random so they were quite funny. The best one was when I started singing Amazing Grace, the lady on the other end joined in, and then at the end said "God bless you, child" and it sounded as though she was crying. Oops!
 
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eeyorebob

New Member
Build an email list by all means but do not spam people email - I've experienced this and I hate it with a passion and puts me right off
 
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Mike Turner

New Member
All we do is try to make sure that we give people the best possible service.. and then hope for the best. We do have a slight advantage in that people do tend to stick to a mechanic that they know and trust, because obviously cars are very expensive things, so once we secure our customers they do tend to stay with us for a very long time. We don't charge over the odds either, we genuinely try to charge as little as possible, to cover parts, wages, and leave a small profit for the business itself.
 
Gemma Rowlands

Gemma Rowlands

New Member
All we do is try to make sure that we give people the best possible service.. and then hope for the best. We do have a slight advantage in that people do tend to stick to a mechanic that they know and trust, because obviously cars are very expensive things, so once we secure our customers they do tend to stay with us for a very long time. We don't charge over the odds either, we genuinely try to charge as little as possible, to cover parts, wages, and leave a small profit for the business itself.

I always try to charge as little as I possibly can as well. Sometimes it can cause a bit of confusion though because some clients will be charged more than others for the same service - but it's nothing personal. Some months I can afford to do work for much less than I can others, and I am almost certain that I would still be charging much less than similar providers in the industry anyway.
 
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Pete Brindle

New Member
I always try to charge as little as I possibly can as well. Sometimes it can cause a bit of confusion though because some clients will be charged more than others for the same service - but it's nothing personal. Some months I can afford to do work for much less than I can others, and I am almost certain that I would still be charging much less than similar providers in the industry anyway.

I get what you're trying to do there, but don't some clients get a bit annoyed when they find out that they've been charged more for a particular service than another client? Would it not be a better idea for you to just set prices that you charge that meet in the middle? You could start at something that you think is okay and then tweak it as time goes on if you don't think the numbers are adding up properly.
 
Gemma Rowlands

Gemma Rowlands

New Member
I get what you're trying to do there, but don't some clients get a bit annoyed when they find out that they've been charged more for a particular service than another client? Would it not be a better idea for you to just set prices that you charge that meet in the middle? You could start at something that you think is okay and then tweak it as time goes on if you don't think the numbers are adding up properly.

There have been questions, but I usually just explain to them. If I were to give everybody the same price, I couldn't afford to lower the price for everyone so I would have to raise it for everyone. I just don't see how it is fair for me to pocket money that I don't need just for the sake of things. I would much rather have a personal service with each and every one of my clients that allows them to see just how highly I think of them, and how much I want to provide the best and most professional service that I possibly can.
 
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Lauren Turner

New Member
I think the items that we provide for people speak for themselves, in that if we can make them top quality items, you can be sure that they're going to come back to us for more things in the future, which is of course a great thing for us. They also tell their friends, so customers always come from old customers.
 
Gemma Rowlands

Gemma Rowlands

New Member
I think the items that we provide for people speak for themselves, in that if we can make them top quality items, you can be sure that they're going to come back to us for more things in the future, which is of course a great thing for us. They also tell their friends, so customers always come from old customers.

Yeah they're much more likely to want to come back to you in the future if they know for sure that they're going to get an absolute top quality service from you. And recommendations are great, as that gives you the chance to build up MORE repeat customers for the future. In a business like yours it's good too because people have things to show others which can mean that you're your own walking advertisement really!
 
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Pete Brindle

New Member
I think the items that we provide for people speak for themselves, in that if we can make them top quality items, you can be sure that they're going to come back to us for more things in the future, which is of course a great thing for us. They also tell their friends, so customers always come from old customers.

Absolutely true. Make sure everything is always top quality and the rest will deal with itself. The BEST businesses don't need to advertise, as word often spreads of its own accord.
 
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Mike Turner

New Member
I always try to charge as little as I possibly can as well. Sometimes it can cause a bit of confusion though because some clients will be charged more than others for the same service - but it's nothing personal. Some months I can afford to do work for much less than I can others, and I am almost certain that I would still be charging much less than similar providers in the industry anyway.

I don't think I could work like that, to be honest. I think it would be better for you to try and find an average price and charge the same for everyone, rather than messing about giving people different prices. I suppose if you're working in your business it might be a little different, but with me I have to charge a low but constant price to all clients, or they would become annoyed at being charged more than others at times.
 
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