Welcome to The Busy Bays Podcast

Episode 1: Welcome to The Busy Bays Podcast!

This episode introduces The Busy Bays Podcast. We talk about what this podcast is all about, why auto repair shop owners should listen, who we are, and we also share some marketing tactics that you can start applying right away to help you fill your bays.

 

Episode 2: Marketing Like a Million Dollar Auto Repair Shop – Without Spending a Million Bucks

This episode features marketing tips and advice that will help take your auto repair shop to the next level and get you on your way to becoming known as the best shop in town.

 

Episode 3: How do today’s consumers find and pick auto repair shops?

What if you could put yourself in your customers’ shoes? Like really understand who they are, what matters to them and how they make decisions? Knowing this information is valuable and a huge advantage for your shop. In this episode, we share how today’s consumers are researching and choosing a repair shop to service their vehicle. We also provide marketing tips to help you leverage that knowledge to improve your repair shop’s sales and service.

 

Episode 4: Does your repair shop have a personality that represents who you are?

Have you taken the time to think about the personality of your shop and how it affects your ability to attract and keep customers? How do you represent your shop on your website, through reviews and in the community? Does it represent reality?

 

Episode 5: What are your Google Reviews doing for you?

Why are your online reviews so important? Because customers write feedback and potential customers make decisions based on those reviews. In this episode, we focus on the importance of having Google Reviews and how to effectively use them.

 

Episode 6: Automotive Repair Shop Customer Survey

We surveyed nearly 600 repair shop customers to find out how they pick automotive repair shops and what keeps them loyal. Listen to this podcast to hear about the results of the survey and how you can leverage this consumer behavior to keep your bays full.

 

Episode 7: Customer Service – How’s Yours?

Why is having a comfortable shop atmosphere important in relation to customer service? What’s one thing a shop owner should never assume about their employees? We answer those questions and talk about the huge benefit of conducting a new customer walkthrough in this episode. Listen now!

 

Episode 8: Everything You Wanted to Know About Google My Business

We take a deep dive into Google My Business. Why does an auto repair shop need a Google My Business (GMB) profile? How do you set up or update your GMB profile? How can you optimize your GMB profile to be found online?

 

Episode 9: Pay-Per-Click and Google Ads

In this episode, we are talking about Pay-Per-Click and Google Ads. We ask in-depth questions related to utilizing Google Ads and what that could mean for your business. We provide some basic tips and warnings for those who are thinking about starting with Google Ads from scratch.

 

Episode 10: 8 Key Factors for Recruiting Great Techs

We take a deep dive into 8 key factors that can help you attract and hire the technicians you want and need to get the job done. We cover the importance of culture, why you always need to be recruiting, and why you definitely don’t want to go into the grocery store hungry.

 

Episode 11: Employee Retention: Tips and Advice for Keeping Your Best People

Don’t forget to tell your current team members how important and valuable they are to you! We often get so preoccupied with trying to recruit new employees that we forget to tell the great ones we have how much they mean to us. Join our hosts, Martin and Bekah in their conversation about how you as a shop owner can do your best to keep around the employees you love.

 

Episode 12: How to Be the Holiday Hero

In the spirit of Christmas, Martin and Bekah wanted to talk about how you can be the holiday hero at your shop and even in your community. The holidays are a great time of year to to bring a little extra joy into your customers’ and employees’ lives by being their holiday hero.

 

Episode 13: Setting SMART Goals

The New Year always brings time of reflection, change, and a lot of room for opportunities. Personal goals, business goals, new adventures, eating habit… the list could go on. But we want to talk about your shop, your customers, and your employees. Ask yourself: what is the one thing I want to accomplish this year?

How do you get there as a team? We want to help you get your team talking about what you want to accomplish in 2020.

 

Episode 14: Shop Owners Survey Results – Marketing and Recruiting

In our annual survey of auto repair shop owners from across the United States, we asked about marketing and recruiting. Shop owners told us what is most effective for them in bringing in new customers and existing customers. On recruiting topics they told us if they were recruiting techs, as well as what techniques they are using.

Listen in as Bekah and Martin talk about all of the results of the survey…

 

Episode 15: Search Engine Optimization – SEO Q&A

Today we’re talking about what we like to call the Big Kahuna – SEO. As business owners, we’re sure you’ve heard the term SEO and you may have some questions – like what on earth does it even mean?

We took the time to start at the beginning of what Search Engine Optimization actually means and how it can help your auto repair shop. You won’t want to miss this.

 

Episode 16: The Importance of Communication During COVID-19

We understand that many auto repair shops are being affected differently by the Coronavirus. Martin and Bekah share helpful ways to communicate to your customers and employees during this time of great uncertainty.

 

Episode 17: Why Having a Market Strategy Matters Now

Your state may be closed or open. Some of your stay-at-home restrictions may be being lifted or adjusted week by week. Most people aren’t sure what the coming weeks will look like. So – today we want to focus on why building out your marketing strategy is something you can and should be doing during these challenging times.

 

Episode 18: Facebook Deep Dive

We’ve been hearing a great deal of talk about Facebook from shop owners over the last month or two. While Facebook has obviously been around for a long time now, many of us have found ourselves using it quite a bit more during the pandemic for hyper local news and information on businesses.

We took a deep dive into how auto repair shops can best use Facebook in this podcast. We shared the importance of what it means to post “80/20”, why to avoid sharing links and what kind of posts are most likely to drive engagement with your customers and potential customers.

 

Episode 19: Building Trust and Credibility in Your Auto Repair Shop

When it comes to buying goods and services, people tend to trust their own experiences more than anything else. But what can you do to earn trust and build credibility with potential customers who haven’t been to your shop?

Listen today for advice and ideas on exactly how to do it!

 

Episode 20: A Shake Up in the Local Pack

What is the Local Pack and why does it matter for auto repair shops?

When it comes to your web presence and search engine results pages (SERPs), it can be easy to confuse the many different elements. You may even be suspicious that Google does it on purpose so that normal people can’t figure them out. Today we are going to focus on one of those elements – the Local Pack – and why it’s so important to auto repair shops.

 

Episode 21: 3 Ways to Get Involved in Your Community

Today we’re chatting about the importance of local community involvement, especially in our current time. We’ve always recommended being involved in your community, but if you and/or your shop is in a position to give back in any way… it’s more important now than ever to give back.

We know that many shop owners are already heavily involved in supporting their community and we applaud them. But if you don’t know where to start, or if you’d like to do more, please listen to the podcast for some ideas that might work well for you and your team.

 

Episode 22: How To Measure Success with Your Google My Business and Facebook Profiles

Are you putting your shop in position to be successful on Google My Business and Facebook?

In this episode, Martin and Bekah walk through measures of success for your GMB and Facebook profiles!

 

Episode 23: How Changing Consumer Shopping Patterns Affect Auto Repair Shops

In this episode, Martin and Bekah cover how the pandemic has changed consumer shopping behavior. In general, much more of consumer shopping and browsing is taking place online. People are looking for specific things and searching specifically for them. Listen today to find out how this is affecting auto repair shops.

 

Episode 24: Recruiting and Hiring Technicians with a Successful Shop Owner

For years auto repair shop owners have told us that their biggest challenge is recruiting technicians. It hasn’t gotten any easier during the pandemic, and the competition is brutal.

In this episode of The Busy Bays Podcast, we are really excited to have a special guest – Annmarie Aristigue from Arizona Auto – a very successful shop owner who has thrived in her recruiting and hiring efforts! If recruiting techs is important to you, you don’t want to miss hearing about her process and some of the unique ways she is approaching solving this very challenging problem!

 

Episode 25: KPIs Deep Dive with Tekmetric CEO Sunil Patel

Data. As a business owner, it can be your best friend. Or it can drown you in numbers that may or may not help you make good business decisions.

Today we have an expert with us to talk about the key data points and KPIs that you should be tracking as a shop owner – Sunil Patel – one of the co-founders of Tekmetric.

 

Episode 26: Who Is the Director of First Impressions At Your Shop?

Are you familiar with the term “Director of First Impressions”? In this episode, Martin and Bekah provide examples of what it means to be a director of first impressions in your auto repair shop and why it’s so important to have one.

 

Episode 27: Recruiting, Hiring and Employing Technicians with Find A Wrench

It’s no secret that recruiting technicians is the biggest challenge that most auto repair shops face these days. We recently had the privilege to interview Jay Goninen, founder of Find A Wrench, on the podcast to talk about all things recruiting, hiring and employing technicians.

A few questions that we covered in depth are:
– What should shops focus on to help them attract top talent?
– What is the best way to connect with quality candidates?
– How should a job interview be different today than it was 20 years ago?

Jay provided so much great advice to repair shop owners and managers – you do not want to miss this!

Learn more about Find A Wrench at https://findawrench.com/
Find A Wrench Job Board – jobs.findawrench.com
WrenchWay (employer profiles of top shops) – https://wrenchway.com/

 

Episode 28: How To Avoid Cyber Attacks

Did you know that there were 2,244 cyberattacks per day in 2020? That is one every 36 seconds. You might think small businesses like your auto repair shop are not targets. That’s exactly what cybercriminals want you to think.

In this episode, Martin and Bekah talk about four warning signs you need to watch out for in your auto repair shop to protect your business from a cyber attack. Listen today!

 

Episode 29: Three Step Process To Be Found and Chosen Online

When it comes to leveraging your website to help you be found and chosen online, you have to think of the steps a potential customer takes to get there. In this episode, Martin and Bekah go beyond SEO and talk about the three-step process that consumers use to find and contact a local service business online. You won’t want to miss this!

 

Episode 30: Slammed in the Shop? Focus your marketing on the jobs you want.

Are you looking for more profitable jobs related to certain makes and models or a specific type of work? By focusing your marketing to pull in jobs you’re looking for, you can choose to do more of the work that you want to do.

In this episode, Martin and Bekah spend time talking about how to target your auto repair shop’s marketing for the jobs you want to focus on.

 

Episode 31: 4 Common Auto Repair Shop Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Mistakes

When we hear auto repair shop owners tell us “My website isn’t working,” it’s usually because of one of these common SEO (search engine optimization) mistakes. Listen to this podcast to learn how to avoid these fundamental mistakes, and what to do if you’ve already made them.

 

Episode 32: Google Reviews: How and What to Ask For

Google reviews are often the differentiator between you and the shop down the street. Your customers rely on reading reviews to make their decision. In this episode, Martin and Bekah cover how to ask and what to ask for in your automotive shop’s online reviews.

 

Episode 33: Busting 5 Common Digital Marketing Myths

It’s all about fact vs. fiction on this episode of The Busy Bays Podcast. Martin and Bekah dive into five of the biggest digital marketing myths that we hear repair shop owners and managers talking about on a daily basis.

 

Episode 34: 5 Marketing To-Dos for 2022

With 2022 right around the corner, Martin and Bekah talk about the five marketing to-dos for your auto repair shop that you should start focusing on right now, including one that will impact your hiring efforts.

 

Episode 35: Six Tips To Turn First-Time Customers Into Long-Term Customers

The customer experience plays a huge role in determining whether a first-time auto repair shop customer is going to return or not. We’ve got six tips to help you turn brand new customers into life-long customers.

 

Episode 36: Google Is Changing the Search Experience for Local Services

Google recently made a change in their search engine results pages that could exponentially increase the importance of actively managing your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business). It’s likely to significantly reward auto repair shops who put the time into optimizing the profile and thoroughly punish those who don’t.

Martin and Bekah dive into the changes and how they impact auto repair shops.

 

Episode 37: The Impact of Reviews: Here’s What Matters Most

A recent survey shows that elements of reviews were four of the top five factors for how consumers choose local service providers.

What were those four factors and how should auto repair shops approach asking for reviews to give themselves the best chance to be found? Listen to the episode to find out more!

 

Episode 38 – What Do Technicians Think Is The Most Important Aspect Of A Job With Jay Goninen from WrenchWay

We partnered with WrenchWay to ask technicians what aspects of a job are most important to them.

We’ve got the results and we talk to WrenchWay co-founder and President Jay Goninen about them on the podcast. We also ask Jay what he’s hearing from the techs he’s talking to.

You don’t want to miss this one – listen now!

 

Episode 39 – Do You Need More Business? Or Do You Need More Techs?

What do you need more at your shop right now, customers or technicians?

We talk to many clients and shop owners who tell us their #1 need is more techs. If they are our clients, we tell them let’s make that clear on your website! Why are you spending your time, money and precious marketing real estate trying to attract new customers instead of new employees?

In this episode we highlight five ways to leverage the marketing you might typically use to help you attract new customers to instead help you attract new employees.

 

Episode 40: All About Insurance with Brian Boland of Garage Guard

We dove into insurance with Brian, asking him:

When you talk to Auto Repair shops, what do you often find they don’t realize about the insurance they should be carrying?

What are some key factors that insurance companies look favorably upon when deciding to provide the best rates for a repair shop?

Should a shop turn every claim into their insurance company?

To hear his answers to those questions and more, listen now!

 

Episode 41 – If Your Logo Is On It, Your Reputation Is On the Line

You are probably always thinking about how your shop looks inside and out because you know that impacts your reputation. But what other things exist with your logo on them?

How do you ensure your logo is not associated with aggressive, dangerous driving or unruly behavior? Every interaction with a consumer is a chance to win their business or lose it for life.

In this episode we cover some of the danger areas you may not be thinking of when it comes to managing your reputation.

 

Episode 42 – Getting More Business Into Your Auto Repair Shop Quickly

Whether you are in need now, or want to put a plan in place in case you need to bring in new business during a slowdown or dry spell, the following ideas can help. The ideas are mostly low cost, with the cost really going into the time for somebody to execute on them.

A key to getting customers in the door quickly is to diversify the ways that you are trying to connect with the vehicle owners in your community.

 

Episode 43: The Value Of Texting With Your Customers with Aaron Weiche of Leadferno

There are several benefits to texting with your customers and potential customers:
– Many people use texting as their primary communication method.
– Including a text box on your website helps potential customers easily reach you.
– A text conversation can help build a long term relationship while a chat is just a session.

In this episode we dive deep into the advantages of texting with Leadferno Co-Founder and CEO Aaron Weiche. Aaron also speaks to some of the concerns that small business owners have about texting with their customers and how Leadferno has been built to handle those concerns.

Listen now to learn about the benefits of texting and how you can leverage it to bring in more customers and increase customer satisfaction.

 

Episode 44: Consumers Speak! How They Use Reviews and Why They Leave Them

How many consumers read reviews? How many reviews do they want to see before they’ll consider your shop? What do they do after reading reviews?

How likely are consumers to leave a review after being asked to by a local business? How do they prefer to be asked? Why do they write reviews for local businesses?

Learn the answers to all those questions and more with this deep dive into the recent survey of 1,300 consumers. If you’ve been hesitant to ask happy customers for reviews this should give you a new perspective!

 

Episode 45: Apple Business Connect

Apple recently announced the release of Apple Business Connect. Apple Business Connect is similar to the Google Business Profile, and would be found on Apple Maps…but it doesn’t stop there. In the announcement, Apple said it would also be used in messages, Siri and other apps.

What does Apple Business Connect include? What is the potential audience? Are there any early results?

We’ll cover all of that and more aspects of how Apple Business Connect can be leveraged by auto repair shops. Listen now!

 

Episode 46: SEO 101 – The Foundation of SEO

ABC – Architecture, (Back)Links and Content

This episode covers the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization for auto repair shops. It includes things to look out for and actions you can take to help your website rise to the top of the organic search listings.

In this episode we simplify these concepts to make them as straightforward as possible. There are far too many marketing and SEO experts who try to overcomplicate these concepts to justify the exorbitant fees they charge small businesses. We take the opposite approach.

 

Episode 47: Three Levels of Instagram Involvement

Your auto repair shop should be on Instagram. In this podcast we share the data on consumer use and the changes that Instagram recently made to help local businesses get discovered.

Then we detail three levels of Instagram involvement depending on your ability to dedicate time and resources. Level 1 doesn’t require a lot and it’s well worth the investment of time.

Listen now to better understand why it’s important to be on Instagram and how you can get the biggest bang for your buck by utilizing the platform.

For more information on the importance of Instagram for auto repair shops, read our blog https://www.repairshopwebsites.com/instagram-is-now-a-necessity-for-auto-repair-shops/.

 

Episode 48: “You Don’t Pay Me Enough to…”

Have you lost a technician or two recently that left for more pay? Was it really the pay?

When an employee brings up pay or leaves for pay it most often means, “you are going to have to pay me more money:

• To put up with this crappy work environment
• To work these hours with no flexibility
• To work with these people

Gallup’s study shows that engaged employees need a 31% pay increase to even consider taking a job somewhere else.

In this podcast we talk about the five best predictors of employee retention and a number of things that you can implement in your shop to help you engage your employees. For additional information see https://www.repairshopwebsites.com/pay-probably-isnt-the-reason-you-are-losing-techs/.

Episode 49: Recruiting Techs? Here’s How To Attract the Best Candidates with Chris Lawson of Technician Find

If you are currently recruiting, or ever plan to recruit, techs, service advisors or office staff at your shop, you don’t want to miss this podcast.

We do a deep dive with Chris Lawson, founder of Technician Find, into all things recruiting for auto repair shops. We asked Chris about job ads, how to expand your reach for candidates, the role that culture plays, and more.

Listen now to hear Chris’s enlightening insights and to increase your success in finding employees who will be a great fit for your shop!