Postcard mailings have helped All-Star Auto Repair triple sales to prospects in the surrounding three-mile area.
“We wanted to reach those people who are in a three mile radius—that’s where 80% of your customers are anyway,” says Bill Buchheit, owner of the Columbia, MO-based car repair shop.
On average, All-Star sends 12,000 postcards per month to local households with incomes of between $40,000 and $60,000 a year who have been identified as owning at least one car.
Population density mattered in All-Star’s efforts. Columbia has a population of 102,324, which isn’t very dense, he notes, adding that if the business was based in am more heavily populated area like St. Louis he would have mailed to a closer geographic range.
The postcards offer such things as oil changes and $20-off coupons for service over $100. The prices change depending on the time of year.
“If it’s summer time, I really don’t need as many customers,” he notes, adding that attracting too many customers might mean his staff of mechanics would get overworked. “In winter I’ll drop it down to $19.95 or $17.95, trying to attract more cars.”
In the past, All-Star didn’t really do any marketing.
“I didn’t do hardly any advertising,” he says. “I thought that referrals were the way to build a business.”
All-Star has a Website (http://www.all-starauto.com) where customers can make appointments, get information about repair services and print out coupons. It also does a little local radio and Yellow Pages advertising, and has a Facebook presence Buchheit thinks will pay off way down the road.
“I don’t really think [Facebook] is having much of an impact now,” he says. “The kids that are using it now are our future customers in the next five years.”
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