Preventative Maintenance -The Key To Savings!

Cities and towns are among the many doing their part to promote ecofriendly programs and practices to help people drive $marter.

Don’t you think it’s your turn now?

Your service department personnel can make a difference. They simply need to make their customers more aware of the important role regular vehicle maintenance plays in reducing both fuel consumption and harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

You will have a captive audience, as most customers want to prolong the life of their car, save money on gas and do their part to help save our environment. By also reinforcing key messages about the benefits of fuel-efficient driving and vehicle maintenance, your customers will think about their driving behaviour in a new way — a way that makes the connection between fuel efficiency, climate change and road safety.

The Canadian Automotive Repair and Service (CARS) Council is currently working with industry stakeholders to develop training designed to better prepare service personnel to be able to talk to their customers about this very important and timely topic. The training program will be four hours in duration and offered over the Internet through the CARS OnDemand network, in two modules. The training content is designed to improve the customer relation skills of service personnel and provide them with the information they need to talk to their customers about the issues affecting fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.

This project is a win-win situation for all concerned the industry, its customers and the environment.

Additionally, shop owners who participate in the project will benefit from:

• enhanced customer loyalty

• having more informed and capable service personnel

• seeing your business positioned as being proactive on important environmental issues

• increased business in your service departments

Steven Flynn from NAPA AutoPro L. D. L. in Saint-Hubert, Quebec agrees. “Regular vehicle maintenance not only reduces fuel consumption, but also helps reduce costly breakdowns for your customers;” said Flynn. “In return you build confidence and trust, because they see this as not only trying to save them money, but also as saving the environment. Less fuel equals more money.”

Your shop will be sent a number of promotion materials that will encourage your customers to seek advice from your service personnel. The material will as well outline the types of regular service required to keep their vehicles in top condition for efficient fuel consumption — which translates to cost savings. The promotional items will focus on the theme:

“Preventative Maintenance – The Key to Savings”

This EcoEnergy promotion is intended to be fun, colourful and effective in communi-cating the core message.

This is a theme echoed by Tony Mele, a Canadian Tire Service Manager in Woodbridge, Ontario. “Saving fuel and energy should be everyone’s concern,” says Mele. “Regular maintenance not only saves money at the pump, but reduces repair costs for the consumer and improves the air we all breathe.”

Let’s work together!

Thank you for helping us make a difference. That’s why CARS has taken the steps to build a curriculum that will help your customers:

• $ave on the life of their car

• $ave fuel

• $ave our environment

Your effort to make the topic personally important to your customers can help us make a difference that will ultimately benefit all Canadians.

The CARS ecoEnergy training program is currently being validated with the industry. CARS plans to have the program available on CARS OnDemand by early spring, 2009.

In the meantime, we invite shop owners and managers interested in participating in CARS ecoEnergy training program to contact Brenda Carroll at:bcarroll@cars-council.caor at 1-888-224-3834.