
An easy way to draw new customers into your shop is to offer cheap oil changes, according to a shop coach.
At last year’s Midwest Auto Care Alliance’s Vision Hi-Tech Training & Expo, Shop Fix Academy coach and shop owner Jay Huh acknowledged that offering such deals isn’t popular but it’s an easy draw.
“That’s the best way to get new customers,” he said during the session How to Run your Shop Stress-Free.
He used the example of one shop owner he worked with. He was offering an oil change for $69 while the shop across the street was offering it for $34.
“’We don’t share the same customer base,’” was the rationale Huh got, to which he responded, “’You don’t share the same customer base because they’re all going to his shop.’”
When he priced oil changes for $31.49, he saw a 35 per cent increase in business.
“Big doors swing on small hinges,” Huh told attendees. “You have to swing the door. You have to take action.”
A his own shop, Huh initially offered full synthetic oil changes for $27.97. As the pandemic deepened and prices went up, he raised the price but still much lower than what would be considered by most as a regular price.
Huh also doesn’t put an expiration on his deals. He’ll often send out mailers — people come into his shop with an older mailer that shows an older, cheaper price. He honours it. And if you have the original $27.97 mailer? He’ll do the oil change for free just for you hanging on to the paper for so long.
But this isn’t a gimmick for Huh. He isn’t about being known as the guy in town who offers cheap oil changes. It’s about creating opportunity within your shop to build business. If you have more cars coming into your bays, that’s more opportunity to do inspections on more vehicles and find opportunities for sales. It’s not about upselling, but about ensuring that the vehicle is safe and working the way it should be and offering to help the customer get it to that point. And you can only get there if the vehicle is in your shop, Huh said.
It’s also about exposing the customer to your shop and what you have to offer, he added.
“I don’t mind giving out free oil changes. I don’t mind looking over your car for 15 minutes,” Huh said. “We establish that trust. I extend the olive branch.”
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Comments
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When you make the conversation about $$$ before the vehicle is even in your shop, that is the only conversation you will ever have. Been at this for 40 plus years. You get no respect from your clientele or staff when you make things cheap.
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This guy is not someone you want to take advise from. It takes me 15- 20 minutes to retrieve car on parking lot, road test and set up on hoist.So what is he checking driver side door handles and hinges?
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Great way to meet new clients . It’s like speed dating as you get a feel for what the client wants from his service provider . You pick your clients just like you’d find something you like on a speed date . Sometimes you are incompatible . Sometimes you develop great friendships .
I did $10 ones and free ones for years when building clientele . You can turn special on and off and use it when you like . -
The U.S. shop owner featured in the article has successfully built a business model centered around direct mail marketing and a well-structured style of operation. While this approach has proven effective, it is not merely about offering low-cost oil changes or quick, in-and-out services. Behind the scenes lies a meticulously rehearsed and practiced system designed to identify and sell additional repairs. The strategy often involves addressing one or two minor issues to gauge the customer’s willingness to approve further work, either immediately or during future visits.
However, as a Canadian publication, it’s important to note the significant differences between the U.S. and Canadian markets. Canadian shops must navigate unique challenges, such as differing costs, margins, and compliance with privacy regulations like PIPEDA—factors that may limit the effectiveness of such programs in Canada compared to the U.S.
For years, we have emphasized through articles from industry coaches and trainers that our sector should avoid commoditizing services and engaging in a race to the bottom. Professional automotive repair businesses should focus on providing value-driven, service-based models. That said, marketing strategies like these undeniably drive traffic and increase car counts.
The challenge lies in the fact that few shop owners have the processes or profit margins necessary to absorb the costs associated with low-price oil change programs. This approach can be a slippery slope, potentially leading shops back to price-driven competition on oil services, which undermines profitability and the value of professional service.
While this particular business model works well for Jay in a market where costs can be effectively managed, Canadian shop owners should approach such strategies with caution. It’s critical to fully understand the underlying systems and processes required to make them successful before considering adoption
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No thanks
Been there done that 40 years ago!!
Took years to weed out the penny pinchers.
Everything you do for them going forward will be based on price first. -
I have to agree with Carlo Sabucco. The oil changes that we do at our shop (in Canada) are 95% synthetic with top grade oils. Prices range from around $130 – $230. If we start doing “free” oil changes, we would lose our shirts. The best, or least damaging path, would be to offer oil changes at our cost.
Yes, we do a 25 point inspection when the vehicles are on the hoist but, you have to find enough work to make up for the profit that you lost doing the “at cost” oil change while maintaining your profit margins on the additional work, AND you have to be able to get the customer to book the vehicle in to do the additional work. That is a precarious spot for a small business owner to put themselves in. -
Congratulations on winning the race to the bottom. I’m truly happy there are shops like this one out there, to take all of the worst customers that I don’t want coming in my door. This business practice depends on upselling to make your money. I believe my customers and myself are much better off paying the proper price up front, and only being upsold as needed – and again properly charged. It took a very long time to accumulate and educate a good customer base that understands and appreciates this, but i believe it is the right way to do it.
And at that price point, I’d love to know what the quality of oil and filters are being used. I despise this business practice. You make us all look like shysters to any consumer with a single shred of critical thinking abilities. But again, I am happy I suppose these shops exist to absorb that clientele and keep them away from us.
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By offering discounts on your services you devalue your service. People are very aware about “cheap” oil changes. The customers that cheap prices attract are not the ones we want to have if you are in for the long haul. Loyalty is earned by giving customers exceptionable services not cheap services. Clients come to you for value not price. I agree with Bruce Eccles on this. Is your reputation worth offering cheap parts?
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Maybe the last post should be deleted before I get my self in trouble. But google this guy. He quit his service advisor job in 2015 with no technical experience, training or knowledge, and started working on cars in his home garage until he went mobile after he got in trouble for doing an engine job in his laneway. He proceeds to inform us that he spent 3 hours drilling out brake caliper bolts on a BMW because he didn’t have the proper drive torx bit sockets. He did this for a $40.00 profit. He admits that it wasn’t professional but the job was done fine. And now in 2024 he owns a 10 bay shop, Carmedix in North Carolina with all brand new equipment. Without deep pockets or huge debt, How? These people rely on gullible shop owners don’t they. Delusions of Grandeur!!
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Offering discount services is only going to bring the wrong people to your business. Oil changes are not a money maker, its a service that we have to offer, and we have a
‘starting at” price. The days of a old spin on filter and 5 quarts of oil are long gone. With all the new filter numbers, grades of oil, and variables discounting services is the last thing you want to do. Best educate your customers as to why cheaper is not better, and educate them on the services you offer. A chain store that we took over the location used this business model, I mean it kept the bays hopping, but out of every 10 cars you would be lucky to sell a job to maybe 2 or 3 of them. When we took over the location it took several months to weed out the “just the oil change” customers, and now it is one of our most profitable locations. If you want to be successful try using the 300 percent rule -100 percent of the vehicles get a full inspection, 100 percent of the findings get estimated , 100 percent of estimates gets presented to the client. – In busy times, defer some work for future visits, which will ensure money in the bank for the slow times. Vinnie Klimkosz -
The only way one could perform a proper complete full inspection on all cars is if they knew every quirk on every make and model vehicle out there, which would be impossible. Sure you can check sway bar links, front suspension, brakes, tires, wheel bearings and exhaust leaks on all cars, but are you going to include possible soon to be oil filter housing leaks or lifter failures on a 3.6 L Chrysler Penstar, or a possible soon to fail seized injector on a 3.5L Ford Transit, How about a hard to see rear sub frame rot on a Subaru, hidden by all the exhaust shields, or a subtle driveline shutter on a Nissan CTV transmission. Are you going to call so much items on a vehicle including a steering rack that is just sweating to scare your customer back to the dealer into a new car? My point is there is a lot of parts on a lot of different cars and knowledge comes with experience, not handing some rookie a tablet and say go at it. Things will be missed making you look incompetent.
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I totally disagree. Doing this will result in an increase in business from the bottom feeders. I once worked at a dealer in Imperial CA who offered a 9.95 oil change. Their upsell ratio was less than .5%. The good customers saw this and knew it was a come on. The dregs wanted the oil change only, nothing more. Perhaps in another market/location it would work better but you still need to weed out the dregs. Currently in my own shop I at least break even on a LOF.
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I thankfully gave up listening to “expert wisdom” in the multitude of trade publications that have come and gone fairly early on in my 41 years in this business. While I still read every article, and all the comments, I learned early on to just quietly run my own race in a fast paced industry. However, this article touting yet another, “race to the bottom” approach to “success” in the auto shop industry prompts a response.
I agree with a comment above, that “free” in this industry actually can be done successfully, but only with a correspondingly killer attitude for aggressive upselling. That’s generally also a tried and proven fatal approach for long term success. Certainly around this area.
Our clients are people, and with rare exception, are not stupid. They know that a reasonable profit has to be made to ensure the continuity of the business in order to keep providing them with great service they value now, and in the future. Some clients will always fall for unscrupulous pricing tactics, (they are…) but most can see through the false charade. Ironically, many clients that were swayed and bitten end up becoming some of our most loyal clients in the end.
I’ve never offered a regular discounted service. Ever. It would only serve to devalue me, my great staff, and our industry. Ultimately our clients also, (the ones you want anyway…) because it says to them we don’t trust their level of mental acuity to be able to see the real benefits of dealing with a value driven business vs the foot-traffic-driving cheap tricks and come-ons of the flash in the pan types.
Our shops, independent or dealer, provide top levels of highly technical service and the less tangible, but just as important, confidence in the average persons second largest asset. We are not, and never should strive to be, a, “BOGO” or “flavour-of-the-week” type of industry.
In our medium sized city and area, there are about a dozen shops, like mine, that have been around for years because we all do the simplest things:
We treat people with respect, honesty and with all the transparency they deserve. We treat clients as you would appreciate being treated when you’re on “the other side of the counter” in your personal dealings. It’s not rocket science, but I’m sure my peers would agree that it does take patience, perseverance, and a daily dose of humility to be able to deal with every aspect this trade/industry throws at you on a regular basis.
Our job as owner/operators or managers is to make sure your staff, your clients, your suppliers, and yourself, all find an equilibrium that is ultimately sustainable for the long haul. If you allow one of those four factors to gain weight at the expense of another, for any short-sighted reason whatsoever, then you’ve lost the long game.
Part of me would like to agree with another comment made, that an upside to articles such as this always inspires some new players with a low/short vision to enter the market, which in turn draw off the “penny pinchers” allowing the rest of us more time resources to better provide for good clients.
However, I ultimately find it sad that, along with the other stable shops around me, after decades of us all striving to simultaneously elevate our industry alongside our own shops operations, we still have to tolerate this cheapening behavior from some.
Value for our industry, and all who are genuine within it, will only be gained by respect and integrity. Those values need to be held by ourselves, for ourselves, and with each other, our staff and our clients. So everybody wins in the long run. -
“I thankfully gave up listening to “expert wisdom” in the multitude of trade publications that have come and gone fairly early on in my 41 years in this business. While I still read every article, and all the comments, I learned early on to just quietly run my own race in a fast paced industry.” Excellent advise Rob, but I find myself unable to stay quiet when these theories and techniques of our industry being promoted are, in my opinion only helping to scare the next generation not only right out of shop ownership but out of this industry all together. I eventually want to sell my successful business to the next young technician owner. I want them to succeed the same as I did. They need to know that owning a business is a burden but it does not have to be as confusing or as difficult as these publications and people that should not be in this industry in the first place, make it out to be. You do not need to fix every repair on every make and model vehicle or purchase every piece of equipment available to be successful. You can pick and choose your battles. Also you do not need to micro manage your business into receivership.
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