ACDelco's “Women's Initiatives”: “Knowledge Is Power” for Shop Owners, Technicians

GRAND BLANC, MICH. — For a number of years, ACDelco — a global leader in automotive replacement parts and related services offering products for most vehicles — has made efforts to educate shop owners and technicians on the importance of their growing female customer base. ACDelco is taking that educational approach to another level, providing the necessary tools for shops to win over this key market segment.

ACDelco's “Women's Initiatives” extends its outreach to both genders, with a special focus on women. Women now represent 65 percent of the customers who take their vehicles in for service and repair, and the percentage of women drivers is on the rise. Women also influence more than 89 percent of vehicle service purchase decisions, and oversee the spending of more than $300 billion annually on used vehicles, maintenance, service and repair. ACDelco is committed to attracting and retaining these female customers through the following:

Knowledge Is Power

ACDelco has produced a 16-page “Knowledge Is Power” informational booklet that focuses specifically on female customers. It is designed to provide women with an overview of basic vehicle maintenance so they will feel better prepared to discuss repairs and maintenance with their service provider and to make more informed choices.

“Shop owners can place the booklets in their waiting rooms or hand them out to customers,” said Lea George, ACDelco marketing analyst and the owner of ACDelco's Women's Initiatives. “It's another step toward building trust and loyalty, because shop owners are helping customers become more knowledgeable about their vehicles.”

George added that the booklet not only empowers women customers, it also helps the shop become more efficient in its repairs.

“The more knowledgeable the customer, the more accurately she or he can describe what is wrong with the vehicle,” she said. “That, in turn, helps the service writer draft a more specific work order, and enables the technician to zero in on that problem. It increases the chances that the technician fixes the vehicle right the first time because he'll have a better idea of what is wrong with it.”

Car Care Seminars

ACDelco is also helping shop owners put together “Knowledge Is Power” Car Care Seminars targeting female customers. Shop owners can host events at their service centers that show women customers how a vehicle works and go into detail on the various systems. The seminars are “a lot like the booklet, but they provide face-to-face instruction and can go into much more depth,” George said.

To assist with these seminars, ACDelco provides shop owners with a “Knowledge Is Power” Car Care Kit and a “how-to” book that instructs shop owners on what they want to accomplish with the event, how to structure it and what they need to do to promote it. The kit includes a sample agenda for the event, templates for advertising and sample press release. There is a CD of a presentation that goes into each of the vehicle systems, and the presentation even allows for a shop to customize it.

ACDelco will supply Car Care Seminar host shops with 25 gift bags to distribute to their seminar customers. The gift bags include service interval schedules, quick-reference brochures such as “Around the Car” and “Under the Hood,” the “Knowledge Is Power” booklet, and ACDelco tire gauges, decals and pens to help build trust and loyalty.

Customer Relationship Management

CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, involves much more than just mailing postcards to patrons. Building and retaining customers requires a significant effort, and tools such as MechanicNet Customer Retention System (CRS) help save time and effort.

MechanicNet is a software-based system that interfaces with the shop's management system and pulls data from that system to communicate with an established customer base. In addition to identifying the most probable service candidates, MechanicNet manages follow-up correspondence via both e-mails and postcards, which contain personalized messages as well as special money-saving offers and coupons from the service center. MechanicNet's software also tracks the revenues produced by each postcard mailed.

“MechanicNet benefits customers, too, and helps busy women save time,” said George. “It reminds them when their vehicles are due for service, and provides secured access to check their vehicles' service history online.”

Vehicle Inspections

Another promotion shop owners can use to gain women's trust and loyalty is to offer complimentary vehicle inspections. George suggested that shops choosing this promotion should invest in a battery / electrical tester and an active fuel injector tester because these tools help get the technicians involved in building trust with customers.

“A battery tester will tell how much life is left in the battery and whether or not it needs replacing,” George said. “Technicians can show the customer the results of the test, and either advise her to get a new battery before the vehicle breaks down, or let her know that the battery is still in good shape and does not need replacing. This helps the shop build its relationship with the customer in the process.

“The fuel injector tester has a printout with bar graphs that will visually show if any of the injectors are out of sync,” she added. “Customers can read the printout and see for themselves. Building trust is not just about being courteous to somebody, but having the tools to back it up.”

ACDelco Training

ACDelco's blended learning training, which consists of Web classes and half-day seminars, offers shop owners and technicians such classes as Sales Skills and Self-Management Training to help them improve their communication skills with customers. The blended learning training is offered at no cost to Independent Service Centers that participate in ACDelco's Total Service Support (TSS) program.

“Anyone in a shop who interfaces with a customer has to know how to treat people, and if he or she is not being attentive to customers' needs, that will cost the shop business,” George said. “Being a great technician does not necessarily translate to having a lot of loyal customers. Mastering these âsoft skills' is just as important as being able to fix a customer's vehicle right the first time.”