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Unique Membership Program - Auto Repair for Women

by cporter88
4 replies
I am drafting a unique take on membership programs and would love some feedback from the expert marketers on this forum.

Currently I own an auto repair shop that caters to women. The shop is nearly 5 years old now and is doing very well. My customers are 82% female and are mostly very loyal to my business. It has been a while since I checked but my shop is the only repair shop anywhere that caters specifically to women.

I am interested in setting up a unique offline membership program designed to interest a portion of the 20% of my customers that make me 80% of my profits.

This new membership program will coincide with the celebration of our 5 yr anniversary. I intend to create something that will appeal to my core customer by providing tangible value in exchange for a bi-annual membership.

Here is my first draft of the 2 membership programs I will offer. I would love your ideas on how I can make this program irresistible to my core customer base. I am mostly interested in steering people towards the Platinum Membership Plan.

Gold Membership - Two Year Plan
Product Value
25% off all maintenance or repairs bills $750
Free Rain-X wiper blades $68
Free tire rotations $88
Free tire repairs $44
Nationwide warranty coverage $300
Free Everest Auto T-shirt $15
In celebration of our anniversary, if you're one of the first 10 customers to sign up for the Gold Membership, you'll receive two free bonuses...
Everest gift card $50 (free)
Admission to one exclusive advanced car care clinic $25 (free)
Plan Value $1400
You Pay $997


Platinum Membership - Two Year Plan
Benefits and Value
30% off all repair bills $900
Free Oil changes $280
Daily car rental when vehicle remains overnight $30
300,000 Mile Extended Powertrain Warranty $1500
Nationwide warranty coverage $300
Rain-X wiper blades $68
Tire rotations $88
Tire repairs $44
Entry in quarterly drawing for first class tickets $500 per drawing (avg)
(Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Nascar)
Everest Auto Sweatshirt $28
In celebration of our anniversary, if you're one of the first 10 customers to sign up for the Platinum Membership, you'll receive three free bonuses...
"Show Your Mechanic Who Is Boss - Never Get Ripped Off on Car Repair Again" $97 (free)
Two $50 Everest gift cards $100 (free)
Admission to one exclusive advanced car care clinic $25 (free)
Total Plan Value: $3,960
You pay: $1,497

It should be noted that we do not offer discounts or coupons so a money savings offer will be new and unexpected to my customers.

What do you think? Am I on to something good here or am I getting ready to make a big mistake?
#auto #membership #program #repair #unique #women
  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    The offer here is only part of the equation. You know what
    you can offer and not lose your shirt doing this I am sure.

    Some of the stuff in your memberships is clearly puff. Some
    of it has solid value. People will see that.

    The real trick here is how your selling and marketing system
    is set up. Copywriting, phone scripts, direct mail.
    Dan Kennedy is the guy to listen to on this topic.

    "No B.S. Marketing To The Affluent" is excellent
    also "Uncensored Sales Strategies" by Kennedy and Biddle
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarah Russell
    Are you planning to offer any kind of payment plan options? That's a big chunk of change, and personally, it's not an amount that I'd be willing to pay up front (speaking as a female car owner, not a web marketer).

    The biggest benefit of the packages, as they're currently established, is the discount off of repairs (my opinion, of course). But what happens if I don't need any repairs over these two years? Or what if I only wind up needing a small thing that costs a few hundred dollars? Plus, why pair repair discounts with an auto warranty if that'll wind up covering much of the repair costs in the first place? Personally, I'd love to see a plan that offered a greater focus on preventative maintenance - sort of like some HVAC companies do with their annual furnace/AC repair programs.

    But if you do want to go ahead and offer these packages as is, the above poster is correct - focus on the items that are of greatest value in your marketing promotions. People aren't going to drop $1,000+ for a tshirt, gift card or other giveaway
    Signature
    Common Sense Marketing | Sarah Russell Writing Services | Getting Started with CPA Ads[/center]
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    • Profile picture of the author midasman09
      Banned
      Yup! She said it. The "Average Woman" would think, "Hey! What if my vehicle does NOT need any repair or servicing?"

      Here's something I did many years ago and you could try it here, if you are looking for ways to bring in customers;

      I went to 3 Auto Repair Shops and told them I would sell 1,000 PostCards to local people that offered "6 Free Oil Changes over a 2 year period". (A $150 Value in those days)

      I would sell these Cards for whatever I could get for them. (I actually sold most of the Cards for $40)

      The reason the Repair Shops agreed to provide 6 - FREE Oil Changes was because they knew they could find SOMETHING on each vehicle that could be serviced.....even though they weren't going to make any money on the Oil Changes and...I was not offering to pay them.

      So...Make up some PostCard size cards offering "4 (or more) FREE OIL CHANGES for $20!" (Everyone has twenty bux) (PM me if you'd like me to send you a Sample of mine)....then you can run ads showing the Card and telling people to "Come On Down to get your FREE Oil Change Card?"

      So...what you'll have is an OVERWHELMING DESIRE TO SAVE MONEY (Which is becoming very popular these days) and if you sell 1,000 Cards you'll have $20,000 in your pocket AND...the future service Fees from 1,000 local consumers.

      Midas Man
      50 Ways to Make $50,000
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  • Profile picture of the author cporter88
    Loren,
    Thanks for the feedback. My plan is to only offer this plan to a subset of my most loyal and profitable customers. By no means is my plan finalized so I will probably modify the benefits.

    I have found over the years that my definition of fluff is sometimes different than my customers idea of fluff. Because my shop caters to women I have had to embrace the fact that I don't think like them all the time. What is important to me is not always what is important to my customers. So what might be fluff to you might be a valuable benefit to someone else.

    Click here to see a commercial I made last year. When the concept of this commercial was pitched to me I was very upset and offended by the premise because it did not appeal to me at all. When I asked my customers their thoughts the response was overwhelmingly positive. And sure enough that commercial has been a huge success for my business.

    Sarah,
    No payment plans. This program is a 2 year membership and I will probably cap it at 30-100 members to maintain exclusivity.

    Please understand that this membership is only going to be offered to a few hundred of my most loyal and profitable customers. These are people that already spend a lot of money with me every year. This concept will appeal to those that want extra perks and value from our relationship.

    I compare this concept to the difference between a regular Amex credit card and a Gold or Platinum Amex credit card. Every business has customers that will pay more for extra value and perks. My goal is to develop a membership that appeals to my best customers.

    Midasman,
    Thanks for the suggestion on the discount program. I tried this type of program in the past with very disappointing results. I found the only people using the cards were not interested in taking proper care of their vehicles. They were more concerned with only getting what the coupon was offering. I share a parking lot with a Midas franchise and I have no desire to compete with Midas over that type of customer.

    But I agree with you that I could probably sell a lot of the cards. I'm just not interested in the aftermath of having a waiting room full of oil changes.

    I am probably too tired to make any sense right now so if I am confusing anyone please let me know.
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