A recommendation over a new website has led to a workshop making significant cost savings by allowing for self-promotion in its local area, while reducing subscription costs.
Walker Cutting, a Bosch Car Service Centre in Rotherham, has partnered with specialist garage website provider Garage Services Online for its new digital presence, and has already seen a positive impact on its finances.
Co-owner, Gary Cutting, says since the site went live six months ago, the garage has reduced its monthly subscription costs by a huge 75%.
The business has also been able to stop advertising elsewhere, meaning the savings are two-fold and going straight onto the bottom line.
“We are making huge savings now,” commented Cutting. “The new website is a quarter of the cost we were paying previously, and the changeover was quick and easy. Bosch recommended Garage Services Online to us, and I cannot fault them.”
Attractive proposal for Walker Cutting
Walker Cutting developed its first website over 24 years ago, and understood how important the online presence was to the business. However, Gary Cutting, while not unhappy with the look of the previous site, knew that a rethink was needed over the type of work that it was attracting to the business.
“Our lead time had crept up to four weeks which was not great for customers,” continued Cutting. “The website was attracting too much low profit work, things like time-consuming engine problems. We were struggling to fit in the quick turnaround work such as a basic service or MOT, so something needed to change.”
Garage Services Online built the website following its established process, starting with a briefing call that minimised the time and input required from the business. The new website was then built to organically target high-profit work; the lucrative jobs that make up an ideal day’s work for Walker Cutting.
Jim Lang, Managing Director of Garage Services Online, said: “It is tempting to set up a website to attract every single service you offer, but that does not address the problem of creating a new channel of enquiries that only generates profitable work.
“Most garages who approach us are already busy. They come to a point where they realise they need a way to attract and filter the work they really want. We approach all our builds with this mindset, working with customers such as Walker Cutting to ensure they are getting the ideal work.
“Many garages shy away from investing in and improving their online presence. They think a website will bring in more work than they can cope with, when in fact, the opposite is true. It is a gatekeeper and can become invaluable to their business.”
Cutting concluded: “We still get a few calls for the jobs we do not want, but that will take time because we are such as established garage. The difference is that we now have the confidence to say no.”
