A garage in Lancashire has shared how its investment in training, a website and a new garage management system has completely transformed the business.
Eighteen months ago, A&S Car Care Centre in Bolton was operating from one site with three bays and attracting lots of low profit work. The garage was operating in survival mode even though the owners regularly worked a 70-hour week.
It now has two sites, employs eight staff, and has increased its hourly rate by 150%. A healthy 90% of its work yields an optimum profit margin and it’s also attracting trade work from prestigious car sales companies.
“In the last 12 months we have spent £45,000 on training alone,” said Mark Williams, owner of A&S Car Care Centre. “To recoup that cost you have simply got to attract the right customers, the ones that want their vehicles fixed properly, not just make do and mend.
“To do that, it was crucial to upgrade the website to one that could get to the top of Google search results for the profitable work we wanted to be found for. Garage Services Online came highly recommended and designed a website that literally does just that.
Combination for A&S Car Care Centre
“I then combined this online strategy with the introduction of a garage management system (GMS) from Garage Hive. The website and GMS work together to make the customer journey seamless. From the moment they find us online, to leaving a Google review, the customer experience is one of complete professionalism. We are now considered one of the top three garages in town.”
Williams says the investment in A&S Car Care Centre’s subscription-based website pays for itself 50 times over every single month.
He continued: “By getting clear on the profile of work we wanted, we could tell Garage Services Online exactly what jobs the website needed to pull in. It worked straight away. When the website went live, we had our best month’s turnover ever and since then, its continued to almost double every month.
“The technicians are happy too because they are doing work that utilises a lot of their specialist training such as complex mechanical repairs and diagnostics. We are also seeing a lot of electric vehicle work coming through now from all around Lancashire and as far away as Yorkshire.
“Working with Garage Services Online has enabled A&S Car Care Centre to come from what was perceived as a back street garage, to one that competes with main dealers. They have made a massive difference to our business and to top it off, the team are brilliant to work with.
“If we did not have the website we would be surviving, but certainly not succeeding.”
