Follow Up Report Recommendations

[baiersautotime]

I was using this function to get a list of customers that had recommended services but have not come in I exited out of the report and when I went back into the report now it says no records found. what did I do and is there a way to get this information back? Thank you in advance.

[ricmorin]

Likely you clicked on a window that said to mark the Recommendations as followed-up. That marks the records with a follow up date and they no longer appear in the report. I think the only thing you can do is go back to each record and clear the follow-up date. Hopefully someone will prove me wrong.

[Pauls Automotive]

Ric is right. We did this twice before. One time was in the morning and I had a fresh back up from the night before so I just re installed the back up. the second time I was not so lucky so I had to manually go recheck all of them.

[baiersautotime]

Thanks for the replies I was afraid of that and had been avoiding that button each time I did it but I guess I failed and now I will have to go back and do it manually. Live and learn.

[ricmorin]

Welcome to the Forum, BTW.

I have a little system with follow-ups. At the beginning of the month I run all the Recommendations for that month, mostly oil changes and stuff. I DO NOT mark them as printed. Two months later, I run the same date range for those who did not come in. I DO NOT mark them as printed. Two months after that, I run that date range again, THEN I mark them as printed. I have 3 different letters for each, with heightening urgency on each.

So each month I run 3 Follow Up reports. It's amazing the response I get. If I get too busy and don't run these one month, the drop-off is noticable.

I also run the Inspection reminder just before a new month begins since we have state inspections here. Works wonders.

[ARS]

I have a little system with follow-ups. At the beginning of the month I run all the Recommendations for that month, mostly oil changes and stuff. I DO NOT mark them as printed. Two months later, I run the same date range for those who did not come in. I DO NOT mark them as printed. Two months after that, I run that date range again, THEN I mark them as printed. I have 3 different letters for each, with heightening urgency on each.

Hello Ric,
We are planning on starting the Follow- up letters as described above. We currently are only sending one letter about Recommends. We are really intrigued with the idea of sending out multiple letters. We were wondering if we could see some examples of the 3 letters that you send out that "heighten urgency on each." What a great idea. Thanks,

[ricmorin]

Sure thing........ Here is the 'Due this month' letter.

Planning and prioritizing maintenance is a key way to keep repair bills down while getting great reliability from your car or truck. During routine service, we often find items that need attention but not right away. We schedule these services and remind you of them when the time is right. Those recommendations are listed above.

Simply call us at 622-6434 so we can schedule these recommended services. You can also use our website to make an appointment 24/7. Just point your browser to http://www.motorcaralternatives.com. You can follow our updates on Twitter too! Look for MotorcarAlt.

Thanks for using our services in the past. We understand it's difficult to trust someone with your car or truck. Remember that having your car serviced doesn't mean you have to go without transportation. We have free loaners available on a first-come first-served basis.

Also note that our standard warranty is now 2 years or 24,000 miles!! Another reason why Motorcar should be your alternative!!

Then the 2 month letter.......

These recommendations were on your last repair order and we would like to help you take care of them. Remember, the longer a necessary repair is put off, the more likely it is to cost more when you finally have the work done. It is always best to catch vehicle problems early, while the problems are small. Our philosophy is to prioritize and schedule repairs so they can be affordable while minimizing breakdowns.

I urge you to call today for an appointment to service your vehicle and solve this problem at the lowest possible cost to you. You may also schedule an appointment online at: http://www.motorcaralternatives.com.

For added convenience, we have free loaner cars and alternative drop-off and pick-up options. Ask your Service Advisor about the details. We also have our own credit card with 90 days same as cash financing.

Again, thank you for letting Motorcar Alternatives serve you.

And finally the third and last reminder.....

You're probably thinking,"Gee, I forgot all about that". We know you're busy. That's why we've developed these little reminders.

We also know your vehicle is important to you. Often it's your second biggest investment. Knowing this, we are taking this opportunity to remind you if not taken care of, this needed work could result in a possible loss of dependability or safety and a higher ultimate cost.

Hey, it's really no big deal. Give us a call or email. We can schedule the work or give you an idea of what it may cost. It probably won't be as bad as you may think. We even have free loaners so you don't have to be without transportation.

We value your business and always strive to provide you with the finest quality products and services. Let us know when we do a good job but more importantly, let us know if we ever fail to meet your expectations. That's how we can improve.

Thank you for your trust and patronage.

This approach has been working well for us for many years. After the third reminder, it gets marked as printed.

[brianp87]

How can someone modify the letters to read as they want them to.

[MRISICH]

Step 1: Click On Setup
Step 2: Click Standard Descriptions
Step 3: Click Followup Tab
Step 4: Click the item you want to edit
Step 5: Click the edit button

Edit Letters

M1_Letters_Edit.png (47.77 KiB) Viewed 6642 times

[brianp87]

Thank you

[brianp87]

Ok got the report I want but I cannot figure out how to have the "recommended " work show up on the letter. I had it once and not now?

[MRISICH]

Manager 5.9 or Manager SE?

[timbre4]

In either version: 1) Make sure you're on the Recommend tab and then 2) Check the box to include actual Recommendation text.

[ricmorin]

To make these even more eye-catching, I employ a few tricks. On the first two, I use my own preprinted paper. I have an ASE logo, a page footer image and a water-marked Bugatti Veyron in the background. The colors really make a difference. On the third mailing I use colored paper. Very bright and attention-getting.

Despite my efforts, I've had a few customers admit that they don't open them. I'm now investigating techniques to apply on the outside to prompt people into opening them. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

I would also recommend adding some inserts. I have ready made one page inserts for nearly every recommendation. I add one to coincide with the recommendation being made. I occassionally will throw in a coupon for something additional as a reward for returning to us.

All this can be done in-house with little effort and nothing more than the cost of stock and mailing. Not bad.

[ARS]

Thank you so much!!!!!

[ricmorin]

Another thing I do is throw in a coupon for something to thank my returning customers. Nothing too extravagant but simple. Over time, I found myself adding more of these to the last report (4 month) as an incentive to come in since it will be my last attempt. Then it dawned on me that I was rewarding these customers for putting off their repairs. Oops. Now I only add those to the first two rounds.

[steven kiser]

I still use mailers and try to make them irresistible. I address all of them to the woman. Trying to be politically correct with that last statement. I base this on my experiences at home. I get the mail and I stand in front of the recycle pail and flip away. My wife and one of my daughters (other one is worse than me) scan all the mail and I saw my wife keeping some mailers because they're cute. I use ones that lean towards children going off to school, Young children being pulled by a friendly looking dog while they sit in a wagon delivering news papers. I read a study that said the most sucess comes from pulling on feelings especially memories. I've tried sports for men, etc with little results but the women return is about 30% on recommended work.

On occasion i will keep the reminders that customers return to me, pick one randomly and sent that person a gift certificate for one thing or another. There is a pizza place that i repair all their delivery vehicles, a florist, a bunch of restaurants, window cleaning service, screen repair company, landscaping companies, nurseries, etc. I work deals with them that I'll give a 50 dollar certificate, dinner for four, etc and split the cost. They jump at it because it gives them a chance for new customers and I do it for them. The dinner for four is geared towards friends or neighbors, not children. I want a shot at getting a new customer. I'm game for anything that has a chance of getting customers or jobs. A 30% return is amazing, I would be happy with 10 so the money I fork over really doesn't hurt because i feel I'm dipping into the 20% I wouldn't have.

A while ago I was happy with the way we were doing things at the shop. I stopped pushing for more customers because i was getting ready to turn the shop over and move on. Well that didn't work out real well since I fired the person that was slated to take over. I hired two techs plus a part timer and got back into the build the business part of the shop. It's taken off again.

[ARS]

So we sent out our last round reccomendation letters (3rd time) this month... We started this process in January. We did use some parts of your letters Ric... thanks again!!!! We are seeing a bigger return on our reccomends getting done!! yeah!!

[ricmorin]

It really works. Most of our advertising goes to existing customers. Glad to hear the success.