[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn”]Let us tell you a little about Panda Tire & Auto. Yes, we fix cars, we are a family business, we love our community and our customers.
Every year, part of running a small business is to budget just like you do for your household. So much money goes to utilities, rent, internet, transportation, and so on. If you budget well and earn the income you plan to for the year, you may be lucky enough to have a little money left at the end of the month (instead of month left at the end of the money – like me)
So, back to the small business budget, we budget in December for the coming year. What expenses can you think of that an auto repair shop might have? The parts we use to repair cars, wages of the workers, equipment, training, the bookkeeper, utilities, phone, and of course advertising and promotions. An important part of any business to be sure is, of course advertising, you need to advertise so that people know who you are and what you do, right?
Print advertising, Radio spots, Website, Social Media, Phone Directory, Local Promotion, on and on. The choices are many and the cost can be high, plus its difficult to determine the effectiveness of most advertising.
Right now, you are probably wondering how I got anyone in the “advertising industry” let me print this eh?
OK, so we’re doing our budget this past December for the coming year, 2018 and we come to advertising. What should we advertise? Tires? Service? Specials? How much can we afford to spend on each type of advertising, should we do more online and less radio or print? and so on.
Hmmm, we already have our exclusive Panda Maintenance and Saving Plan Card which has all the most common service discounts or savings in it – even some free services. Our customers can use the card to save money anytime, so we don’t need to advertise as much, the best discount is guaranteed all the time. In 2017 we also introduced a new Car Care Club Card (with tremendous success) 120 bucks for 3 Prepaid oil and filter changes, maintenance inspection, discounts and free services worth over $500.
We started thinking of all the specials we could advertise, types of promotions we could try and decided that, of course, the best advertising is word of mouth. When we do our job well, treat customers with courtesy and respect, never put money ahead of people, then customers will speak well of our business and refer family and friends. That is what we want – more great customers just like you.
What could we, Panda Tire & Auto do to get people talking and give back to the many wonderful customers who support us and the community which we are so proud of? What good causes are there that we could get involved with to support? How could we make a difference?
When we started listing the possibilities it didn’t take long for a second page to start filling up, humane society, every medical condition imaginable, charities of all kinds, a person or family who are facing especially hard times or health challenges, transition house, and so many more worthy causes.
When we asked our customers to help by asking them to whom or which cause they would give, say $200 to, if they had that much to spare just to help a particular cause, person or organization. Our customers answers were even more diverse than what Rosemarie and I had written on 2 pages. That really didn’t help to narrow it down at all.
Then someone suggested “What if you gave a credit for vehicle repairs or tires instead of a cheque?” Hmmm.
“Tell us more about this idea” we said
“Well, what if, for instance, a person needed to travel for medical treatments needed some car repairs they couldn’t afford done to be able to get to and from appointments safely and reliably? What about an organization that relies on transportation to do their charitable work? OH, and what about using a gift certificate for car repair or tires that they could put in a penny parade of auctioned off to raise funds? It may even raise more than the $200 because it would support a good cause?”
How often would we be able to do this and how much can we afford? A few times a year seemed too little given the number of opportunities to help, once a month would be good. So once a month, now what would we be able to afford, how much of that advertising budget money could we redirect to help? How would we decide the nominee that received the gift or donation?
Deciding could be easy enough. Anyone who is a customer of Panda Tire & Auto would be able to write a short paragraph explaining what or who they would like to nominate and why. The nominees could be selected either by other customers, staff or randomly drawn from ballot box.
We thought about the amount, up and down. Worked it out in our budget that we would be able to redirect $3,000 this year from the advertising budget and contribute an additional $3,000 this year by setting aside 50% of the sales from our “Car Care Club Cards” and “Panda Savings Cards”.
So, $6,000 this year that’s a total of $500.00 PER MONTH.
[porto_blockquote skin=”primary” color=”#ccc” animation_type=”flash”]Wow, $500.00 a month toward one of our customers favorite charities, events, organizations, church, cause or person in need! Now that’s a worthwhile “budget” item![/porto_blockquote]
And so, in January of 2018, the Panda Tire & Auto – Monthly Car “CARE” Helping Make Life Better – Gift Certificate Draw for $500 was born.
If you own a vehicle, it will regular maintenance sometime in the coming year, maybe tires or some repairs. Why not give us a call, become part of something bigger than just fixing cars.
What would your cause be? Who knows it could be your nominee’s lucky turn.
Nomination Forms available in store at the front reception counter.
-or- You may also email yours and your Nominees information to [email protected] along with the reason you feel the person or cause deserving.
All Nomination forms will be reviewed by staff and management of Panda Tire with your approval.
Draws will take place on the first Monday of the month for the previous months entries.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][contact-form-7 id=”74″][/vc_column][/vc_row]