The Busy Bays Podcast

For years auto repair shop owners have told us that their biggest challenge is recruiting technicians. It hasn’t gotten any easier during the pandemic, and the competition is brutal. In this episode of The Busy Bays Podcast, we are really excited because we have a special guest who has had some success in her recruitment and hiring process! You will not want to miss the countless opportunities to...

In this episode, Martin and Bekah cover how the pandemic has changed consumer shopping behavior. In general, much more of consumer shopping is taking place online. People are looking for specific things and searching specifically for them. Listen today to find out how this is affecting auto repair shops.

Measuring success for your Google My Business and Facebook profiles isn't always straightforward. There is specific information you need to be sure your auto repair shop has. In this episode, Martin and Bekah walk through what it means to measure success within your GMB and Facebook profiles! 

Today we’re chatting about the importance of local community involvement, especially in the time we are all in now. We’ve always recommended being involved in your town, but if your shop is in a place that can give back in any way… it’s more important now than ever to give back.  There are 3 major ways your auto repair shop can get involved in your community and we share them with you! You wo...

What is the Local Pack and why does it matter for auto repair shops?  When it comes to your web presence and search engine results pages (SERPs), it can be easy to confuse the many different elements. You may even be suspicious that Google does it on purpose so that normal people can’t figure them out. Today we are going to focus on one of those elements – the Local Pack – and why it’s so imp...

When it comes to buying goods and services, people tend to trust their own experiences more than anything else. Which brings us to what we’re chatting about today -- How can your shop become one of the best that is trusted and recommended? There are a few key components your shop should include on your website to ensure trust and credibility. Take a listen today!

We’ve been hearing across the board that social media is a hot topic among shop owners, especially now . We wanted to go beyond the base level foundation of needing a Facebook. We shared the importance of what it means to post "80/20", why to avoid sharing links, and what kind of posts are best for your customers news feeds.  Social media is very much alive and active, if you’re looking for s...

Your state may be closed or open. Some of your stay-at-home restrictions may be being lifted or adjusted week by week. Most people aren’t sure what the coming weeks look like. So - today we want to focus on why building out your marketing strategy is something you can and should be doing during these times. Your hosts, Martin and Bekah, jump into why having a market strategy in your shop is so rel...

We understand that many auto repair shops are being affected differently by the Coronavirus. Martin and Bekah share helpful ways to communicate to your customers and employees during a time of uncertainty.

Today we’re talking about what we like to call the Big Kahuna – SEO. As business owners, we're sure you've heard the term SEO and you may have some questions - like what on earth does it even mean? We took the time to start at the beginning of what Search Engine Optimization actually means and how it can help your auto repair shop. You won't want to miss this

We surveyed 160 general automotive independent Repair Shop owners from all over the U.S. to find out how they are marketing their shop. We asked them about their most effective marketing and recruiting techniques and we got the results back! We're looking forward to sharing the results with you. Martin and Bekah walk through the survey responses and talk a bit about what they mean.

The New Year always brings time of reflection, change, and a lot of room for opportunities. Personal goals, business goals, new adventures, eating habit... the list could go on. But we want to talk about your shop, your customers, and your employees. Ask yourself: what is the one thing I want to accomplish this year? How do you get there as a team? We want to help you get your team talking about w...

In the spirit of Christmas, Martin and Bekah wanted to talk about how you can be the holiday hero at your shop and even in your community. The holidays are a great time of year to to bring a little extra joy into your customers' and employees' lives by being their holiday hero.

In this episode of the Busy Bays Podcast, we are focusing on employee retention. As important as recruiting new employees is, keeping the people you love working with because they do good work is just as important. Join our hosts, Martin and Bekah in their conversation about how you as a shop owner can do your best to keep around the employees you love.

We take a deep dive into 8 key factors to hire the technicians you want and need to get the job done. Martin has explored this topic and has had the privilege of being able to present to auto industry related groups on his 8 key findings.

In this episode, we are talking about Pay-Per-Click and Google Ads. We ask in-depth questions related to what it means to utilize Google Ads and what that could mean for your business.

We take a deep dive into Google My Business. Why does an auto repair shop need a Google My Business (GMB) profile? How do you set up or update your GMB profile? How can you optimize your GMB profile to be found online?

 In this episode we take a deeper look at the other side of your service counter – your customers and what they are looking for when it comes to great customer service. 

We surveyed nearly 600 U.S. auto repair shop customers to determine what shops could be doing to make customers happier and increase their business.  We were able to dig into what makes a customer less likely to visit a shop, how willing customers are to leave reviews, and how independent shops are rated against franchises and dealerships.

 Why are your online reviews so important? Because customers write feedback and potential customers make decisions based on those reviews. In this episode, we focus on the importance of having Google Reviews and how to effectively use them.

Have you taken the time to think about the personality of your shop and how it affects your ability to attract and keep customers? How do you represent your shop on your website, through reviews and in the community? Does it represent reality?

What if you could know more information about your customers? Like who they really are, what matters to them and how they make decisions? This information is valuable and a huge advantage for your shop. In this episode, we share how today's consumers are researching and choosing a repair shop to service their vehicle. We also provide marketing tips to help you leverage that knowledge to improve yo...

Have you ever thought “I bet I could get more customers if I had more money to spend on marketing or advertising”? While that might be true, it’s also false. You don’t need to break the bank to fill your bays. This episode features marketing tips and advice that will help take your auto repair shop to the next level and get you on your way to becoming known as the best shop in town.

This episode introduces The Busy Bays Podcast. We talk about what this podcast is all about, why auto repair shop owners should listen, who we are, and we also share some marketing tactics that you can start applying right away to help you fill your bays.