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TVI MarketPro3 and Heather Gregg


How I Got My Fixed Ops Marketing Start

I started my marketing career basically straight out of college. That’s what my degree was in. I spent two years just kind of doing some graphic design for a small company in Texas. And then when I moved to the Memphis area, I got into fixed OPS marketing in 2000. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last 23 years, is fixed OPS automotive marketing.

My Mission for My Clients

My mission in working at TVI Market Pro 3 is to build long-term partnerships with my dealers. It’s not just a relationship. I do see it as a partnership because if they don’t succeed, I’m not succeeding. And I want to help them reach those goals. I want to be a partner who listens to them and to what their needs are and look for ways to meet those needs.

My Greatest Challenge in Serving My Clients

I think right now, the most challenging part of what I do is helping dealerships navigate the demands from the manufacturer because those are always changing, and you have to be creative in making sure that the dealer is compliant with the manufacturer while also making sure that they have a marketing strategy that is effectively working for them.

Sometimes the manufacturer goals are or not necessarily what the dealership’s goals are, so trying to make sure that those meet with the dealership’s needs are and finding a way for them to create a cohesive marketing strategy going forward that not only makes the manufacturer happy but then also helps the dealership meet their goals.

Most Rewarding Part of My Job

The most rewarding part of my job is just the relationships that I have with my dealers, dealers that I’ve done business with for 20-plus years, their families, their friends. You know they’ve watched my kids grow up. I know what their kids are doing when they have gotten married, and one of my dealers became a US citizen while I was working with them, and just the fun life events. It’s more than just a job; it is truly the relationships that I’ve built with my clients.

Common Challenge Across All My Dealer Clients

The most common challenge I’m seeing right now, it’s kind of two-pronged, one that’s always been there, which is the perception that the dealer is more expensive. That is a constant challenge that a dealership has had from the beginning of time. You’re too expensive. It’s not convenient. That has only gotten worse since post-COVID.

Also, the balance of work is what I’m seeing more recently. Dealers have plenty of oil change work, but they have a lot. They don’t have enough maintenance work, so their shop is busy but not busy, and what they want it to be busy with, you know, the higher dollar ROs and how

How I Personally Support My Clients in Solving These Problems

What I have done to personally support dealers with some of these challenges is, in the perception that they are more expensive, I do a dare to compare marketing strategy which is calling around the independent shops and finding out what their oil change prices for the same vehicle. If it’s the Chrysler dealership, look at a certain model and certain model year and make sure that I’m looking at apples to apples.

And what I will do, is put that out in the marketing campaign for that dealer. Here’s our oil change price, here’s our competitor’s oil change price. It is always less expensive at the dealership, and not only is it less expensive, but it’s a higher quality service because of all the amenities, and the quality technicians, and the manufacturer backing. So I think that’s a strong message to send to combat the perception that customers have that it’s more expensive.

As far as the balance of work, maintenance work versus oil changes, I will tailor their marketing strategies to send out, for instance, a happy hour special on slower days. I’m really slow on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Well, let’s specifically send out a marketing message that’s not $5 worth of oil change, but more a spend-and-save or a mix-and-match with transmission services and an engine diagnostic. But give a discount during those times to not only push those slower times on the service drive but also to push the maintenance work that they’re looking for.

TVI MarketPro3 Tools That Help Solve These Problems

 TVI has so many tools to help achieve those goals for the dealership. Not only do we have monthly marketing campaigns that go via mail and e-mail, but we also have digital marketing that a dealership can use that will specifically put out Google ads and Facebook ads that keep the consistency in their message.

We have e-mail blasts that can go out at the slower times of the month when a dealership really needs to push certain days of work or times of the day that are really slow or maybe they have a big sale incentive coming up and they want to put that message out. So, it’s a very timely, immediate tool that the dealership can use to increase some slower marketing time.

So, for instance, right now, we’re in the holiday season, and one of our biggest sellers is holiday cards that you can give to for different reasons. Some people do a sales and service special on there to split the cost. Some people will do a thank you to their current customers and look at people who have had service in the last 12 months, while others will use it as a conquest tool and go after inactive or lost customers to push this slower time of year.

NADA Show 2024?

I’m attending the 2024 NADA convention in January, and what I’m most looking forward to is, hopefully, meeting some of my clients who are going to make the trek to Las Vegas with me. And then, also seeing some upcoming trends in the fixed OPS industry so that I can further my knowledge and take that back to my dealerships.

TVI MarketPro3 and Heather Gregg

Dealerships should turn to TVI for their fixed OPS marketing needs because their success is our success. Me personally, I treat every client with that attitude. If you’re not succeeding, I’m not succeeding No two dealerships are exactly the same, so you can’t treat the marketing strategy the same. I will use every tool that TVI has to ensure that the dealerships who trust me with their business achieve the goals they’ve set.

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