Word of mouth marketing: Let your brand speak for itself

When your mechanic wants to talk about your car…it can’t be good news. I had expected a quick fix for an ailing muffler and pipes.  The initial exam showed a previous owner had tried to correct a problem and now the whole mess was rusting. I was worried, but he was supportive.

Every step of the way, by email and by phone, the mechanic kept me up to date with the progress.  He detailed what he’d found and I responded.  When the car was ready, he picked me up and drove me back to the shop.  There he diagrammed what had happened and even told me about an out of work welder who’d worked magic with the project.

I was really impressed by how hard they’d worked on my car and helped keep the cost down. When I told him I worked in marketing, and asked if there was ever a time I could help him out for free…his answer was simple.  “My business speaks for itself.  That’s my marketing.”

And you know he was right.  There’s never a lack of cars outside the shop.  When I saw an empty lot over the summer I was worried at first.  Then I realized the two-man operation had taken a couple weeks of well-deserved vacation.

The shop is not open on the weekends, but my mechanic told me how he helped a long-term customer late Saturday night.  A worried customer reached him by cell phone. The man’s daughter was headed back to school the next day.  Her car had a nasty oil leak.

It was after 6pm on a Saturday evening.  The vehicle came in, not a hard fix, yet took a bit of time.  For $100, the customer found he wouldn’t have to worry as his daughter made her way on the two-hour trip back to college.

Then there was the time that the mechanic bought a whole new set of expensive tires for an SUV.  He’d installed the tires; later the customer took the vehicle to a chain shop for alignment.  With a few months, the tires were no good. “Wasn’t the customer’s fault.  Wasn’t my fault,” the mechanic said.  “I just knew that I’d have to pay to replace them.”