I’m an 80’s kid, so I grew up riding bikes, playing outside, and actually having one-on-one interactions with the other kids in my neighborhood.
Today, when kids want to know where their friends are, they open their iPhones and search on Find My Friends, or they message their text group to find out.
When I was a kid, we looked for the house that had a bunch of bikes piled up in the yard.
Your Shop’s Parking Lot Matters
You need to be using this same principle when marketing your shops.
I’ve seen many shops that keep all of their client’s cars parked behind their shop. They like to keep the front parking lot empty so clients have spots to park and so you can more clearly see the front of the shop from the street.
I personally believe this is a mistake.
Most people will perceive a shop with empty parking spaces as a shop that’s not busy, and a shop that’s not busy as a shop that people don’t want to go to.
Think about it. Would you go to a restaurant whose parking lot was empty at 6pm? I wouldn’t.
Be Strategic About Parking Cars
Let’s take this a step further. Not only do I believe you should keep your front parking full, I believe you should purposefully park the cars there that you want to see more of.
Do you profit the most doing performance work? Then park the modified cars out front for everyone to see. Are you a Euro shop and want to attract more BMW work? Make sure you park some BMWs front and center. Want more diesel truck work? Want to do more fleet work? You get the point.
One of the worst things you can do is have a bunch of broken, full-time resident cars in your parking lot. If your shop looks like “the place where they come to die”, you’re killing all of your other marketing efforts.
Conclusion
The front of your business as people see it when driving by is so important, and it’s not just about your building and your signage.
Get strategic about how you park cars at your shop and watch it change your business.
