These are not the days in which to do things the same old way!

Auto parts and accessories retail stores have always been destination stores. “Destination stores” are those stores which people visit when they need to buy something -- they’re not the fun stores where people go to shop and just look around to see what’s there.

The automotive parts and accessories retail industry has become very good at designing and stocking nice retail stores. We’ve come a long way from the old jobbing store at 111 Industrial Road where the counter was two feet from the front door.

So -- we design beautiful stores in retail locations, stock them well, and wait for visitors.

And -- we advertise. We advertise product and price. We gain customers’ attention with well-placed advertising to catch their eye when they need something for their car or truck. While price advertising will pull a customer for a sale, it does not build loyalty.

Good-looking stores and price-oriented advertising ain’t enough anymore.

With a steadily decreasing (and aging) base of DIYers, and with competition for drivers’ discretionary time from the almighty computers, DVDs, and TV screen, we’ve lost share of mind. That is an understatement.

It’s time for a new deal!

It’s time to do something to change that. It will take new, extra work.

It will be worth it.

A store can sponsor one-time consumer events -- car care seminars, brake clinics, free car check lanes (include child seat installation checks -- today’s big draw -- if you do this.) The local police or AAA will cooperate happily, or help find the local people certified to do car seat inspections and installation. The Car Care Council (www.carcarecouncil.org) has some helpful tips for planning check events.

Here’s another, larger, more ambitious idea. It might result in developing a new young customer base (something we’ve done an abysmal job of lately), and it may reengage some older folks as well.

It could build a long-term store/customer relationship with the customers and prospects who might like to “play with” cars. It will build DIY skills.

An out-of-the-store rewarding new deal!

You can play the old project-vehicle game. The vehicle belongs to the store -- until it’s finished. The parts are donated by the store or participating vendors. The instructions come from store personnel if they have the knowledge and skills and a teaching knack. Or from vendors whose field men and women just might enjoy the opportunity to share some knowledge and deviate from their customary sales and fulfillment chores. Or from a community partner such as an automotive vocational technical instructor. Or maybe you’re lucky enough to know an old pro who would like to shepherd a hobby project for a year. Or a combination of these.

The drill goes this way:

1		Decide the project’s extent, and identify the vendors, the experts to teach, and plot a timetable. This can be a three-month project, or extend as long as a year. Do a detailed schedule. Be realistic about your community and its potential. Plan a team project, not a series of stand-alone clinics.
2		Find a project car, or two, or three, depending upon your ambitions. Someone’s beater car, something from a junk yard, or a bargain from a used vehicle lot (trade out for merchandise?). Choose a vehicle appropriate for the scope of your project, i.e., a little work, or a medium amount of work. Complete resurrection of a vehicle may be too ambitious for your learners. I recommend multiple vehicles and thus multiple teams….lots of participants. Maybe whole families will form a project team.
3		Identify a place in which to work on it, or them. Remember to plan for electrical access if needed. In your parking lot under a carport? The empty lot next door? a nearby garage? The high school shop?
4		Promote the program. Involve the media in addition to using signage in the store, word-of mouth, and a mention in your product and price ads.

Could the car go to a needy family when it’s shipshape? Could it be donated to a community organization? Could it be auctioned off for a charitable purpose?

These could be media hooks to get coverage. Imagine Jenny TV standing outside your store with a junk car saying, “This xxx Buick can go nowhere now. But when XXX Auto Parts Store’s Go-for-it Team is finished with it, it will become the family car for one of our Habitat for Humanity families, courtesy of xxx Auto Parts.”

Local media will provide free editorial coverage. It’s a feel-good story. One local media (Jenny’s station) might even become the program sponsor, giving continual updates about progress in exchange for name rights. Tip: the person to contact with this idea at media is the community relations director.

5		Ensure that this is a hands-on get-dirty project, (learning, not lecture). Make certain that team members have a chance to do rather than watch. You’re fostering the growth of do-it-yourselfer skills.
6		Don’t forget the fun/reward element for team members. When people sign up to be part of the project-vehicle team, give them a t-shirt and/or cap. Let the participants choose a team name.

Have an introductory party at the store, with door prizes.

Provide something social but small in cost (sodas, or occasional pizza) at each project session.

Give team members a discount whenever they shop in your store.

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Scout the team for prospective employees as well as good returning customers. Am I kidding? Absolutely not. I’ve written and talked and been quoted about the need to develop new young customers, and to develop lasting customer relationships.

A project-vehicle program might do this for your store.

Even a free car-check program on a Saturday might help to build a relationship with potential customers.

Don’t stay in your nice clean, well-stocked store waiting for visitors. Give them a reason to come, and to come back!