Steve Trapp, North America services manager at Axalta Coating Systems, addressed industry professionals at the recent SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas. Trapp’s presentation titled, “Selling and Marketing in an Increasingly Competitive Marketplace,” was part of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ (SCRS) Repairer Driven Education series, which featured SCRS-selected courses that focused on issues relevant to today’s collision repair professionals.

Trapp discussed effective marketing strategies for the collision repair industry and shared tips on how to build, execute and track a marketing strategy to attract customers instead of waiting for customers to find the shop. He also provided tips to evaluate and tweak the strategy over time. He emphasized that to win in today’s marketplace, body shops must develop a foundational culture of delivering exceptional customer service in addition to quality and speedy repairs. Trapp also highlighted key sales tactics to help improve closing ratio.

“It is critical that body shop owners use market research to develop and validate their shop’s marketing plan,” said Trapp. “The goal of every workshop is to put body shops in the best position to succeed in today’s marketplace. It is important for shop owners to identify strategies that work and reallocate funds from unsuccessful efforts to a diversified strategy that targets each customer segment.”