In general I've seen more shops simply put on a barbecue along with a tour of the shop. Others have made their shop available for a small local trade show with suppliers and other vendors setting up their demonstrations and presentations on long tables. One disadvantage of this is having other shop owners coming through. The barbecue event can be focused purely on insurance company representatives and/or other referral sources.
An even more economical approach to an event is to participate in someone else's event. One local school put on a safe driving event. The Auto Club and a local radio station sponsored it. A couple of collision shop owners and also driving school owners were invited to set up tables with safe driving information. In a sense this was more of an event looking to the future when the high school kids would become new drivers, but parents were also there and had an opportunity to learn more about the participating collision repair shops.
A more direct event for the general public was put on by a shop that became a voting location on an election day. The owner played patriotic music and had patriotic banners all over the place. He even hired a model dressed up in an Uncle Sam costume to conduct tours of the shop for anyone interested. Since many voters are long-term local homeowners with more expensive high-end cars, the shop owner felt he would reach the kind of customer he wanted.
While a shop event aimed at insurance or commercial account attendees has to direct their promotional mail, phone calls and faxes to a very specific list of prospects, the shop focusing on the general public could use radio, TV and print publication ads to get the word out. Shops located in a desirable residential area could also distribute flyers directly to homes in the area.
Collision shops have one major advantage over many other businesses when it comes to putting on events. Most shops occupy a fairly large space overall. Like the dealership I described, most have many parking spaces and open repair bays where demonstrations and presentations can be carried out easily. Few people are aware of the size and complexity of a typical body shop. The event can be an ideal opportunity to educate prospective customers on the advantage of choosing a shop with state-of-the-art spray booths, frame measuring and straightening equipment, top quality welding equipment and the many special tools needed to perform repairs on today's ever-changing vehicles.
Putting on an occasional event is a good promotional effort for a shop because it not only provides a reason to invite key potential referral sources to see the shop, but it also motivates shop owners and managers to clean up the place and make it presentable for the event. That alone is worth at least a small investment.
