With today’s high and frequently rising gas prices, many consumers are managing these higher costs by deferring other non-essential maintenance to their vehicles. The service most at risk is the basic oil change.

When the drain interval is artificially extended, a fast lube operator will not see a customer once or even twice per year over their current frequency level.

This can translate into a risk to the customer’s vehicle and a significant amount of lost business for the operator when calculated over one’s entire customer base.

Savvy fast lube operators know how to drive their customers back into their facilities through promotional and couponing strategies.

1. Retain your current customer base

Use your customer records database to generate a reminder mailing for maintenance. With repeat customers, a couponed reminder, coupled with an incentive on other services, is often all that is needed to bring them back to your facility on a regular basis.

2. Target local direct mail

The second most effective method to reach customers is to send targeted mailings to your businesses’ trading area.

This can be done via marriage mail — where your coupon is combined with a non-competitive partner and both businesses share costs — or through a dedicated mailer or post card.

These simple reminders, coupled with an incentive on related services, should help convince consumers not to ignore needed preventive maintenance.

3. Utilize local businesses and sites

Send your fast lube techs out to places like shopping centers, parking lots and office parking garages to place your facility’s business cards or coupons under windshield wipers and in public advertising spaces.

This is a great chance to mine this area for prospective customers at a low cost per impression and utilize your employees in a productive manner when business is light.

4. Sandwich signs during the slow periods

During times of low traffic counts, send your techs out with a sandwich sign to street corners, advertising things like "Manager’s Specials."

Promoting savings and enabling customers to have their vehicle serviced on an in-and-out basis guaranteed for a limited time only, rewards them for being alert — and you can start and stop the promotions instantly at no additional cost to you.

When your facility becomes busy, you can simply stop advertising the special.

5. A variety of offers

Bundle or combine services to give a larger discounted value. This is particularly effective in the context of a carwash.

Offer a graduated savings as total service cost rises. For example, offer $5 off a conventional lube, oil and filter change and $10 off on synthetic lube oil and filter change.

During spring’s rain showers and thunderstorms, offer the oil change discount in combination with new wiper blades.

Tire rotation is also an excellent season-changing service to offer in combination with an oil change or even a carwash.

Combine services that apply to peak drive seasons. In the summer, offer a discount on a radiator flush and fill with an oil change.

Increased traffic and revenue are the result of a discount offer made in conjunction with another service rather than simply by itself.

Utilize vehicle history files: Every week, on an ongoing basis, send a coupon reminder out to those who have had their vehicles serviced in the previous 90 days.

Again, you will reap rewards from your established relationships with customers.

Employ active couponing: Especially when gas prices are high, change offers and rotate the discounted services periodically to keep the offer fresh and target customers who may be interested in other services.

Consider having a couponed promotion two to three weeks out of the month.

Internet coupons: While Internet coupons are extremely low-cost for the facility operator, early indications are that they offer only low penetration.

To maximize their use, promote online coupons within your store. Over time, Internet coupons should become a more effective tool to draw customers.

When they stop by to look for money saving coupons on your website and include your web address on your invoice and other promotional materials.

Loyalty programs: Frequent purchaser programs that reward customers for their return business are popular especially in multi-vehicle households.

One key to successful loyalty programs is having the reminder close to the automobile via the keychain or other auto accessory that makes them handy when the service is needed.

Cross-marketing: Partner with fast food partners in the immediate trading area.

Look for a partner with broad appeal, a frequent purchase cycle (at least weekly) and common demographics. Combining your coupons with other frequent, broad appeal businesses, such as movie ticket discounts, can yield significant business increases.

Promote these offers as a major event; even hold them two to three times per year. Create momentum from year to year by working with the same partner. Both you and your partner’s customers will begin to anticipate the offer period, building customer loyalty to the business.

Remember, in these tough times of higher gasoline prices, by systematically reminding your customers of the importance of preventive maintenance on their automobile, along with offering them a great value in the process, you’ll capture that discretionary dollar and get customers coming back time and time again.

David Kunkel is the manager retail private label for CITGO Petroleum Corporation.