Neal Maier is Co-founder of Tread Partners, an agency that specializes in marketing for the tire and auto repair industry. With a history of running shops and an entrepreneurial spirit, Neal has developed a nuanced understanding of the challenges businesses face in customer acquisition and retention. His expertise is in creating tailored marketing strategies, particularly leveraging a unique framework named DRIVE, helping businesses engage with customers at every lifecycle stage. Neal offers a blend of practical experience and innovative solutions to foster growth and longevity in the automotive market. His insights have been transformative for many multi-location operations seeking to navigate the complex landscape of digital marketing.

In this episode…

Imagine being able to pinpoint exactly why customers keep coming back to your business – or why they don't. What if there was a way to align every marketing dollar with a clear goal across your company's entire lifecycle?

According to Neal Maier of Tread Partners, the innovative DRIVE framework can revolutionize how tire and auto repair businesses approach customer engagement and marketing. DRIVE entails visually mapping all the different marketing tactics and activities a business engages in, and understanding where they fit in the customer lifecycle. It involves laying out all the marketing pieces on a board and identifying where there might be blind spots. The framework allows businesses to evaluate their marketing efforts every 90 days and make informed decisions about where to allocate their marketing budget. The DRIVE process is meant to be a quick 15-minute exercise, but it provides a comprehensive view of a business's marketing efforts and helps identify areas for improvement or new tactics to try.

On this episode of Gain Traction, Neal joins host Mike Edge to talk about a fine-tuned approach to marketing within the tire and auto repair industry. He shares how the DRIVE framework streamlines marketing efforts and ensures that no customer is left behind. Neal also discusses the importance of human connection in an increasingly automated world and provides a glimpse into the future of industry-specific marketing at the Traction Summit.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [1:51] Why focusing solely on new or existing customers may be imbalanced and ineffective
• [6:11] How automated systems may fall short in maintaining customer attention
• [11:58] Why constant evaluation of marketing efforts is necessary
• [15:18] The complexities of measuring marketing ROI 
• [19:59] The value of scrutinizing marketing expenses
• [23:13] How to attend the Traction Summit of 2024

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Neal Maier on LinkedIn
• Traction Summit
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn
• Tread Partners

Special Mentions:

• Randy O'Connor
• Bobby Gillespie: 40 Under 40
• Kayla Heiar interview
• Kyle Moore interview

Related Episodes:

• Discussing Generational Tire Shops with Randy O'Connor, Bobby Gillespie, Kayla Heiar, and Kyle Moore

Quotable Moments:

• "I miss the interactions, but I do not miss hearing my own voice." 
• "The customer lifecycle is certainly no different; there are so many complexities about this business." 
• "It's cheaper to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one, depending on your business model." 
• "Why leave customer retention to chance when it can be so much more than just sending reminders?"
• "There's no one right way to market either; it comes down to that customer lifecycle every time." 

Action Steps:

1. Implement the "DRIVE" framework to align marketing efforts with your customer's lifecycle stages: This addresses the challenge of uncoordinated marketing and ensures every tactic supports progression from potential to loyal customers.
2. Regularly evaluate marketing strategies every 90 days to adapt and improve efforts: Consistent evaluation helps in identifying what works and what doesn't, maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing spend.
3. Focus on both acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones for balanced business growth: Balancing acquisition and retention avoids the pitfall of an unidirectional strategy which can lead to missed opportunities or unsustainable growth.
4. Use a variety of metrics to measure the marketing ROI, especially for tricky channels like billboards: This overcomes the difficulty of quantifying returns on certain marketing investments, ensuring all efforts are justifiable and results-oriented.
5. Embrace periodic changes and be willing to cut underperforming marketing tactics: Flexibility and responsiveness to data prevent financial waste on ineffective strategies and encourage innovation and continuous improvement.

Sponsor for this episode...

This episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. 

At Tread Partners, we provide digital marketing for multi-location tire dealers and auto repair shops. 

By using our strategy, branding, and marketing services, we help shops sell more tires and put more cars in bays.

We’ve helped companies like Action Gator Tire, Colony Tire and Service, and Ulmer’s Auto Care Center bring extreme growth in paid leads, ROI, and searches. 

So, what are you waiting for?

Visit www.treadpartners.com or email [email protected] to learn more.