100% independent mechanics: how to create your own personality?
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As an independent mechanic, you have complete freedom to manage your workshop. But on the other hand, you can only rely on yourself to promote your garage.
There are more than 80 car repair shops in France and the competition is fierce! How to stand out from the crowd and stand out?
The answer is very simple: you have to give your workshop your own brand. We will guide you from A to Z to create a unique style for your garage 👇
● Why does your garage need its own identity / brand?
● What is a brand platform?
● 3 steps to create a platform for your garage brand.
● 4 mistakes to avoid when building your brand platform.
Why does your garage need its own identity / brand?
Keep in mind that for a 100% independent mechanic, your garage brand is critical. You cannot count on the prominence of brands like Norauto, Feu Vert, AD or Euro Repar Car Service to bring customers back to you!
Your brand needs to be strong enough for your potential customers to remember and think about you, so you can fix their car if something goes wrong.
What is a brand platform?
One brand platform, these are all the elements that will make up the personality of your garage: your name, your logo, your colors, your values, your promise to motorists.
In short, your brand platform is the DNA of your garage! It is he who directs your communication activities throughout the life of your garage.
When to create a platform for your brand?
The best time to build your brand platform is, of course, when you set up your workshop.
But know that you can create or manage your brand platform at any time! Reopening your business is a strategic moment to start over from scratch or partly in the spirit of your workshop.
How to build a platform for your brand?
Build your brand platform with professionals
To build a brand platform, you can do professional challenge... For example, a small local communications agency or one professional called a freelancer.
This is a good solution, especially if you are short on time or prefer to delegate such a topic! But in order for everything to go well, remember to follow these 2 golden rules:
- Find out about pricing before you start: Ask a mechanic friend how much it cost him, and compare the scores of at least three different professionals.
- Be clear about what you want from the start A: In order for everything to go well, you need to think carefully about what you want before a professional considers it. This will limit travel and unnecessary expenses!
You can find digital communications agencies on the Internet by typing “digital communications agency + your city name”.
As for independent professionals, you can find them on the Malt website. Please note that Malt is a French platform, the quality is there, but the prices are often high.
To find freelancers a little cheaper, go to the UpWork platform. This site brings together thousands of creators. A small feature, it is often necessary to speak English, and the quality of the work provided varies from designer to designer.
To make your choice, you need to know your needs. UpWork or Malt are great if you know exactly what you want but don't have the tools you need.
If you need additional support, the best solution is an agency.
Build your own brand platform
Of course, you can also create your own garage branding platform. Be careful, this is more difficult and time-consuming, but it is still available to everyone! If you're ready to start creating, follow the instructions!
What is the brand platform made of?
Depending on the size of your business and industry, your brand platform will be more or less complex. But rest assured that in the case of a garage, you can limit yourself to a minimum. We've listed the items for you that your garage absolutely needs!
The morale of your garage
Don't let these loud words scare you. Moral identity simply means your values, your vision and the message you want to convey! More details below 👇
● Your vision : First, try to summarize the purpose of your garage in one phrase. To determine this, ask yourself, what are your goals, what are your ambitions?
For example, at Vroomly, our mission is to “restore trust between motorists and mechanics”!
● Your values : these are the principles that guide you in your work and bring your vision to life! For example, at Vroomly, to rebuild trust, we believe we need to be in expertise, proximity and transparency.
For your garage, this could be quality, reliability and speed. But there is no predetermined answer, you really have to define it based on who you are, what your vision is and what image you want to convey.
● Message : To be remembered, your garage must send a compelling message to your customers and people who don't know you! For example, at Vroomly we promise motorists find a trusted mechanic in 3 clicks.
For a garage, the message is often focused on price, quality, or even services that set it apart from other workshops, such as specializing in automatic transmissions.
The editorial style of your garage
● The name of your garage : this is by far one of the most difficult and most important decisions. Make the right choice the first time because your name will follow you for years and it would be bad for you to change it.
To stand out, some names should be avoided, we will tell about them right after 👇
● Style and tone: the main thing is to always remain consistent! You must follow the same editorial line throughout your entire career (unless you change your brand platform).
Use the same style and tone in all your messages and don't change them overnight. This is what makes you recognizable and memorable for motorists.
Moreover, if you decide to open another garage, it will be enough to take over your brand platform for buyers to recognize your know-how and your state of mind!
A graphic charter for your garage
● Colours: You need to choose a primary color and secondary colors for your garage! Not all colors have the same meaning and send the same message to your customers.
We will talk about this in the rest of the article, How to choose colors 👇
● Le logo: we finally get to the famous logo! Be careful to take good care of it, this is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about your garage. And on the Internet, it will appear everywhere: on your Facebook page, in your Google My Business account, and even on your Vroomly page.
Your logo should use your chosen colors and convey your message. It embodies your garage in all your communications.
As you can see, we don't choose a name or logo on a whim!
3 steps to building a garage branding platform
Are you ready to build your brand platform without professional help? Let's go to ! Here are VroomTeam's tips for building an effective, user-friendly platform for brands.
Define your vision, your values and the message you need to convey
First of all, don't worry about it! This is easier than it sounds. Consider getting help from your colleagues and employees. Indeed, if everyone in your workshop has the same vision, your brand platform will become even more relevant.
To get started, think about these three questions together:
- Who are you ? How do you like to work? (these are your values)
- Why are you doing this? What are your ambitions, your goal? (this is your vision)
- What do you promise to the client who comes to you? (this is your message)
Choose a name that sets you apart from other garages
You definitely know a garage called "Garage du Center" or "Garage de la Gare". This could be the case with your garage! No wonder. Please note that in France the following names are most often called for a garage:
● Central garage
● Station garage
● Garage du Lac
● Или Stadium Garage
Go directly to sites like Canva.com or Logogenie.fr that offer thousands of templates that you can customize as you wish, or reach out to the professional you found on UpWork!
The name is too arbitrary, it will be difficult for a motorist to find you on the Internet. Your garage will rank better online if it has an original name.
As you already understood, it is important to choose an original name that will allow you to stand out, reflecting the personality of your garage!
Once the name is chosen, pay attention to the sequence of your communication. Express yourself in the same tone and style in all media: flyers, Facebook, websites, reactions to negative reviews.
Design your logo and choose the colors of your garage
We are almost there. The last step: graphic charter! Don't neglect this, your visual identity is critical to persuading a customer to come to you. If he is neat, you will build confidence. If it is original or dramatic, it will be easier for motorists to remember you.
Start by choosing colors. Keep in mind that not all colors reflect the same state of mind and that every population and society perceives them differently.
In Western culture, here are the attributes associated with the most famous colors:
rouge : Love, passion, strength, violence.
Yellow : Joy, positive
Orange : Warmth, enthusiasm
Vert : Health, renewal, luck
Blue : Patience, freedom and unity
So choose a base color that reflects your values and your message! Now that you've chosen a color, you can finally get into the logo!
But beware, if you don't own any type of Photoshop font design software, don't try to figure out how it works, it's a waste of time!
Go directly to sites like Canva.com or Logogenie.fr that offer thousands of templates that you can customize as you wish, or reach out to the professional you found on UpWork!
4 pitfalls to avoid when building your brand platform
Stay consistent
- Maintain the same tone and style across all communications.
- Don't change your brand platform every 3 months: your logo, your colors, your message must match the time!
- Don't contradict yourself from one media outlet to the next, from one day to the next: if you promise “unbeatable prices,” you cannot raise them after 3 months.
Do not copy - stupidly - competition
Get inspired - don't copy. Just because something is doing well in one of your competing garages doesn't mean you should be doing the same!
Don't copy what it does, but analyze why it works and adapt it to your garage.
Online Identity = Physical Personality
Many garages make the mistake of not having the exact same identity (name, colors, logo) in their garage and on the internet. However, you should be recognizable by walking in front of the workshop, going to your Facebook page, or by doing a Google search!
Do not copy the logo of a famous brand!
Buyers strongly discourage him. They will understand this pretty quickly and will be able to believe in the fraud. Plus, if the logos look too similar, you run the risk of running into brand problems.
We recommend that you play with words / nod the sign in a fun way instead.
