How Elsy Tire Pros scrapped old school communication tools.

Before implementing Podium, Gomez and his team didn’t have much of a review strategy. They knew they needed reviews, so they would ask customers for feedback. Many happy customers would promise to review the business, but they wouldn’t follow through on that promise. Podium changed all that. Giving the customer an easy way to give honest feedback was all they needed. Not only does Podium make it easy for the customer, but also the business.

“The best part is that it’s so easy,” said Gomez. “You just click a button and put in the name and phone number. When you make it easy to leave a review, customers are more than willing to follow through.”

This steady flow of customer feedback has helped Elsy Discount Tire Pros pinpoint areas where they can improve, but also encourages the team to give their best effort every day. Knowing that customers will be leaving their team feedback online has been a huge motivator in stepping up their work.

“You also want to have constructive feedback because there’s always room for improvement,” related Gomez. “People are truthful when they leave the reviews. It’s not exaggerated. Since we know we’re gonna send them an invite, we pick up our game even more. If we impressed people before, we’re doing so now more than ever. It’s one thing to do something, and it’s another thing to be recognized for what you do. It’s a reflection of how you do business.”

Giving exceptional service to new and existing customers is already a winning strategy for a business, but when you combine that with public-facing online reviews, you are well positioned to grow.

“Some people are blessed with a great location,” explained Gomez. “I’m not one of them. I’m in a city, but my place is definitely not convenient for 90 percent of my customers. So, for us, reviews are very important. We have a big shop. We have a lot of employees. So, we need to keep people busy. So, it’s very, very helpful to have new customers every day. I can’t even remember the last day since I got Podium that I didn’t get at least one new customer because of our reviews.”

Elsy Discount Tire Pros has also been an early adopter of texting their customers. They have started to use texting for everything from simple customer questions (hours, address, etc.) and repair follow up, to actually getting more business from customers looking to get their car serviced.

Gomez knows that communicating with customers via text message is a big advantage for his team. Not only is it more convenient for the customer, but it is efficient for his team. He’s observed that most people who come into his shop are on their phones non-stop, so it made sense to start communicating with them there.

“When you do use current technology, the customer knows that you’re up-to-date,” concluded Gomez. “If you’re up-to-date with communication, you’re up-to-date when it comes to fixing their cars. When they see that we are tech-savvy, they like that, because they know that we’re on the ball and can do things in a modern way.”