Community involvement is an integral for a business and it is often overlooked. There are many ways to be present and involved in the community where your lube shop is located. Outreach and participation help your brand become a household name and top of mind.
Finding a way to help your local community members is a great way to connect and be involved. There are many ways to accomplish this goal, so let’s look at it from a couple of perspectives.
First, your business should have a sponsorship budget. Supporting little league teams and booster club events is a great way to get your logo in front of the community. Sponsoring a season to offset the cost of the program to participants, ensures that more local children can participate and learn from the experience. Wearing your logo on the back of their jersey is a perk to the business as they play games around town.
Sponsoring can also be interactive. As a fun add to their season, commit to providing pizza or ice cream after a game or event to celebrate with the team.
To take it one step further, let’s look at an example. Your business is approached by a booster club to sponsor an upcoming 5k race. With your sponsorship, you receive two free entries to the event, your logo on the race t-shirt and promotional materials in the participant goodie bags. The logo and goodie bags are great exposure.
The two free entries are where you have the choice to make a real difference and, as I see it, you have two great options. You can ask your team members if anyone is interested in completing the race as an ambassador of the brand. Or you can contact the booster club and see if there is anyone who wants to participate but cannot afford the entry fee and donate the entries. Either way, it’s a feel-good story for the organization and the event as well as your company.
Do you have team members who have a passion for giving back to the community? Whether that be through coaching a sports team or volunteering for a nonprofit, encouraging those people to be active is invaluable. They are using their time and talent to fulfill their personal life passion all while being an ambassador of your brand. By volunteering, your team members are not only helping make your community a better place, but they are also fulfilled on a personal level knowing that you support their efforts.
Let’s say you have an employee who coaches his daughter’s soccer team and needs to be on the field soon after work hours. Perhaps you make sure that he doesn’t close that day so he can be ready to put his best food forward. Maybe you have someone in your office that is a board member for a local charity. Giving that person time to meet with their board supports them individually and the community as a whole. In the days of Zoom meetings, encourage them to meet with your company’s virtual background as an added means of exposure.
Here’s another scenario: When you get invited to career day at school, accept the invitation! Speaking on behalf of the industry to a room full of young people helps the industry remain a desirable place to work. When kids hear personal stories about how to maintain their vehicle or how this “super cool guy that works on cars came to my class today” got his job and became successful, it reminds them that the quick lube industry welcomes people to work in many capacities with a vast range of talents.
Being involved in the community will bring a level of pride to your organization all while contributing to the success of the area. When you’re out in the community, both personally and with your logo, your shop becomes top of mind. You’ve helped fill a need in the neighborhood and reminded your potential guest who cares about them. When it comes time for their next oil change, the choice of where to do so will be obvious.
