Why I Am Insanely Loyal to My Tire Service Shop

(Hint: It's not about the tires.)

If you use a car regularly, sooner or later you’ll need new tires or a tire repair.

When that day comes, most of us expect that whomever we turn to can solve the problem quickly, and hope that it won’t cost too much. And most of the time, that’s how things work out.

Selling and servicing tires is a competitive, commodity business. I can find 10 shops within 3 miles of where I live, and many of them are even open on Saturday, which would have been helpful when I blew out a tire on a recent Friday evening.

Even though it was inconvenient, I held off until Monday so I could take the car to my tire shop. They’ve earned our family's business for the usual reasons: speedy service, fair pricing, nearby location – problem solved.

Basics are only a Baseline

My tire shop does all of these basic things right. Likely many of their competitors do so as well.

I could go on, however, about what this shop does differently – to start, it’s impeccably clean and bright, neither of which are givens when it comes to car repair businesses. Their repair timelines are reliable.

(Keep the faith – here’s where my content marketing light bulb came on :))

What is more important to me than anything else?

The owner makes me feel known. His business is a safe place, a no-judgment zone.

The No-judgement Zone

You see, I was a little embarrassed about blowing out my tire. The incident was all on me. But no one made me feel inept or careless.

?So what? Why am I telling you this, and what does it have to do with B2B content marketing?

As marketers, we have aspirations for our content. We want our audience to learn from it, to remember us, and to choose us when they are ready to buy.

And when we offer that content in a way that makes them feel known … our foot is on the threshold of a relationship. Our most useful role can be to serve as an enlightened peer in the problem-solving process.

So yes, my tire guy is an expert. I can find plenty of those. But I return to him because his shop’s total experience eliminates friction from my lack of expertise about tires, wheel alignment, and worrying wheel-related noises in general.

He makes me feel known, which means he’ll always be able to count on my business.

Who's earned your loyalty (insane or otherwise) because they made you feel known? Tell us about your experience in the comments!

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Do you need help with relatable, magnetic content to create a no-judgement zone for your audience? Let’s talk … you can message me here on LinkedIn, by email at [email protected], or by phone at (719) 428-5996.