Over the past few years Yelp has experienced exponential growth and is one of the fastest-growing customer research and review tools on the market. It is becoming particularly relevant in the collision repair market in recent months due to the expansion of their mobile application. Here are some tips for shaping your Yelp strategy and leveraging the tool to gain new business.

Shape your Yelp participation model around your already successful repair and service delivery model of…

The next episode of Collision Hub’s LIVE educational video series, Repair University, will feature Liz Blackman Collision Hub’s resident Social Media Expert. Liz will sit down for a conversation with Kristen Felder about the status of social media leveraging in the Collision Repair Industry and what to expect in the coming year. The episode will air on Thursday December 29, 2011 at 1:00 PM Central Standard Time on CollisionHub.com.

Liz will also be announcing the…

The marketing landscape of our industry is changing rapidly. Five years ago companies reported that 90 percent of their marketing budget was in advertising and retail promotion. The goal was to drive the customer to a purchase decision.  We based these marketing decisions on the classic “Funnel Model” of consumer purchase behavior, where you start with many brands and methodically narrow the selection until the final purchase is executed. However, in 2009 a new model was introduced after…

I read a book the other day, per Oprah’s suggestion, about the transformative power of relationships and in particular, the influence of mentoring.

Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore, explores his own engineering and upbringing as it parallels and diverges from the life…