| By :
Steve Tarini
The oil change business is becoming a cut throat business with shrinking profit margins and less customer loyalty. There is a simple answer to this and if you're ready to investigate a proven method to make more money in the oil change business then please read on. Before I get into the details of making money in this business I will mention this up front; if you have doubts about extended drain intervals or you're just a firm believer in changing oil every 3,000 miles and you always stick to manufacturer recommendations then this opportunity is not for you. We can discuss the validity of 25,000-mile oil changes later, but for now we will focus on the benefits of extended drain intervals and making money from them. This article will not debate warranty issues because that is usually the first question that comes up. If you need or want further information on these topics please feel free to visit my website listed at the end of this article for those topics. Back when I operated my own oil change business I wasn't having much luck with petroleum based products. Then one day I figured it out and realized all I was offering was the exact same product as everyone else. There is nothing unique about petroleum based motor oils. They are all basically the same product offering the same useless benefit of having to change it every 3,000-miles. Switching to Longer Life Oils Drove my Profits through the Roof Getting customers wasn't that difficult, what was difficult was getting them to come back to my shop for every oil change. You see regardless of how great our service was all we were doing was selling a commodity. A simple commodity that anyone can get at just about any quick lube in the country. In order to keep my customers I needed to come up with something the quick lubes wouldn't do and after some pain staking research I found out what that was. And that answer was Extended Drain Oils, the quick lubes wanted nothing to do with these types of oils because they felt threatened by the high quality and the reputation that these synthetic lubricants commanded in this industry. Quick lube owners are well aware that once people switch to high quality synthetics they never go back to petroleum oil and costly 3,000-mile oil changes. I went from making about $150.00/day to over $400.00/day switching my customers over to longer drain intervals. Plus I was able to eliminate most if not all my advertising because now my customers were advertising for me by telling all their friends. Nothing beats word of mouth advertising and this is just one more benefit to selling full synthetic oils. Extended Drain Intervals Saved my Business After doing some extensive testing with full synthetic oils in my own personal vehicle (this test took over 1 year to complete) and getting educated about synthetic lubricants I made the decision to offer extended drain motor oils to my customers. There were two things I found out immediately. First, my customers trusted my judgment and recommendations especially when they heard how extensively I tested full synthetics in my personal vehicle. Second, my customers were more interested in saving time then they were money and I will explain why in just a minute. Shocking Discovery Part of my research was talking to quick lube owners about extended drain intervals and particularly full synthetic oils. The reaction I received was not only shocking, but down right unethical. One quick lube owner, who's name will go unmentioned, stated that he never wanted his customers to find out they can go that long between oil changes. He didn't have a problem with full synthetic oils because he knew it was great oil and they can easily achieve 25,000-mile intervals, he just didn't want the whole world to find out about it. Quick lube owners actually stand to make more money selling more expensive oil changes versus the cheap oil changes they sell now. Big oil companies have done a masterful job of brain washing the general public that frequent oil changes are necessary. Usually Doing the Exact Opposite of your Competition is the Key If everyone is doing the same thing then everyone is probably making about the same profit. All of my competitor's were offering 3,000-mile oil changes for about $29.95 and of course there are always a few shops around that offer the good old $19.95 special. My friends and associates thought no one would ever buy an oil change that cost $89.95 and there was no way anyone would spend that much money on an oil change. These same people have been my customers for over 14 years now and they wouldn't use anything but the oils I recommend. My current customers want nothing to do with the old 3,000-mile oil changes. The higher price of a synthetic oil change is actually less than the typical 4 oil changes a person gets every year. If for example you drive about 16,000 miles every year and you changed oil every 4,000 miles you're still spending $120.00/year and not to mention 3 extra trips a year to the quick lube, it just doesn't make sense. Saving Time vs. Saving Money Most are under the impression that people like to save money and for the most part they do. I soon learned that saving money wasn't the biggest factor in converting my customers over to synthetic oil. Saving time was far more important, in fact over 90% of my customers felt saving time was much more important and led them to their decision to switch to synthetic oil. Conclusion The first step to take is start testing now. You need to see the results yourself and we can help you get started. Take a look at our website that is pack with additional information.
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