Underperformed vehicle maintenance exceeds $60 billion annually, according to the Car Care Council. ACDelco is hoping to put a dent in that figure by offering service centers an opportunity to participate in its “Winning Hand” consumer rebate promotion through which customers can save on ACDelco automotive replacement parts.

ACDelco Total Service Support (TSS) shops and Independent Service Centers (ISCs) that install ACDelco parts are eligible to participate in the promotion, which focuses on winter routine maintenance. “Winning Hand” rewards customers with a $10 mail-in rebate with the purchase and installation of ACDelco parts. The repair invoice must total at least $70 in ACDelco products.

Participating ISCs can enroll in the “Winning Hand” promotion between Sept. 10 and Oct. 19, 2007. The Winter Routine Maintenance promotion for consumers begins November 1 and runs through December 31, 2007.

“ACDelco recognizes that many consumers should have vehicle maintenance performed before the weather turns cold,” said Kelly Grinnell, ACDelco merchandising specialist. “This is an opportunity for shop owners to reach out to their customers and offer a price break on replacement parts during this promotional period.”

Bobby Jones, owner of Woodbridge Auto Repair, a TSS shop in Rossville, TN, found an innovative way to draw in customers during ACDelco’s Spring Routine Maintenance promotion. Jones combined the customer rebate with a supplier brake pad discount, and offered his customers a brake special for less than $90.

“It’s a heck of any opportunity for an ACDelco shop to combine the rebate with another in-shop promotion,” said Jones. “We listed the brake special for $89.95, which included the $10 ACDelco rebate, on the MechanicNet postcards. We had a lot of people take advantage of the offer — about a 10 percent response rate.”

Jones added some extra customer service to the rebate offer to help make his customers even happier. “We offered to fill out and mail in all the rebate forms with the original invoices for them,” Jones said. “The customers were tickled to death that we did that for them. We had a 100 percent follow-through because we handled the mail-in part of the promotion ourselves.”

According to Jones, one customer who took advantage of the $89.95 brake offer brought in a second car the next week, past the Spring Routine Maintenance promotion expiration date, because he was pleased with the service he received.

“If you reward existing customers with a great offer, they tend to really appreciate it,” said Jones, who is planning another offer for the Winter Routine Maintenance promotion. “It’s a ‘win-win’ situation for me and my customers.”

The $75 enrollment fee for ISCs includes 250 postcards which MechanicNet will mail to a shop’s existing customers base at no additional charge. ISCs have five different postcards – a “Winning Hand” — from which they can choose. The enrollment fee will be waived for existing MechanicNet Customer Retention Service (CRS) subscribers. MechanicNet also offers a direct mail alternative for shops that have incompatible customer shop management systems, no Internet connection or insufficient customer data.

In addition to distributing the postcards, MechanicNet CRS will validate mailing addresses before the postcards are mailed, will provide a return-on-investment report weekly by e-mail and a summary at the end of the promotion that will specifically identify which customers received postcards, which ones returned to the participating shop for service, and the revenue generated.

And, ACDelco merchandising support is available to help shop owners publicize the promotion. ISCs can contact their local ACDelco Warehouse Distributors for promotional materials, such as point-of-sale banners and posters, counter cards and brochures.

Past promotions using this technology have delivered more than $50 of traceable revenue for each $1 of postcards sent. For more information on becoming a MechanicNet CRS customer, call 1-800-825-5886, prompt 4.

In order to receive the $10 rebate, customers must mail in the original dated repair order and a completed official rebate redemption form, available at participating ISCs that feature quality ACDelco parts. The official rules are listed on the rebate redemption forms. The offer is good only at participating locations in the United States, and not valid at new vehicle dealership or on products being replaced under warranty.

ACDelco markets quality parts for Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, GM and most vehicles on the road today. To find an ACDelco parts retailer near you, visit acdelco.com or call 1-800-ACDelco.