Chesterfield-based vehicle tuning and remanufacturing specialist, Scoobyclinic, is tackling the issues related to nonsensical marketing, according to motoring journalist, Iain Robertson, by stating the facts.
It has long been suggested that, in a private motoring sector predominated by customising and tuning, a ‘one-stop-shop’ approach might be an ideal position to adopt. After all, for some specialists, operating a mail order operation, supported by a user problem-solving resource, backed-up by a comprehensive range of automotive services, dealing with a solitary contact can be perceived as a business ideal…
| Yet, life does not work that way. For most modern car owners, a first step is based invariably on affordability, or what their available budget will tolerate, in a single-minded aim of stepping onto the personalisation ladder. It can be as simple as applying a ‘go-faster’ sticker, preferably sourced at zero cost, as a means of highlighting greater intent. However, with tuning magazines and on-line websites making insubstantial claims about the attractive benefits of ‘bolt-on goodies’, the pull on the purse-strings leads invariably to impulse purchasing. As a result, blow-off valves, bigger alloys, air filters and humungous diameter tailpipes become pocket-money spends. However, the desire for greater horsepower, tyre blistering 0-60s and looks to die for are relatively non-quenching. It is not called a ‘tuning ladder’ by mistake. The minor add-ons are soon supported by more substantial bolt-ons, like turbo-timers, lowering kits, more efficient radiators and fresh bodywork addenda. Largely whimsical purchases, very few tuning customers ever take a consolidated approach to their actions. They are scatter-gun decisions, marked by misinformation, falsehood and, sorry to state it, lies. However, as with most things in life, they are governed by money and access to it. Let’s not pretend, when confronted by a relatively straight-forward remapping process, which can start the ball rolling from around £650 including VAT at 20%, even though all of those accessories already acquired might be considered as little more than junk, the real head-scratching starts. ‘Can I afford it?’, is usually the first question, when ‘Can I afford not to do it?’, ought to be the initial step. One-stop-shops are a cliché that commenced in the early-1980s, as an adjunct to US-originated retail marketing tricks. Do they apply to the car tuning sector? Well, they do notionally but the reality is a million miles adrift. Geography and where you live are primary considerations. Accessibility comes next, while affordability always hovers on the sideline. The one-stop-shop infers more than a degree of impulse purchasing; you enter the premises and, once your hands are full, you resort to a basket and then a trolley, making snap decisions on your unplanned route around the store. Good heavens! The entire supermarket industry has based its selling psychology around those implications! As any streetwise housewife will tell you, without wishing to enter the realms of sexual equality, planning is the key and supporting a plan is where Scoobyclinic comes in. What the company does not know, or understand, about budgeting is just not worth knowing. It has managed to fill its trophy cabinets (plural) with glisteningly glorious awards from almost every race, rally, drift, Time Attack, drag and circuit event held over the past 28 years since its birth, by managing the tightest of budgets…and, following the performance proving exercise, it does exactly the same for its customers. Usable on-road performance, through practical and durable suspension, engine and transmission modifications, are Scoobyclinic’s lifeblood. Its mechanical, electrical and electronic specialities are supported by bodywork, remanufacturing and paintshop services that are second-to-none and the word ‘bespoke’, which is the ultimate intention of every tuning customer, is the common language, because the one thing that the company understands is that every car is as different as its owner. That is what customisation and personalisation is all about. One-stop-shops are aimed at everyone. Scoobyclinic is the complete opposite of that. Scoobyclinic can provide a useful means to an end, as there is nothing that it cannot provide in respect of car tuning and customising (hence, the ‘one-stop’ suggestion) but its role is significantly more personal than that. The key for the customer is being able to recognise that Scoobyclinic is in an unique position but, more importantly, that it can help to spread the costs; it can stretch the budget but never to breaking point. After all, Scoobyclinic wants as much durability in its customer relationships, as it provides in the integrity of every task it undertakes. The company’s location on the edge of the Derbyshire Dales is almost as central in the UK as it gets. The area is supported by an endless array of affordable B&Bs, should an overnighter be required, and that is as important as planning for a visit to the nation’s leading Subaru and high performance car centre specialist. However, just as each car and each customer is unique, so is that visit. Scoobyclinic, despite offering a comprehensive range, is no ‘one-stop-shop’. Yet, it is a dialogue specialist. You do not enter a supermarket expecting to talk with shop staff but you do come to Scoobyclinic knowing that the conversation will have commenced and that, while activities are taking place, the discussion will continue, at every vital step of the personalisation process. After all, it is only by agreement that you, the customer, will receive precisely what you need, which might be a multiple-stop-shop, albeit in one spot. Scoobyclinic says: “PLAN!” Avoid the ‘shop-around’ and plan your car tuning! Avoid the hazards of impulse purchases. Avoid the attractive money-grabbing adverts. Instead: Talk to Scoobyclinic. Chat about what you want. Discuss and agree a course of tuning action. PLAN YOUR PERSONALISATION! Let Scoobyclinic do the work. |
| Words: Iain Robertson |