The Garage 333

NEWS
In the current climate of environmental
activism, is there an opportunity for your
garage to stand out from the crowd?
By Robert Welch, Tec4 Lubricants
Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain,
Greta Thumberg dancing to “The heat
is on” and now Cop-26, all shouting
about how we need to raise the profile of
climate change. I don’t know about you but
I think it unlikely that the profile of climate
change can be raised any higher. You would
be forgiven for thinking that the end is
nigh and it’s only a matter of time until the
sandal brigade outlaw the motor car and
shut down your business on environmental
grounds. But, as the Dalai Lama, not known
for his ability to run an Independent Garage,
but a great man all the same, once said…
“with every challenge comes opportunity”
All the talk of climate change and adverts
containing snotty kids imploring our
generation to “do something before it’s too
late” has led some, usually retired vicars
with a guilty conscience, to glue themselves
to the M25. A bit extreme if you ask me, but
hey, every retiree needs a hobby.
As for the rest of the working, car driving
population, we are implored to make a
choice. Buy an electric vehicle and resign
ourselves to never leaving the local area
without a diesel generator hitched to the
back or feel guilty about driving a petrol or
worse still, god forbid, a diesel.
I must at this point declare an interest.
I run a company called Tec4 and make my
living from supplying Engine Flush and Fuel
Treatments to the professional motor trade.
For the last 25 years I have spent my time
demonstrating how effective a good quality
engine flush is at reducing emissions and
improving fuel economy.
I have yet to meet a car owner that
looks forward to the day their car needs a
service, so it’s unlikely that many customers
drive off your forecourt feeling good about
the fact that they have just shelled out
£200 to keep their car running for another
year. They might feel good about how
pleasant you were to deal with, but paying
to have a car serviced is like paying tax,
you have no choice, you just have to stump
up the cash. But what if the result of that
expense was a reduction in the level of guilt
they felt for owning such a gas guzzling,
planet killing machine.
Earlier this year we launched The Green
Garage Network. The idea being to tap
into the current narrative and help garages
promote themselves as the environmentally
friendly choice for car owners.
Members get outside signage, leaflets,
mirror hangers, service pads, service
wallets, service books, posters, everything
they need to promote the fact that when
a car driver chooses a Green Garage
Network Member, they are doing their bit
for the environment. All member garages
are uploaded onto a searchable map on
greengaragenetwork.com and the website
is being promoted through social media and
YouTube adverts to help members attract
more custom.
There is no membership fee and all
ongoing marketing support is provided free
of charge. Garages that join the network
simply have to commit to disposing of
the old engine oil in an environmentally
responsible way, flush the engine to reduce
emissions and improve fuel economy and
check tyre pressures.
To date over 450 garages have joined
the network and are not only enjoying an
increase in customer satisfaction, more
importantly, they are seeing an increase in
profit. It’s a win, win! The car driver gets
to feel good about the fact that they have
done their bit for the environment and
probably saves the total cost of the service
through improved fuel economy, and the
garage attracts more customers and makes
more profit by including an engine flush.
With every challenge comes opportunity.
In the current climate of environmental
activism, there is a real opportunity to
make your garage stand out from the
crowd and promote your business as the
environmentally friendly choice. So, it’s not
all bad. We can sit and mourn the demise of
the internal combustion engine and resign
ourselves to our fate or we can seize the
opportunity.
If you would like to find out more or
register your interest in becoming a
member, visit greengaragenetwork.com
12 THE GARAGE
12,13 News Green Garage.indd 1 18/11/2021 16:43