Kwik Kar at Panther Creek is a full-service automotive repair shop in Frisco, Texas, owned and operated by Jack Rankin. The shop provides oil changes, routine maintenance and mechanical repair.
For seven years, the team has helped customers stay on schedule with factory-recommended maintenance, ensuring services are documented clearly to support long-term vehicle reliability and warranty compliance.
Car count had gradually declined over a three-year period, and Jack needed a consistent way to bring customers back without complicating day-to-day operations. He wanted to reactivate inactive customers, stay top-of-mind between visits and increase overall traffic while gaining clearer visibility into which efforts were driving revenue.
Email alone was not producing enough lift, and there was limited insight into which offers were driving results. In addition to retention, the shop needed a more structured approach to attracting new customers.
Throttle, a product of Matrix Imaging Solutions, streamlines marketing and customer engagement for automotive service providers by automating timely outreach powered by shop data.
Kwik Kar partnered with Throttle to implement a coordinated retention and acquisition strategy built around weekly direct mail, anniversary reminders and targeted oil change offers.
Coupon codes were embedded in each campaign to track redemption and measure performance. This gave the team clear visibility into which offers were driving results and how oil change promotions converted into higher-value maintenance and mechanical work.
Once postcards were added alongside email outreach, performance improved significantly.
• Reactivated customers increased five times compared to email alone
• Revenue generated was 2.6 times higher when direct mail was added
• The new customer mail campaign delivered a 13:1 return on investment
Online visibility also improved. Over a three-month period, reviews increased from 286 to 338, and the average rating rose from 4.2 to 4.3 stars following the introduction of thank-you text messaging.
These results demonstrated that coordinated mail and email outreach, supported by measurable tracking, increased both customer reactivation and new customer acquisition.
Kwik Kar continues to review campaign performance regularly and adjust messaging based on tracked results. Jack meets with the Throttle team every few months to review outcomes, discuss changes and evaluate new opportunities. This ongoing review process keeps the program aligned with the shop’s goals and ensures marketing decisions are based on data, not guesswork.
Industry
Automotive Service — Quick Lube and Mechanical Repair
Objective
Increase car count and reactivate inactive customers.
Solution
Weekly postcards, anniversary reminders and targeted oil change offers with tracked coupon codes.