How to Grow Your Repair Shop (Without Spending a Fortune on Ads)

You don't need a massive marketing budget to grow a repair shop. You need repeat customers, referrals, and a steady stream of local people who find you when something breaks.

Here's what actually works.

1. Make Your Existing Customers Come Back

Acquiring a new customer costs 5–7x more than keeping an existing one. Yet most repair shops do zero follow-up after the repair is done.

What to do:

• Follow up 1 week after repair — "Hey, how's your phone working? Everything good?" This takes 30 seconds and builds massive loyalty.
• Keep a customer database — When someone walks in, you should be able to pull up their entire history. "Last time you were here we replaced your battery in October."
• Offer a warranty — Even a 30-day warranty shows confidence in your work and gives customers a reason to choose you over the competition.

2. Turn Happy Customers Into Referrals

Word of mouth is the #1 growth driver for local service businesses. But most shops just hope customers will refer them. Hope is not a strategy.

What to do:

• Ask for referrals directly — "If you know anyone who needs a repair, we'd love to help them." Simple. Direct. Effective.
• Create a referral incentive — 10% off their next repair, or a free screen protector. The cost is trivial compared to the lifetime value of a new customer.
• Make it easy — Give them a card, a link, or a code. Don't make them remember your shop name and phone number.
• Thank the referrer — A quick text when someone mentions their name goes a long way.

3. Win at Local SEO

When someone's phone screen cracks, they Google "phone repair near me." You need to show up.

The basics:

• Google Business Profile — This is free and it's the single most important thing you can do for local marketing. Fill out every field. Add photos of your shop. Post updates monthly.
• Get Google reviews — Ask every happy customer to leave a review. Make it easy — text them the direct link. Aim for 50+ reviews.
• Your website — You need one. It doesn't need to be fancy. It needs your name, location, services, and a way to contact you. That's it.
• Local keywords — "iPhone repair [your city]" should appear naturally on your site.

Advanced:

• Blog content — Write about common repair problems. "Is it worth fixing a cracked iPad screen?" Answer the questions your customers are already asking. Each article is a free landing page that works 24/7.
• Local directories — Yelp, BBB, Apple's AASP directory (if applicable), local chamber of commerce.

4. Use Social Media (The Right Way)

You don't need to go viral. You need to show local people that you exist and do good work.

What works:

• Before/after repair photos — Cracked screen → perfect screen. Water-damaged laptop → working laptop. These are satisfying to look at and they demonstrate your skill.
• Short repair videos — Film yourself replacing a screen in 60 seconds. People love watching skilled work.
• Customer testimonials — With their permission, share a quick quote or video.
• Behind the scenes — Show your workspace, your tools, your team. People buy from people they trust.

What doesn't work:

• Posting generic "bring us your repairs!" flyers
• Disappearing for 3 months then posting a burst of content
• Buying followers

Consistency beats virality. Post 2–3 times a week and actually respond to comments.

5. Offer Services Your Competitors Don't

Differentiation is how you escape the race to the bottom on price.

Ideas:

• Same-day repairs — If your competitors quote 3–5 days, advertise same-day service for common repairs.
• On-site service — Go to the customer's home or office for business clients.
• Data recovery — Most shops don't offer this. It's high-margin and builds serious trust.
• Business accounts — Offer IT support packages for small businesses. Recurring revenue.
• Specialty repairs — Game consoles, drones, vintage equipment. Find a niche your area doesn't serve.

6. Build a Simple Online Presence

Your customers want to:

1. Find you
2. See if you fix their device
3. Contact you or request service

That's it. You don't need a $5,000 website. You need:

• Your shop name and address
• List of services (with ballpark prices)
• A way to submit a repair request
• A way to check repair status
• Your phone number and email

techsbox gives every shop a public page with all of this built in — services, contact info, repair request form, and status lookup. No web developer required.

7. Track What's Working

You can't improve what you don't measure. At minimum, track:

• Where customers heard about you — Ask at intake. Record it.
• Repeat customer rate — What percentage of your customers come back?
• Average job value — Is it going up or down?
• Monthly revenue — Track the trend, not just the number.

If you see that 60% of new customers are finding you on Google, double down on reviews and SEO. If referrals are your biggest channel, invest in your referral program.

The Bottom Line

Growth isn't about one big move. It's about doing the fundamentals consistently:

1. Deliver great repairs
2. Follow up with customers
3. Ask for referrals and reviews
4. Show up in local search
5. Track your numbers

Do these things for 6 months and you'll see results. Do them for a year and your competition will wonder what happened.

Need a system to track it all? techsbox handles customer management, job tracking, reporting, and even gives your shop its own online presence — starting at $15/month.