The next step in developing a comprehensive marketing plan is to determine the dollar value potential for collision repairs in the shop s local market area, coupled with potential expansion noted above. The task, though straightforward, can be difficult to quantify precisely. Given a market drawing area determined in the shop s research of its customer base, the shop must place a value on the total potential market for this area in terms of vehicles and dollars. The most common method for doing so, and one that works very well for larger geographic areas, is to multiply the number of registered vehicles by both the local repaired accident frequency, the percentage of vehicles that are involved in an accident and are actually repaired, and local severity statistics. First, check for the availability of lists of registered vehicle owners in the local market.
Many states sell their motor vehicle registration records to mailing list companies.
These lists are often available by vehicle type and zip code. With these figures in hand, the calculation of local market potential is possible. The theory behind these calculations is straightforward. If there are 100,000 vehicles in the market, a certain percentage will be involved in an accident each year. Nationally, this number stands at approximately 15 percent.