Reminder Explainer.

The problem

Independent auto-service shop owners often pay for marketing platforms they don’t fully understand. They can’t tell what the marketing tools do, what they cost in practice, or whether they are working. Complex reports need interpretation; operators need clear, actionable guidance.

What I’m building

A tool that explains those platforms to the people who pay for and use them. It rests on real field research and vendor economics, the same strategic groundwork I bring to client engagements, applied to my own venture. It uses AI and my UX experience to help shop owners interpret what they’re seeing, and decide what to do about it.

The pilot

I’m piloting it with a three-store operator in upstate New York. I started where the evidence is: his own point-of-sale reports, with no individual customer or employee data. What came back was a steady, loyal, local business with a reminder program that worked but couldn’t be measured.

What the data showed

The numbers told a simple story. Customers were loyal, but some left after a single visit. The baseline reminder program the shops already ran was doing real work, but tracking needed improvement. And the operator’s business came from a small market, so it could be reached (and measured) precisely. The stores also needed different strategies: some needed to hold on to current customers, and one had to win new ones.

Where it stands

I’m helping him choose a marketing platform and train his team on it. The test is whether three people who have never run one can use it inside a busy shop: it should run itself, connect to his current POS software, reach customers by mail and text, and be suitable for an expanding multi-location operation. I’m building the Reminder Explainer as an add-on to whichever platform he selects, so his staff can quickly and easily read what the platform is telling them and act on it.