We recently had the opportunity to interview the founder of Auto Locksmiths, Al Lijee, to ask a few questions about his new endeavor. Auto Locksmiths is an online platform that connects drivers in the United States with nearby automotive locksmiths.
Below are some of the key takeaways from our conversation:
Why did you start Auto Locksmiths?
The idea behind Auto Locksmiths came from some of my other projects that have been quite successful. I’ve already built and established similar platforms in the UK and in the US, such as JunkGator and myWindscreen. I started Auto Locksmiths in 2020 using the same tried and tested techniques that made these other platforms so successful to the present day.
More specifically, I first had the idea for myWindscreen back in 2011 when I had an awful experience trying to find an affordable and reliable way to get my own windshield fixed. In 2014, myWindscreen was born and it’s been tremendously successful.
Auto Locksmiths follows a similar pattern. It’s no fun being locked out of your car and if it ever does happen, you might be worried about forking over a small fortune to the first locksmith you find online. So what we do is we work with reputable automotive locksmiths and give customers greater choice and, with more choice and more competition, more affordable prices.
What the ‘special sauce’ behind Auto Locksmiths?
Well, one of the big things I’ve noticed with a lot of automotive locksmiths in the United States is that a lot of them have a hard time building their brands. Part of it is perhaps due to the type of services they provide, such as emergency lockout services. You don’t usually go out of your way to look up these types of companies until it’s absolutely necessary, and even then your first instinct is usually to call your insurance provider or AAA.
What we hope to do is to help independent, local automotive locksmiths build up their branding and online presence. Some automotive locksmiths already have a website and/or a social media presence – which is good, don’t get me wrong – but they may not be optimized for SEO and as a result they’re just not getting as many service calls as they’d like.
We do this by creating an SEO-optimized profile page for each and every member that joins our platform, as well as a location page for the city where they operate. These things help with SEO and helps them to generate quality leads.
How do you choose which automotive locksmiths to work with?
One of the most important steps we take in the onboarding process for each and every prospective member is to do a thorough check to ensure that they’re a legitimate company that offers quality services.
Think of it from the customer’s perspective: if you’re stuck on the side of the road in the middle of the night and you need an emergency locksmith to help you get back into your car, the last thing you want is for some shady guy to come by and price gouge you or to damage your vehicle.
Once the locksmith has become a member, we’re really laissez-faire in how they operate their business – we just ask that they provide all customers with a free, no-obligation quote. This lets the locksmiths do what they do best in the most optimal way for their own business while we get to tell customers that they can receive a free quote, so they hopefully won’t be so worried about price gouging.
What about the customers? What are they getting out of using Auto Locksmiths?
Like I said before, customers can ask for as many free quotes as they like before engaging our member partners for their services. This gives the customer peace of mind.
We also make the process simple and straightforward for drivers in the US. The website is designed much like our other websites, whereby the customer enters their ZIP code and can immediately find nearby automotive locksmiths in just a minute or two. This matters a lot if you’re in urgent need of a locksmith and you can’t be bothered to look through dozens of Google results, for example.
What do you foresee in the future for Auto Locksmiths?
Although Auto Locksmiths was only launched a couple of years ago, we’ve already seen a lot of interest in this particular niche in terms of traffic. For right now and the foreseeable future, we’d like to continue onboarding independent automotive locksmiths from across the United States.
