With the launch of the Auto Locksmiths platform in 2020, founder and tech entrepreneur Al Lijee took some time to answer some questions regarding his business model.
Auto Locksmiths allows drivers to easily find automotive locksmiths in the United States to assist with emergency vehicle lockout services, key fob programming, creating spare car keys, and much more.
What’s the story behind Auto Locksmiths?
I decided to launch Auto Locksmiths in response to the growing demand for high-quality, reliable locksmithing services in the United States and to provide drivers with greater choice and transparency for these types of services. It’s a very niche market, but it’s one that will always be in high demand simply due to the importance of having a reliable locksmith when you need one.
Auto Locksmiths may be new, but it’s built using the same recipe for success that I’ve had in similar projects in the past decade. For example, my first website, myWindscreen, was made due the frustration I had back in 2011 when trying to find reliable windshield replacement in my area. Even back then, I just knew that there were dozens of guys in my area that could get the job done, but finding them online was a hassle and it felt like I was limited to just choosing the big corporate brands to get the job done – and they did a terrible job of it.
I’ve applied a similar philosophy to Auto Locksmiths as I did with myWindscreen, which is to make it simple and straightforward to find affordable and reliable automotive locksmiths.
How does Auto Locksmith compete with roadside assistance providers?
When drivers call for roadside assistance, they’ll normally call their insurance provider or AAA, whether or not they’re a member. Unfortunately, there can be long delays and heavy fees to pay out of pocket if you aren’t insured, so the better solution is often to call a nearby independent automotive locksmith that can offer fair prices and, quite often, more reliable services.
I built Auto Locksmiths with the idea that greater competition would be better overall for our customers, drivers in the United States, since they can negotiate for a better, more fair price for car unlock service, to extract a broken car key, or to get a replacement car key, for example.
How do you decide who can or cannot become an Auto Locksmiths member?
The locksmithing industry in the United States is well established, with tens of thousands of independent companies operating across the nation. Unfortunately, as with many trade and service businesses, there are a lot of bad actors. Maybe they aren’t qualified to do the job, maybe they take advantage of their customers who are stranded on the side of the road, or maybe they have a nasty habit of not showing up when they say they will.
We try to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff by vetting and approving each and every automotive locksmith that applies to become a member of Auto Locksmiths. We check for a few things, namely their reputation and their commitment to customer service. We also require all of our members to provide free, no-obligation quotes for our customers.
Other than that, we pretty much let our members operate independently since that’s what they do best. Keep in mind that we aren’t locksmiths ourselves. We excel at digital marketing and using SEO techniques to boost the online presence and to generate leads for our members. We do this by giving every member a custom, SEO-optimized profile page for their business. We don’t charge a commission on leads like a lot of other companies do and instead, we chose to go with a flat monthly fee that can be cancelled at any time.
What are the benefits of Auto Locksmiths for your customers (the drivers)?
Vehicle owners all across the United States can benefit from using Auto Locksmiths. Firstly, our website isn’t bogged down with registration forms and logins. Customers only need to click on “GET QUOTES” and enter their ZIP code to find nearby automotive locksmiths. The design is clean and intuitive, much like our other platforms like myWindscreen or JunkGator.
From the customer’s point of view, I think that it’s also beneficial to have access to independent automotive locksmiths because they often offer much better prices than your typical roadside assistance or towing company for specialized locksmithing services. Customers can also request a free quote before hiring their preferred locksmith, so this also helps keep it transparent.
What do you see in the future for Auto Locksmiths?
At this point, we just plan to keep building up our network by adding more genuine member partners from across the United States. This helps give customers even more choice while also bringing in more leads for our members. We already produce blog content and continually optimize our website for SEO, so we intend to continue improving our platform so that we rank high in Google and other search engines.
