Ed Mazan ran an 8-person, 5-acre diesel shop in Chicago. His top customer carried 60% of the business. His second-largest had just walked, taking maintenance in-house. Revenue was sliding from $150K/mo into the low $120s. Six months later: his best month in seven years at $192K — top account dropped to 39%, six new $10K+/mo customers, plus a 26-truck meat-packing fleet and a 200-trailer leasing company.
Most shop owners with a big account know it's a problem — they've never put a number on it. The mental move that has to happen first: name your top customer's revenue share to the nearest 5%, or you haven't identified the risk.
Diagnosis without action is anxiety. The fastest way out is high-intent Google search. The phone rings the same day the ads go live — owner-operators and breakdowns Googling "heavy duty wrecker [city]" right now.
Every fleet relationship started as a breakdown call. The 26-truck meat-packing account began as one job. The difference between a shop that gets one job and a shop that gets the whole fleet is how it farms the first call.
Revenue was sliding from $150K → $130K → low $120s as the second-largest account walked and the top account quietly squeezed terms. Six months after Repair Lift turned on targeted Google Ads, the shop hit $192K — without adding bays, hiring techs, or changing pricing.
The top account's revenue didn't shrink. It stayed steady around $75K. The percentage dropped because the denominator grew. That's what a diversified pipeline looks like.
Campaigns built around HD repair and HD towing only. Separate ad groups for clutches, transmissions, DOT, roadside, fleet inquiries. Aggressive negatives filter junk before a click is wasted.
Every call recorded, tied to the keyword that triggered it, and graded — real HD customer or tire kicker? That data feeds the ad buyer weekly. Bad keywords die. Good ones get more budget.
Most diesel shops aren't maxed out — they're bored. Ed had 8 employees and 5 acres before we started. Capacity wasn't the problem. Visibility was.
"The shop was capable of handling the work. It just wasn't visible to the right buyers."
The full One Account Playbook walks through Ed's six-month rebuild move-by-move: the four questions that quantify exposure, the campaign architecture, the call-grading loop, the meat-packing fleet acquisition, and the 23-minute owner interview.
11 pages · PDF · Plus 23-min owner interview
3 moves to break dependency. 6 months to see the shift. The full Onsite Mechanical rebuild — from 60% concentration and a slow death to $192K and a real pipeline. Ed's 23-minute interview included.
Get the full case study