Digital vehicle inspections software is one of the best way to show your customer exactly what's wrong with their vehicle. Instead of an old-school paper approach, Digital Vehicle Inspections (DVIS) are a core component of your shop's workflow, and let technicians quickly highlight existing and potential future issues, with evidence!
If a technician notices that the brakes are okay now but will need to be repaired in about three months, they can note that in the DVI report, or even attach a picture for the customer to see.
Even better, because digital vehicle inspection software let you send pictures and videos, track declined repairs, and even let your shop text findings directly to customers, you can help customers feel comfortable that they're making the right decision in approving that costly repair they may have otherwise put off.
With the right DIV features creating such a modern, seamless experience, you'll be the first shop they think of next time they need something fixed!
Digital Vehicle Inspection Software Features to Look For
1. Default Inspections
One of the biggest benefits of DVIs isn't just transparency, but speed and ease of use for your service managers and technicians. With default inspections, shops can set a standardized template for every vehicle inspection.
Service advisors won't have to spend as much time building repair orders, and technicians will have a default template to work off of every time.
This not only saves both your service advisors and technicians time, but it also helps to improve the accuracy of your inspection reports, which enables your shop to provide an exceptional customer experience built on a foundation of trust.
2. Attach Pictures and Videos
One of the easiest ways to help customers feel comfortable approving work is by directly showing them the problem. We all know a picture is worth a thousand words, but what about video?
Simply telling customers their ball joint is loose might leave them wondering why it matters if they can't feel the impact when driving.
But showing them the massive play between components, torn boots, and dirty globs of grease will help them understand why the repair is worth the cost.
3. Text Inspection Findings to Customers
Customers want things fast, simple, and on their phone. When they're already texting their doctor, babysitter, or coworkers, why shouldn't they be able to text their shop when they drop off their car?
With just the click of a button, your shop can text or email inspection findings and repair estimates, with a link to approve the work right there, within seconds.
That means your shop can get to work sooner, complete the repair faster, and surprise your customers with a modern, seamless experience.
4. Track Declined Jobs
Digital Vehicle Inspections aren't just better for your customers; DVIs are also better for your shop. With Declined Job History, your shop can keep track of every single declined job, anywhere from an oil change to a transmission fix.
Because you have a history of declined work, you can quickly and easily follow up with customers next time they stop by.
Or, better yet, integrate your shop system with some marketing tools and set up automatic email reminders to customers. For example, your shop can send an automated email three months after their previous visit, reminding them of the work they declined last time.
5. Create Custom Inspections
Shops should look to create custom inspection templates for any service they offer. Whether you're a repair shop doing frequent brake jobs and want an inspection template to ensure every vehicle is inspected along the same criteria.
Or, maybe as a performance shop, you frequently service a type of turbo-charged, flat-four engine that likes to blow its head gaskets. You can set up a custom inspection to use every time that model gets towed in.
Shops can then create and attach canned jobs to inspection tasks to efficiently transition from inspections to estimates to repair works with fewer clicks and less effort on your end.
6. DVI Reporting
Because Digital Vehicle Inspections help your shop keep track of all the work you did -- from the inspection process to a completed repair -- shop owners and general managers can gain in-depth knowledge of how effective their shop's operations are.
For example, you can view high-level metrics and compare Average Repair Order values and Close Ratios both with and without inspections.
Or, you can drill down even further to look at completion rate, average inspection time, average findings, and cool details like many of your inspections sent to customers were actually viewed. That way you can fine-tune your process to not only make the most money on your shop's labor, but also make sure inspections are quicker, smoother, and more useful for customers.
Sell More Repair Work with Digital Vehicle Inspections
At the end of the day, running an independent auto repair shop is so much more than just fixing cars. As a shop owner, you're responsible for every aspect of shop operations, including shop management, customer experience, marketing, sales, and so much more.
And even with a team behind you, we know there's always room to make great shops even better.
With the right digital vehicle inspection features, your shop can not only complete inspections with ease but also keep happy customers approving repair orders time and time again.
From what we see, there’s a lot that shop owners get right. They understand how to lead their teams, grow their shops, and bring trust and transparency to their customers. But as a former trainer and franchise performance specialist, I do notice a lot of little inefficiencies that add up.
Tekmetric touches every part of running your shop -- from managing customer information and measuring business metrics to facilitating digital vehicle inspections, repair order workflows, and even payment processing.
If you take away anything this month, it's that the Tekmetric Mobile app is now yours! We’re thrilled to have launched this across iOS and Android to make your techs’ lives easier, cutting their inspection time in half. As well, it delivers increased customer trust, ultimately driving up your bottom line.
Other top release highlights include improving the efficiency of Smart Jobs, adding fresh permission settings for increased financial control, speeding up the process of finding parts across your inventory, and making the 10DLC registration process simpler.
If you’re using Tekmessage, please complete your 10DLC registration ASAP.
Starting December 1st, this requirement will be enforced.
Save Time and Drive More Revenue With The Tekmetric Mobile App
Perform inspections from any mobile device, complete with photos and videos, building customer trust and increasing job approval. Tekmetric customers using it today have seen their inspection times cut in half. As well, shops that share digital vehicle inspections (DVIs) with their customers, see an average increase of $15k in revenue per month. With real-time synchronization your team stays coordinated, whether they're under a vehicle or discussing repairs with customers at the front desk.
Minimize the impact of time consuming tasks with these enhancements to our Smart Jobs feature.
Have you ever built a job using Smart Jobs, only to realize you accidentally selected the wrong part? Now you can instantly search PartsTech again without leaving your current job screen - ensuring you always quote the right part at the right price for your customer.
Oil changes are a necessary maintenance to keep any car running. So, it’s no wonder that repair shops offer oil change promotions to get new customers in the door. These promotions are usually for the standard 5 quarts, but what happens when a customer’s car requires extra oil? Smart Jobs will automatically calculate the adjusted price for the extra oil and add it to the estimate. This means no more hassling with a calculator to calculate the additional price tag. Smart jobs will simply provide clear and accurate estimates every time.
Starting December 1st, 10DLC registration will be required for all businesses using 10 digit phone numbers for application-to-person (A2P) messaging. This requirement will impact all customers using Tekmessage. So, we’ve made it easy for you to complete this registration in-platform. This process should take no more than 10 minutes and can be done from the Tekmessage Integration Card on the integrations page.
To ensure your service is not interrupted, please be sure to check your status and complete your enrollment ASAP. The approval process typically takes 2 to 3 weeks. Learn more about 10DLC and how to do this here.
Ensuring shop fees are consistent across all of your locations is critical, especially for maintaining customer trust. This process is now easier than ever to manage using the Multi-Shop dashboard. You can create new fees, edit existing fees, and delete fees across all of your locations. Need to maintain shop-specific pricing? No problem. Individual shops can manage their unique pricing details without impacting universal pricing.
Who’s this for?: All customers with the Multi-Shop add-on.
We heard you when it comes to wanting more control over your finances in Tekmetric, especially for those with lots of employees accessing the platform. Within the payments permission, there’s a new sub-permission for engaging with accounts receivable. By checking this box, the employee will have the ability to send repair orders to accounts receivable.
Tip: This will default to “on” for newly created shop owners and shop admins. If you had employees with the payments permission “on” at the time of the release (10/28/24), this sub-permission was defaulted to “on”.
View Inventory Across All Your Locations From One Place
Locating parts across your network can be extremely cumbersome, especially if you have to hop in and out of shop views. Your Multi-Shop account now brings inventory from all your locations into a single view, saving you time & getting your team back to work quickly. Filter by shop, status, and part type to find what you need in a snap.
Who’s this for?: All customers who have the Multi-Shop add on.
Although our goal is to help you determine the best ways you can enhance your auto repair shop profit margin, we’re still going to shoot straight with you: opening a shop isn’t easy. You’re going to have to put in some hard work, but exceeding your goals will be well worth it. Along the way you’ll learn new things through trial and error and encounter some unexpected challenges, but who doesn’t when they step outside of their comfort zone, pursuing something they’re passionate about?
One question you may have is, "Is it even a good time to start an auto repair business?" That's a tricky question to answer. Coming off the heels of a pandemic in an economy that has seen better times might scare any new business owner. But remember, some of the most long-standing businesses were started during economic recessions.
Although there’s been better times to start an auto repair business, your shop can still be successful. And it’s clear that the demand for automotive repairs isn't going anywhere.
Take a look at these statistics on the latest automotive repair trends:
In 2022, there will be an estimated 76 million vehicles aged 16 years or older in the United States.
It’s estimated that by 2022, 18% of American households will use an auto repair service at least once a year.
The number of vehicles on the road that are 12 years or older is anticipated to increase by 15%.
In the past decade, the average length of time that drivers own their automobiles has increased by 60%.
As you can see, the need for vehicle repairs will likely increase due to the fact that drivers are choosing to stick to their trusty ol’ vehicles rather than opting for a shinier new ride. But regardless of whether the auto repair industry’s profit trends are growing or plateauing, making smart business decisions will not only prepare your shop for future transformation but also help your shop survive disruptive trends in the future.
Let’s get to boosting your shop’s short and long-term profits.
We’ve listed each of these tactics in the order you should take during each of your business growth phases: the seed stage, the start-up stage, the established stage, or the expansion stage. The order of these 10 tactics does not determine their importance; each tactic complements one another to put your shop in the fast lane to success.
Fast Facts
Industry size and past growth: The U.S. auto mechanics industry is worth more than $68 billion in 2022 and has seen steady growth the past five years.
Growth forecast: The U.S. auto mechanics industry is projected to experience continued growth in the coming years and expand by more than 10% by 2026.
Number of businesses: As of early 2022, 264,121 auto mechanic businesses operated in the US.
Number of people employed: As of early 2022, the United States auto repair industry employed about 561,359 workers.
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