How to Protect Your Auto Repair Shop from Chargebacks

A Note from Sunil: Why We Built Tektonic 2026

Over the years, I’ve had thousands of conversations with shop owners, advisors, and technicians across the country. No matter the size of the shop or how long you’ve been using Tekmetric, I keep hearing the same two things:

You want a place to learn from each other.
And you want deeper, hands-on Tekmetric training.

That’s exactly why we built Tektonic 2026.

If you’ve already found this page, you probably know the basics: three days in Houston, April 9-11, built for owners, advisors, and technicians from every kind of shop and every kind of system. Tektonic is about one thing — helping you get better results, faster, with practical education, shop-tested playbooks, and product training you can actually use.

Here’s a sneak peek at what we have in store, at what that really means for you and your team.

For Owners: Stop Profit from Slipping Through the Cracks

You already work hard. The question is whether every hour and every RO is actually paying you back.

Breakout: Unlock Hidden Profits Without Blowing Up What Already Works — Alex Saladna, CEO, WickedFile

‍Even well-run shops leak profit in the back office: unclaimed credits, fees that never get billed, vendor mistakes that never get caught. This session is about tightening all of that up without burning everything down and starting over.

You’ll walk away with:

• Simple audits you can run regularly to spot hidden losses
• A clear view of where profit usually disappears — and how to plug those holes
• Ways to automate repetitive tasks so more dollars stay in the business

If you’ve ever felt like your top line looks good but the bottom line doesn’t match the grind, this one’s worth circling.

Breakout: ADAS & Required Calibrations: Protect Your Shop and Your Customers — Joel Adcock, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Revv

‍Late-model vehicles roll in, ADAS is everywhere, and the liability is real. Missed calibrations aren’t just a line item you forgot to bill — they’re a safety issue and a trust issue.

You’ll walk away with:

• Clarity on when calibrations are required and how to identify them
• How to bake calibrations into your SOPs and ROs so they don’t get missed
• Practical ways to educate your team and your customers on why this matters

The goal: fix vehicles right the first time, protect your reputation, and make sure you’re charging appropriately for the work you’re already responsible for.

Breakout: Scale on Purpose, Not by Accident — Jesse Jackson & Brian Walden, Mango Automotive

‍If you’ve ever wondered how some shops jump to eight figures while you’re fighting for steady month-over-month growth, Jesse and Brian are going to walk you through the playbook they actually used.

For managers: Master the Maelstrom — Aaron Blair, Director of Operations, Alloy Automotive Partners

In the fast lane of auto service, chaos is inevitable—but profit isn’t. Aaron Blair, systems architect behind Blair and Alloy Automotive, shows how to turn daily disorder into precision workflow with tactical frameworks to control every moving part, from dispatching ROs to winning buy-in from techs and advisors.

You’ll learn how to:

• Use systems to get ahead: Build smarter workflows with dispatch boards, SOPs, and tech scoreboards to spot bottlenecks early.
• Maximize your day: Treat your calendar as a tool with time blocks for RO triage, tech coaching, and margin reviews.
• Create team consistency: Rely on huddles, checklists, and incentives so every team member stays aligned and executes to standard.
  

Also in the owner-focused track at Tektonic:

• Reporting Deep Dive: Making Sense of Tekmetric’s Dashboards
• From Invoice to Insights: Using Tekmetric to Master Shop Financials
• Love the Shop Again: Mindset Shifts to Lead, Inspire, and Grow
• Build It and They Will Come: How to Open a Shop That Stands Out, Attracts Talent, and Builds Loyalty Fast
• Powering Growth with Tekmetric Payments: From Faster Cash Flow to Customer Financing
• Running MSOs: Tools and Best Practices

For Service Advisors: Turn Conversations into Trust and Revenue

Advisors are the heartbeat of the shop. When they’re trained, supported, and set up well in the system, everything feels smoother…for you and your customers.

Breakout: Is Your Advisor Making You 100K or Losing You 100K? — Greg Bunch, Chief Officer, Transformers Institute

‍Owners and advisors will both get a lot out of this one. Greg walks through how a single advisor can swing six figures either way — and what to do about it. 

You’ll walk away with:

• A ready-to-use hiring funnel with a job ad, screening script, and one-hour audition plan
• A 90-day onboarding and training plan with daily drills and talk tracks
• A simple scorecard to track call conversion, ARO, and appointment close ratio

If you’ve ever hired an advisor on “gut feel” and hoped for the best, this session will give you a better way.

Breakout: High Impact Sales: The Words That Build Long-Term Customers — Sabrina Wilkerson, Business Performance Analyst, Elite Worldwide

‍Advisors, this one is built for you. Customers don’t just buy the work — they buy the way you explain it. Sabrina breaks down what to say, how to say it, and how to stay ethical and honest while still driving approvals.

You’ll walk away with:

• Practical ways to generate higher profits through better conversations at the counter
• Tools to build long-term trust so people come back and send their friends
• Confidence to show up as the credible expert instead of “just another shop”

These are skills you can practice in the room and use on your very next phone call.

Breakout Bundle: Tekmetric Tools That Make Every Day at the Counter Less Chaotic

‍On top of the coaching and hiring sessions, we’re going deep on the actual tools advisors live in all day. The focus is simple: fewer dropped balls, clearer priorities, better follow-up, and a system that supports your advisors instead of slowing them down.

You’ll walk away with:

• Cleaner workflows from first call to follow-up
• Better visibility into which jobs to prioritize and when
• Fewer “I thought you had it” moments between the front counter and the bay

Advisor-focused Tekmetric sessions include:

• Tekmetric Service Workflow Deep Dive
• Advisor Dashboard Training: Prioritizing the Right Jobs, Every Time
• Advisor Toolkit Jam: Quotes, Smart Jobs, Templates & Follow-Up
• Shaping the Future of Service Advisor Tools in Tekmetric

For Technicians: Build Skills, Confidence, and a Real Path Forward

Great techs want two things: the right tools and a future.

Breakout: How to Run Monster Hours — Ryan Blair, CEO and Co-Founder, Alloy Automotive Partners

As a dealer technician turned one man band shop owner, Ryan Blair averaged 500 hours a month in production. In this session, you will get a breakdown of the mindset, systems, tips, and tricks to increase your production no matter what kind of shop you are working in.

Takeaways:

• How to play the game: maximizing the relationship with the front of house
• The surprising math behind the things you didn't realize are holding your production back
• Master the mindsets and beliefs to become the number one producer in your shop

Owners: this is a great session to send your high-potential techs to if you want them thinking bigger.

Breakout: Profit in the Bay: How Techs Win with DVIs and Efficiency Tracking

‍Being a great technician isn’t just about fixing cars. It’s about seeing the payoff from the work you do. In this Tekmetric training session, we’ll connect the dots between the work in the bay and the numbers on the screen.

You’ll walk away with:

• How solid DVIs drive higher approval rates
• How photos, notes, and videos make it easy for customers to say “yes”
• How efficiency tracking shows your impact — on the shop and on your paycheck

The goal is to give techs a clear line of sight from “I turned this wrench” to “I made this much difference.”

Breakout: ON-TRACK with DIN Diagrams + VCDS 101 — Travis Ruiz, Technical Support Consultant, German Car Support

‍If VW/Audi work feels like it takes twice as long as it should, these sessions are for you.

You’ll walk away with:

• Practice finding the correct wiring diagrams and navigating service info
• A walkthrough of the VCDS interface: scans, fault codes, live data, and basic functions
• Real-world tips for using VCDS to diagnose and fix problems faster

For techs who want to sharpen their skills on European cars, this is time well spent.

For techs who want even more time in the tools:

• Tekmetric Mobile App Deep Dive: Workflow at Your Fingertips
• DVI + Mobile App End-to-End Training: Photos, Video, Notes & Approvals
• Unlocking Smarter Repairs in Tekmetric

Big-Room Moments That Shift How You Lead

On top of 50+ breakout sessions, Tektonic’s general sessions are built to stretch how you think about your business and your role in it:

• Keynote: From Mainstreet to Millionaire — Codie Sanchez, Contrarian Thinking
  Why “boring” businesses like auto repair can be the foundation of serious wealth if you build them right — and what that means for how you think about profit, risk, and opportunity in your own shop.
• Keynote: Entrepreneurship Simplified — Mike Michalowicz, Profit First
  Practical, straight-talking frameworks for building a healthier business: profit baked in from the start, cleaner cash flow, and systems that don’t fall apart every time you step away from the shop.
• Keynote: Effort Matters, Character Counts — General Robert Neller, USMC (Ret.)
  What effort and character look like on high-trust teams — and how those same principles apply when you’re leading a crew through nonstop cars, parts delays, and the pressure to deliver every day.
• Coaching Power Hour Panel: The Great Shop Coaching Showdown
  Leaders from top coaching groups tackling real shop challenges, side by side, so you can hear different approaches in one fast-paced session.
• Shop Owner Panel: What It Really Takes to Win
  From hiring and training to navigating daily chaos, this panel pulls back the curtain on what different types of high-performing shops are doing to scale, stay profitable, and keep both teams and customers thriving. You’ll hear real talk and real strategies from leaders who are living it every day, not just talking theory from a stage.

Three days in those rooms can change how you lead for the rest of the year.

Bring Your Whole Shop to Houston

Tektonic is built for your whole team:

• Owners getting clear on growth, profit, and where the business is really headed
• Advisors sharpening the conversations that build trust and drive revenue
• Technicians building skills, confidence, and a real path forward in their careers

It’s every shop, every role, under one roof, with zero gatekeeping. Wherever your shop is today — overwhelmed, growing, rebuilding, thriving — Tektonic delivers clarity, community, and practical tools to get to your next result.

Learn more about Tektonic 2026 and register your team HERE.

At the end of the day, customers want to feel like they can trust your shop, they know they'll be taken care of, and you're only doing the repairs that are most necessary.

On the other hand, your shop wants to bring in as much business as possible, and generate as much revenue as you can with the time and resources available to your team. That's made possible with the right tools for the job, streamlined and efficient processes, and transparent communication with your customers.

Better operations means smooth repairs, smooth repairs means happier customers, and happier customers means more business.

When your shop is trying to run like a well-oiled machine, any breakdown in workflow can lead to delays, a frustrated team, and unsatisfied customers.

For example, if a customer's repair takes longer because the part you thought you had in stock is actually on back order, they're going to be less likely to return.

That's where shop management software comes in. Just any other tool in your shop, there will be a return in your investment.

What if we told you that you can get even more value out of the work you already do with the right processes in place?

Effective customer communication is crucial in the auto repair industry, no matter how big or small your shop may be. In fact, customer communication is at the heart of the most successful shops. However, there’s more to it than just writing a repair order or making a phone call and leveraging effective strategies for communicating can make the difference in a shop’s level of success. In this guide, we will go over qualities of great customer communication and how you can leverage digital tools like your auto repair shop management system to be a better communicator. Together, these assets can help you enhance customer loyalty and grow your shop’s bottom line.

Good communication in your shop is characterized by:

• An efficient and accurate workflow
• Understanding and fulfilling customer needs
• Creating trust and driving safety by educating customers on their vehicles

Maximizing and Streamlining Your Workflow

Good communication starts internally. Streamlining communication between your service writers and technicians is key to ensuring the customer’s needs are met in the most efficient way possible. To master this, encourage your team to leverage internal tools like your shop management system to streamline internal conversations. This can help create a more efficient communication process, allowing you to both maintain a continuous workflow and enhance your overall customer experience. Some of Tekmetric’s features to streamline workflow include: 

• Job Board. Within Tekmetric, internal and external notes can minimize the back-and-forth during a repair process. For example, internal-facing notes on a job board allow for immediate communication between your technicians and service advisors with just the click of a button. Additionally, job boards also have customizable statuses that share the state of a repair at a glance – no more chasing down a technician after your day off for a progress update. Together, these features streamline your shop’s internal communications, driving efficiency and allowing smoother behind-the-scenes operations for everyone.
• Inventory and Ordering. To help streamline the ordering process, Tekmetric includes a feature that allows the technician to find the parts that they need for the vehicle, rather than going through a service advisor. By empowering the technician to review labor times, order the correct parts and note their needs internally, this feature can reduce communication bottlenecks and enhance communication – from the technician to the service advisor, and eventually to the customer.

Meeting Customers Where They Are

The best way to reach a customer is whichever method they prefer. Some may prefer email or phone, but many people are on-the-go and also appreciate text updates. In fact, 81% of Americans text regularly, with 90% of text messages opened within the first three minutes since it was sent. Because of this, Tekmetric has built-in, two-way texting to help you make your customer experience more convenient. Whether sharing repair updates or enabling a parent to make a payment for their college student from states away, texting enables customers to reach your shop for important matters without inconveniencing themselves. This includes features like: 

• Two-way texting. With two-way texting, customers no longer have to deal with phone tag hassles and can reach the shop at the tip of their fingertips. This capability gives the customer more autonomy in the repair process, allowing a convenient way for them to ask questions, view photos or video and approve repairs.
• Text-to-pay. Payment is the final touchpoint you have with a customer. The text-to-pay feature makes this process virtually painless. Customers can pay from their office, in the evenings at home or even from miles away if they are traveling. By offering this option, you can simplify the payment process, and the customer can pick up their vehicle sooner – resulting in a happier customer and more efficiency in your shop. 

Facilitating A Culture of Trust, Safety and Education

In the auto repair industry, shops have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their customers’ vehicles. Utilizing digital tools in your shop can demonstrate your commitment to vehicle owner safety, as well as help you facilitate a culture of trust that seeks to educate the average customer about the health of their car. Some tools might include: 

• Digital vehicle inspections. DVIs provide two key qualities your customer highly values: information and benefits. A complete DVI with photos, video and clear notes gives customers the autonomy to examine the repairs your technician proposes and decide which recommendations they want to approve. It benefits your shop too: when you share eight photos or more, your ARO can actually increase because the media allows the customer to see where the vehicle needs repairs with their own eyes. With two-way texting, you can send photos directly to the customer’s phone as well, enhancing both the convenience and the level of trust they have in your shop.  
• MotoVisuals integration. One of the responsibilities of the service writer is to educate the vehicle owner on why the repair is needed for their car. With Tekmetric’s MotoVisuals integration, you can share clear, easy-to-understand animations and videos with voiceovers that talk about why a repair is important. This helps drive the vehicle owner’s confidence in the repair, creating a culture of education that ultimately drives trust and loyalty and keeps your customers coming back for more.

The Bottom Line?

Ultimately, communication is a strategic business tool that can drive efficiency and enhance your shop’s performance. By prioritizing clear, consistent and personalized interactions, you can build lasting relationships, enhance customer satisfaction and elevate your shop’s performance. Embracing digital tools and strategies like Tekmetric can empower you to optimize your communication efforts and achieve sustained growth. This commitment to maintaining a customer-first mentality is reflected in your ability to communicate both with your team and your customers and, when done effectively, can increase customer retention and lead to more profit for your shop.