blog

One of the most important parts of building a thriving auto repair shop in today’s industry is knowing how to interpret your shop’s data well – and often. Understanding how to leverage and report on your data can help you transform your business overnight through informed decision-making, financial health monitoring and strategic planning. Large corporations invest in tools to provide them with business intelligence to grow their bottom line and it should be no different when it comes to running your auto repair shop.

Through data analytics and predictive reporting, organizations can gain a deeper understanding of market trends, customer behavior and emerging opportunities. Integrating these capabilities into running your business can be quite intimidating. Fortunately, Tekmetric’s shop management system provides the tools you need to run reports, monitor your shop’s performance, and make strategic decisions that promote increased efficiency and profitability. Read on to discover how you can leverage data to enhance efficiency, improve customer engagement, identify growth opportunities, and drive profitability in your shop.

1. Identify Business Objectives

Identifying a clear target of what you’re looking to achieve in your business is the most important starting point when it comes to measuring performance and success. To effectively leverage data for your business, start by clearly defining your goals. Identify what you aim to achieve, whether it's improving customer satisfaction, increasing sales or optimizing operations to save you time or even looking to expand your auto repair shop to a new location. 

Once your goals are set, establish specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure your progress. This step is crucial to ensuring you are able to evaluate progress clearly and objectively. Once you’re able to track your performance accurately and measure success, you can now move onto formulating a data-driven strategy to reach your business objectives.

2. Analyze Data & Establish Baselines

For an auto repair shop, analyzing data begins with collecting detailed information about various aspects of the business, such as customer demographics, parts usage, Digital Vehicle Inspection (DVI) metrics, technician efficiency, as well as sales trends. This analysis helps in understanding the current performance levels, pinpointing areas for improvement, and optimizing resource allocation. For example, with Tekmetric’s real-time insights you can quickly identify repair orders by status and identify bottlenecks before they occur in your shop.

Establishing baselines involves setting standard performance metrics against which future performance can be measured. By using historical data, the shop can determine average repair order (ARO), parts margins by vendor and employee efficiency. These baselines serve as benchmarks for evaluating progress and identifying deviations that require attention.‍

3. Make Data-Driven Decisions

An auto repair shop can make data-driven decisions by leveraging data insights to inform its business strategies and decisions. Tekmetric built its reporting suite with a focus on helping shops identify key areas for growth and opportunities for innovation. For example, thorough and efficient digital vehicle inspections can strongly enhance your customer experience by building trust and transparency.

At Tekmetric, we've discovered that shops sending eight to twelve photos to customers on over 50% of their repair orders achieve a higher average repair order (ARO) compared to those that don't. By measuring DVI quality through metrics like photo quantity, you can increase your ARO while building trust and transparency with vehicle owners. Leveraging Tekmetric's reporting tools, you can identify your own trends and implement a growth strategy driven by data-backed decision making.

4. Monitor and Review Progress Regularly

To ensure ongoing success, an auto repair shop should prioritize monitoring and regular review of its operations. This entails creating regular reports to track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measure the impact of data-driven decisions. By consistently monitoring performance metrics, the shop can stay proactive in addressing challenges and capitalizing on opportunities.

It's crucial for auto repair shops to remain agile in their approach. Tekmetric’s reporting enables its users to be prepared to pivot and make quick decisions based on real-time data and insights. As the automotive industry evolves and customer needs change, shops must adapt their strategies accordingly. By staying agile, the shop can swiftly respond to market shifts, customer preferences, and emerging trends, ensuring its continued relevance and competitiveness in the industry.

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?

The Job Board is that heads-up display within Tekmetric.

So when you're wondering what's going on with that SUV sitting in your shop's pickup lot for the last two weeks, you can see if it is awaiting customer approval or if parts are still on the way.

Within Tekmetric, Repair Orders flow through your Job Board, visually representing your shop's overall workflow in three columns: “Estimates,” “Work-In-Progress” and “Completed.” 

The idea is for service advisors, general managers, shop owners, and even Technicians, to gain a birds-eye view of everything happening in your shop with just a quick glance. Everyone is responsible for their tasks, every step of the process is accounted for, and it can all easily be tracked and managed in a simplified workflow.

We also understand that some shops may want a little extra flexibility, and maybe there’s some extra level of detail you would like represented visually on your job board. That’s where Tekmetric’s RO Labels come in.

It turns out that the shop owners, service writers, general managers, and technicians that rely on Tekmetric everyday chose us once again as the clear market leader on G2!

Okay, okay, we're sorry for another humble brag... But this is really more about you, the users than it is about us! If you're not familiar, G2 is a peer-to-peer review site. Users just like you can submit reviews and vote on the tools they use everyday, like Tekmetric.

Really, this is all thanks to all the amazing independent shops that do great work every day with Tekmetric. The shops that keep people's vehicles safe and reliable. The heroes that get their customers back on the road every single day!

We were just chosen because you all love us so much! 😳

But that's not all. Tekmetric was also chosen for how easy it is to get your shop up and running!

• Most Implementable Fall 2023
• Most Implementable Small Business Fall 2023
• Fastest Implementation Fall 2023
• Momentum Leader Fall 2023
• Leader Fall 2023

We totally get it, the last thing you want is to have to pause everything you're doing and let the bills pile up, just to relearn how to run your own shop.

That's why we make it as easy as possible, handling all the heavy lifting so your shop can sit back, relax, and hit the ground running right away!

That kind of makes sense, considering Tekmetric was chosen as one of the easiest shop management systems to do business with. 

• Leader Fall 2023
• Easiest To Do Business With Fall 2023
• Easiest To Do Business With Small Business Fall 2023

Tekmetric comes from shop owners, advisors, technicians, and managers just like you. We live, breathe, and execute innovation, the kind of innovation your shops need to get even more value out of the work that shops like yours already do!

We're always working hard to make Tekmetric even better!

Thank you! Thank you for partnering with us, and thank you for helping us create the best possible solution for running an independent auto repair shop!

We're excited to be awarded and regarded so highly, and we strive to keep that level of excellence and support at every step in your shop.

Tekmetric is always being updated, and we’ll never stop working with and supporting shops to help them run efficiently and with fewer headaches, so you can focus on doing what you love!

As an auto repair shop owner, you know how important accurate labor times are for locking in your profit margin on labor and growing your business. But how do you find a labor guide that you can trust and that works with your shop’s estimate process?

Switching to a newer labor guide can be tough for some shops. Many shop owners already trust their physical, paper labor guide; they’ve been using it for years! But that guide probably doesn’t include labor times for repairs on newer vehicles—not to mention it takes up a lot of space.

Digital auto repair labor guides are becoming standard across the industry because of how accessible they are and how they can be continuously updated with labor times for newer vehicles.

If you’re still using your old labor guide, or even a digital labor guide that isn’t working for you, it might be time to find a labor guide that will better meet the needs of your shop. Here are some key features to look for to narrow down your search.

Well, there’s an easy way to make sure none of that happens ever again.

Just like how it’s easier than ever to book an appointment with your doctor, or even your barber, in a matter of seconds online -- your auto repair shop can modernize the scheduling process too.

During a recent webinar, Join Kieran O’Brien Co-founder of ShopGenie Co-Founder, and our very own PJ Leslie, Head of Business Development at Tekmetric, offered their insight on how auto repair shops can provide a modern experience for their customers with online scheduling.