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If your customers don’t understand their estimate, their repair order, or the progress of their repair, they may become frustrated or even decide to take their vehicle somewhere else.

But when service advisors communicate effectively with customers, they’ll increase the likelihood that each customer will become a repeat customer who will refer their friends and family to your shop. In other words, clear communication with your guests can exponentially improve your profits.

Everyone at your shop has their own responsibilities, but they all need to be skilled in communicating effectively with each other and with your guests.

Your service advisors in particular need to be great at communicating with your guests because they are the ones who will set the stage for your guests’ experience at your shop.

Here are three service advisor tips for assessing and upgrading communication with your guests.

As the auto repair industry continues to evolve, adaptability to changing customer needs is crucial to delivering a top-notch customer experience. When it comes to choosing an auto repair shop, customers are more likely to prefer a shop that is easy to do business with over the nearest shop. For the modern customer – an increasingly digital generation sometimes called Generation CX – the customer experience is paramount. One of the ways to curate an invaluable customer experience is to leverage the trends of today’s customers. Using these trends alongside the knowledge gained from your shop’s data, you can create an experience that is transparent, convenient and efficient.

Tekmetric’s Industry Index Report, pinpoints key trends around customer needs and expectations. In a recent webinar with Ratchet and Wrench, we discussed how you can use these trends to propel your business. By leveraging the trends within the report in conjunction with your shop’s performance metrics, you can tailor your approach to enhance your customer experience, drive revenue and ultimately boost your bottom line.  

Efficient operations drive revenue

Efficient shops create more revenue opportunities by completing repairs quickly and effectively. When you streamline your processes, you enable your team to accomplish more in less time, without sacrificing quality. Efficiency creates smoother customer interactions and reduced wait times. This translates to a seamless customer experience – a key driver of satisfaction and repeat business that drives profits and increases your bottom line. 

Several tools are available that can improve your efficiency, thereby helping you repair more vehicles in less time. For instance, Tekmetric’s Smart Jobs feature allows service writers to create jobs in just one click depending on the customer’s vehicle type by automatically pulling the correct labor time, sourcing the parts and applying relevant matrices based on the job selected. By reducing the number of clicks, your service advisors save time on creating repair orders (ROs). Instead, they can focus on answering customer questions and delivering an exceptional customer experience.

Convenient communication increases customer trust

Today, there are over 250 million vehicles on the road that are more than 12 years old and will inevitably need repairs. On average, shops see customers twice a year – and the majority will seek a shop they trust. Transparency and communication build strong levels of trust, resulting in a significant impact on the shop’s overall performance. Clear and convenient communication with the customer about repairs can streamline the approval process in the short term, as well as increase your average repair order (ARO) in the long term.   

Customers expect clear communication and visibility in the repair process. One tool that supports these expectations is a digital vehicle inspection (DVI). DVIs allow your shop to send visual reports of inspection findings directly to your customers, keeping them informed and engaged throughout the repair process. DVIs can be shared via email or text, so your customer can conveniently access them and approve the work even when they are not physically at your shop. Through DVIs, a shop can share data in the form of photos and videos, encouraging customers to make informed, data-driven decisions. This digital tool goes a long way in building trust as vehicle owners can gain a deeper understanding of the repairs you recommend. Vehicle owners can prioritize the immediate repairs while also having a record of additional work, like a tire rotation, that needs to be done in three months.

Another way to build trust through clear communication is through two-way texting. This feature facilitates instant communication, enabling your customers to authorize repairs, ask questions or provide feedback in real time. For example, shops using Tekmetric can communicate directly with vehicle owners through two-way texts, even creating a repair order or appointment based solely on a text – no calls necessary! Customers know they can reach your shop anytime, from anywhere, and their needs will be met. 

Together, two-way convenient communication and DVIs significantly increase the likelihood of customers accepting your shop’s recommended repairs, increasing your ARO and ultimately driving revenue growth. 

Personalized customer experiences promote loyalty

Personalized customer experiences are another revenue driver. By adding a personal touch to the customer’s experience, you can go beyond the standard service offerings to create tailored experiences that bring customers back time and time again. 

One key aspect of personalized experiences is the integration of digital payment options, such as “buy now, pay later” or text-to-pay. According to the Tekmetric’s Industry Index, only 16% of shops have tapped into the potential of text-to-pay options – but these options have tremendous potential in building customer relationships. Tekmetric’s solution enables your shop to offer customers the convenience of digital payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay or text-to-pay. This not only streamlines the payment process but also caters to modern consumer preferences, making transactions faster and more convenient. 

Additionally, “buy now, pay later” options powered by Affirm or Klarna allow your customers to get the repairs they need and pay over time, supporting their financial needs without negatively impacting your shop’s revenue. By alleviating some of the financial burden of repairs with “buy now, pay later,” you can better empower the vehicle owner to make an informed decision on repairs without breaking their bank. Tekmetric has witnessed the power of digital payment solutions: in the past year, 60% of customers at our partner shops were approved for financing, with 62% of them utilizing this option. The average transaction amount is $567 for card payments and $1,883 for "buy now, pay later" purchases on our platform.

Tying it all together to transform your customer experience

Efficiency, personalization and convenience are all traits that you can prioritize to maximize profit and create a noteworthy customer experience. Technology can do so much for businesses at its foundation, but taking it to the next level within the customer experience makes a significant difference. By leveraging technology to create a strong experience, you can set your shop up for success far into the future and measure up, by every measure.  

For more information, check out our recent webinar with Ratchet + Wrench, or reach out to our team to talk to a shop advisor.

Similarly, your automotive service advisors might enjoy talking to people but feel worn down after a long day of helping customers and building repair orders. 

We've talked before about how modern shop management systems make it easier for your team to communicate, collaborate, and get things done. 

Going a step further, there's an opportunity for shop owners or general managers to help create a culture within your repair shop that not only boosts productivity and maximizes efficiency, but rewards success and contribution as well!

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.