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It’s a well-known fact in the auto-repair world that summer is the busiest time of the year. As the weather heats up and families start going on road-trips, more and more drivers bring their vehicles into the shop for maintenance.

Service advisors are an integral part of running your shop.

Not only do they have to greet every customer and learn what they need, but they also need to connect a lot of moving parts, whether that means sending repair orders to guests, making sure they’re getting approved, coordinating with technicians, or literally tracking down parts for repairs. that service advisors keep a cool head.

Making sure every job makes it through the repair process without fault while providing guests with kind and diligent service can be tough, but there are tools and habits that can make the job a breeze.

Here are a few actionable tactics you can start using immediately at your shop so service advisors can stay brisk in spite of the heat.

As much we like to think we’ve always been at the top, no one is born a boss. Before you became an auto repair shop owner, you probably held other positions and had someone else bossing you around. Think back to those bosses, and how you felt about those jobs.

You may have had some bosses who you didn’t like. Their leadership style might have been too aggressive, or maybe they didn’t take the time to show you the ropes.

But hopefully, you had at least one boss who helped you get to where you are today. Typically, good bosses:

• Strongly support your career growth by encouraging you to gain new skills
• Understand when you have to take some time off or shift your work hours
• Trust you to get the job done instead of micromanaging you
• Show you they value your contributions to the team
• Effectively communicate instructions and priorities to you

If you had a supportive boss who championed you at work, you probably went above and beyond—you knew they valued your work. Your former boss’s great leadership qualities probably set an example for you, influencing how you run your own shop today.

We’re willing to bet you’re already an excellent leader, running your own shop in a way that inspires your team, just like how your previous bosses might have inspired you. But, just like you expect your employees to grow in their roles, your employees expect you to continue growing as a leader.

By fine-tuning your leadership skills, you can bring the absolute best out of yourself and your team.

If you run an auto repair shop, chances are you have customers that think they know what’s going on with their vehicle as soon as they set foot in your shop. Although customers with preconceived assumptions can be frustrating at times, we have to give drivers credit for doing their research, especially now when we have a wealth of information at our fingertips.

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Yes, but automotive repair estimates online aren’t always the best source of information.” And you’re right. But let’s think about ourselves for a second. As people who have experienced the world and have naturally developed our own worries, fears, and doubts, we tend to trust our own intuition and symptom-research sometimes more than we trust professionals.

And it’s a well known fact that consumers have a hard time trusting the auto repair industry—or any business that gives customers diagnoses for that matter. Just as people look up their symptoms online, and come to a conclusion on WebMD, they tend to do the same thing when something is wrong with their vehicle.

Whether it’s true or simply a situation where someone is convincing themselves they have said illness, the internet isn’t going anywhere. And let’s face it, we’re all guilty of using the internet for quick and easy answers, which is why it’s important to empathize with customers. Just as they may Google their symptoms, it is likely that they might type into the search bar, “Why is my car making a rattling sound?”

Of course, it is highly possible that the results that populate aren’t necessarily what an auto repair pro would point out to them. But whatever they find online still gives them some peace of mind, knowing they are informed before stepping foot into an auto repair shop that they may or may not trust.

It’s inevitable: people feel more protected if they understand—or even slightly understand—the issue at hand first.

Now, take a step back and think to yourself where your customers are getting their car repair information from. If you answered “auto repair estimate online tools,” you’re exactly right.

How organized is your shop’s schedule? When you look at it, is it easy to see gaps? Is it cluttered or organized?

Appointment scheduling should be a quick, simple process that gives you and your team more time to focus on customers and their vehicles.

Automotive scheduling software gives auto repair shops the ability to bridge the gap between saying “yes” to customers, while not overwhelming their team. Although “saying yes” is a simple concept, the ability to not turn people away will have a lasting impact on your customers.

Humans are not computers. As much as we try to keep up, the impact that smart software has on our day-to-day workloads is impalpable. What may take us hours to create, log, and plan can take computers minutes, if not seconds.

Although you have the ability to plan exactly what repairs need to be done, automotive scheduling software can help you coordinate times, notes, and schedules faster than it would take with a whiteboard or pen and paper. Implementing software into your shop’s scheduling routine can significantly improve your team’s capacity.

As your repair orders (RO) start to stack up, your team will need reliable scheduling software that can keep up with your shop’s growth.

When you started your auto repair business, you probably had to make some big investments, including property, equipment, and employees. Now, to take your shop even further, you might be considering investing in a shop management system.

A shop management system can quickly transform your shop. An ideal system helps you create more efficient workflows and keep track of critical metrics so you can make savvier business decisions.

However, the idea of transformation can cause some doubts. You might be worried that your team might not even like using the shop management system, that adjusting to change will take too long, and that the software ultimately won’t end up paying for itself.

To eliminate doubts, it’s important to find the shop management system that will:

• Transform your shop with little hassle, as quickly as possible
• Inspire your team to work more efficiently
• Grow your business’ profitability so that the investment is more than worthwhile
• Free up your time

So, what’s the best software for auto repair shop owners? And what features should you look for? Here’s what you should be considering as a shop owner.

Let’s start off by laying down the foundational launching points for starting your original shop: you found your niche, you got the right advice, you started with the right branding, and you impressed your customers by providing exceptional customer service. But there are four key factors that become extremely important as you go from being a single shop owner to a multi-shop owner. 

‍You’ll want to:

1. Stay organized as you scale
2. Create consistency across your locations
3. Test the performance of each of your locations 
4. Leverage an automotive repair software that will support your team as you grow across multiple locations 

To select the management tools that will catapult your multi-shop owner journey, you’ll first need to weigh the pros and cons of each of your shop’s processes and procedures.

From there, you can find a system that will uphold and scale the processes that made your shop so successful in the first place, but now across multiple locations. Later in this article, we’ll specifically dive into automotive repair software like Tekmetric and discuss how it supports you, your team, and your customers as you go from a single shop owner to a multi-shop mastermind.  

Here’s how to choose an automotive repair software that makes it possible to grow and easily manage multiple shops. 

Have you submitted your taxes yet, or are you struggling to get your records in order and submit everything on time? Wherever you are in your tax prep process, you need to pull together a plan and act fast or you may have to pay penalties.

Sometimes, even hearing the word taxes can be scary, but unfortunately, taxes are one fear we don’t get to avoid indefinitely. Auto repair shop Tax Day is the same day as everyone else’s Tax Day, and things just get more complicated if you don’t file on time. The clock is running out on your time to file without an extension this year, and even filing for an extension comes with its own deadline.

But if you tackle the process with knowledge and empowerment, doing business taxes and sales tax on car repairs at the shop doesn’t have to be difficult.

Here are five tips that can help you have a better auto repair shop tax season.

Disclosure: the information in this article is not to be taken as formal tax or legal advice. Individual business circumstances vary, and you should always consult with a CPA and tax attorney.

Repair estimates are the foundation for your shop’s revenue.

How you estimate work and send those findings and estimates over to your customers will shape your shop’s profitability, your customer relationships, and how professional you come across to your customers.

Some shop owners might be tempted to use the free online car repair estimator tools to run their own estimates. But will this shortcut actually help your shop get to where you want it to be?

What Is an Auto Repair Estimate?

When customers come to your shop for repair work, they’re expecting a standardized process with an estimate for all the work your shop will be completing. Typically, as you'll know, this meant paper printouts or even manually, hand-written checklists.

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But paper leaves a lot to be desired. As shop management systems have shifted from pen and paper to digital, and more recently from older digital software to modern cloud-based solutions, shops have access to way better tools than ever before.

Your shop’s ability to grow, make a profit, and succeed hinges on clear and accurate invoicing.

If you’re still using pen and paper for your invoice system, you probably spend a lot of time reconciling records at the end of the day and may even have to stay late to put your books in order.

Paper means lots of copies, transposition of information, and a high probability of making mistakes. The same holds true if you’re using multiple software programs to juggle records at your shop to put together information for invoices. If you aren’t using a single, comprehensive system, there’s a good chance details will be incorrectly copied or left out.

The holidays are a special time of year when we make memories with the family, give thanks, and spread joy. However, with social distancing guidelines still in effect, this holiday season will look a little different. Because this year has been challenging for many people, it’s more important than ever to stay positive and spread cheer to past, current, and prospective customers.

Making people feel warm and fuzzy this holiday season will get them to remember you, leading to more business immediately or at some point in the future. And even if not every person you positively impact comes to your shop, it’s okay! You’re still paying it forward to your community, which bolsters your shop’s reputation and can lead to more referrals down the road.

Here are ten ways you can connect with guests this holiday season.

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!

Let’s face it, tracking inventory is tricky. It takes keen attention to detail, an ability to anticipate your shop’s needs, great timing, and some serious research skills—not to mention a lot of time on the phone or computer, away from the action of the shop.

Bottom line? Keeping track of inventory is a job that most service advisors and shop owners didn’t sign up for. While some shops have a shop foreman to help with inventory, even the best foreman still needs a solid tracking system.

But when a shop runs low on the right tools and parts, it can mean turning away customers when you could be building loyalty instead. Simply put, without up-to-date inventory records, your shop may have to pump the brakes and turn away customers or delay jobs.

If your team wants to stay ahead in the industry, you probably see inventory upkeep as a frequent task. And without a shop inventory software, you might also spend hours calculating purchases, tracking orders, checking wear and tear to tools, and rotating stock.

Everyone has their own way of conducting the inventory process, but in general, inventory methods fall into three major categories:

• Pen and paper
• Excel/spreadsheet/template
• Shop inventory software
  

If you’re still using pen and paper or a spreadsheet, it may be time to upgrade or at least supplement your inventory process.