Tekmetric Partners with Brakes for Breasts

Sunil Patel

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October 1, 2025

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Read time: 3 min

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among women in the U.S. after skin cancer. In fact, there are currently more than four million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. Most, if not all of us know someone who has been greatly impacted by this disease.

Founded in 2011, Brakes for Breasts unites independent auto repair shops to support people affected by breast cancer and donate to ongoing research for a cure. You may have heard the saying, “prevention is better than cure.” Brakes for Breasts takes that to the next level through the belief that “prevention is the cure.” The organization offers participating shops a chance to raise money for the Cleveland Clinic Breast Cancer Vaccine Fund, supporting the creation of a vaccine that can prevent TNBC (triple negative breast cancer). 

Today, Brakes for Breasts has expanded to work with hundreds of shops nation-wide, raising more than $2.1 million. Its founders, Leigh Ann Best and Laura Frank, are both powerhouses in the auto repair industry who established Brakes for Breasts to raise money for breast cancer research and provide a bigger voice to women in the auto repair industry. 

In 2024, Tekmetric donated more than $16,000 to Brakes for Breasts. This year, our goal is to donate even more – and we need your help! There are multiple ways to participate:

  • Sign up with Tekmetric. During the month of October, Tekmetric will donate $50 to the Brakes for Breasts campaign for every new shop that signs up for Tekmetric. 
  • Share the campaign with your customers. If you are a TechNet shop, make sure your customers know that when they come to you for a qualifying brake service between September 1 and October 31, you are offering a rebate on qualifying brake pads that they can choose to donate to the fund.   
  • Donate with Tekmetric's fundraising link. If you want to go straight to Brakes for Breasts without any brakes, use this link to donate any dollar amount to Brakes for Breast. You can choose between a one-time donation or a monthly contribution.  
  • Fundraise at your shop by joining the Tekmetric team. You can register your shop to fundraise for this cause in your community through Tekmetric’s campaign at this link.  The shop that raises the most money during the campaign will win a trip to join Tekmetric at the check presentation ceremony in Cleveland in April 2026.
  • Participate directly. Participating independent repair shops can work directly with Brakes for Breasts by offering customers free brake pads on brake jobs in the month of October, then donating 10% of the labor from that brake service to the fund. 

All proceeds will go towards The Cleveland Clinic Breast Cancer Vaccine Research Fund. The end goal is to create a vaccine that can create a world free of breast cancer.

Brakes for Breasts is a tremendous opportunity for your shop to partner with your local community to benefit people affected by breast cancer. Our customer Austin Blanton, owner of Import Auto Shop, experienced this phenomenon first-hand when his shop participated in previous years: “When you’re worried about money and busy dealing with operations stuff, you can lose sight of paying it forward. For example, one of the things we did last year was get involved with Brakes for Breasts.” 

As we aim to focus on our customers, we are also happy to be part of initiatives that will transform lives for generations to come. For our customers who have been impacted by this disease, the month of October honors what you have overcome to be here. By promoting further research and support of your journey, we hope to support the creation of better cancer care for all who are impacted by this disease. Let’s hit the brakes on breast cancer and work towards a cure together!

👉 Ready to grow your automotive business? [Book a personalized Tekmetric Demo Here]

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The customer experience begins from the time vehicle owners bring in their car all the way to the final touchpoint: the payments portion. Integrated payments meet customers where they are in today’s digital market whether that means they can pay from their home, pick up their vehicle after hours or pay from states away for college students to pick up their car. Beyond approving an estimate and two-way texting, customers can pay wherever they are, whenever it is most convenient for them. Integrated payments facilitate shop efficiency, improve the customer experience and meet customers where they need to be.‍

1. Facilitate shop efficiency

Integrated payments help the shop run more efficiently with a visible, centralized location. Service advisors maximize the shop’s workflow and drive the bottom line because they can complete more repairs due to efficiency. Integrated payments allow customers to pay without being at the shop or needing a physical credit card. Forgot your credit card at home? Not a problem!

Tekmetric’s text- to-pay feature allows your customers to pay anytime, from anywhere - whether they’re a busy professional who needs to pick up after hours or a parent paying for repairs for their college student. Text-to-Pay allows you to get the repair done and be able to pay for it without a major disruption to your daily routine or needing a physical credit card to make a payment.

2. Improve the customer experience 

Along with facilitating shop efficiency, integrated payments streamline the automotive customer experience with a unique opportunity to drive revenue to the shop while also providing a value-added experience to the customer. Customers will remember how convenient (or inconvenient) it was to pay during the final touchpoint of the auto repair process.

In addition to text-to-pay, integrated payments offer flexible, forward-thinking solutions that allow shops to save time and effort when managing funds and customer payments. Shop owners can share invoices and accept payments via text and email, enabling the customer to pay directly from their smartphone and pick up the vehicle when it is convenient for them. 

3. Meet customers where they want to be

Most auto repair purchases are surprise purchases that not even the best budgeter can anticipate. With integrated payments, Tekmetric caters to the customer’s budget and needs. Not the other way around. Repairs can be a stressful experience so why not make the customer’s life easier by allowing them to pay from home, from states away or in installments?

Offering Buy Now, Pay Later options, allows you to meet the customer where they are financially by providing installment payment options. When your customers need to get the repair done but do not have the budget to be able to pay for it in full in one sitting, BNPL meets your customer where they are financially while also ensuring the safety of the vehicle owner by getting the repair done. 

Digital payments are necessary for auto repair shops in the modern digital market. By implementing customer-centric digital solutions, you can significantly improve your shop’s customer experience by meeting customers where they are, reaching new ones and increasing your shop’s workflow efficiency. Making the last touchpoint of the experience more convenient creates a positive, lasting impression on the vehicle owner and creates trust with your repair shop – encouraging them to become a loyal customer and generate repeat business or referrals. 

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!

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Gamify Your Auto Repair Shop to Boost Performance

May 18, 2024

Read time: 3 min

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Tekmetric just revealed two new tools to help shops win more customers and run a more efficient front desk. Get the full story. Watch the on-demand webinar now.

Generating new business in auto repair is hard. The industry is projected to grow just 2% over inflation annually over the next five years. The average American has 15 auto repair shops within 10 miles of their home, according to Tekmetric's internal data, meaning competition for every new customer is fierce. And across multiple industry surveys, roughly two-thirds of drivers say they don't fully trust their local repair shop — making it that much harder to win them over. The result: only one in 10 shops both grows and hits profit margins of 20% or higher. 

"We know the competition to win new customers is fierce,” said Lauren Langston, president and COO, Tekmetric. “That means we need the right strategies and the right tools in order to do it."

Tekmetric's data shows that winning shops consistently focus on four outcomes: car count, average repair order (ARO), driver experience, and cycle time. Two new Tekmetric products — Tekmetric Digital Ads and Tekmetric Phones — are built to move the needle on all four.

Tekmetric Digital Ads

Winning new customers starts with being found. Tekmetric Digital Ads is an AI-powered add on that helps your shop show up where high-intent drivers are already searching for auto repair on Google Maps and Apple Maps. Because it connects directly to Tekmetric, you can see exactly how your ad spend translates into real revenue, not just clicks.

"It's really hard to see what's working. One of the superpowers of this product is that it's connected directly with Tekmetric," said Jared Haleck, chief product officer, Tekmetric.

Tekmetric Digital Ads is in early access now and rolling out to selected customers.

Tekmetric Phones

Every missed moment at the front desk has a cost. Tekmetric Phones gives your service advisors the customer context they need — instantly, the moment the phone rings — so they can spend less time looking things up and more time taking care of customers.

"Service advisors especially are loving it,” Haleck said. “It just saves them so much time. It creates so much convenience for them.”

Tekmetric Phones is in beta, available for customers on RingCentral.

Watch the On-Demand Webinar

Langston and Haleck walked through all of it — the industry data, live product demos, and what's coming next — in their webinar, "Building for the Results-Driven Repair Shop."

The recording is available now. If you want to see exactly how these tools work and what they can do for your shop, this is the place to start.

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How Winning Auto Repair Shops Stay on Top

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