While it might not seem too obvious at first, there’s a unique opportunity for independent repair shops to enter the digital age. With the right tools for the job, auto repair shops can meet customer expectations at every step of the way, from texting inspection findings right to customers down to cardless payment options.
With the right features, independent auto repair shops can work faster, smarter, and more efficiently, while delivering the amazing customer service we’ve all come to expect.
Owners may have never really thought of it this way before, but relying on some old-school system to run their shop, manage repairs, order parts, stock inventory, and keep track of all their finances is just making things so much harder.
Cloud-based shop management systems combines all the standard aspects of running an auto repair shop and tracking cars as they flow through the repair process in a modern software solution.
Cloud-based access means instant communication, no matter where you are. Think about it this way, you don't have to check your home computer to see what your friends and family are up to online. But, no matter where you access your profiles, all your data, conversations, likes, and feed are always the same.
With a cloud-based shop management system, service advisors and technicians can collaborate with ease. Service advisors can get a birds-eye view of every stage of the repair process without having to interrupt technicians.
As technicians progress and complete repairs, the software will reflect that. Armed with that information, service advisors can then contact guests to update them.
Records are important for any business, and shops are no exception. Having a record of who signed what, and when, can come to your rescue in the event of a customer dispute. And because these are digital records, you won’t misplace them as you might paper records.
Enhanced digital authorization creates an accurate record of customer authorization history and the details of different repair orders in a system. Customers can digitally sign off on repairs, and your repair shop software will capture their signatures.
Enhanced digital authorization modernizes your shop by ditching the old pen-and-paper approach for a digital signature. Customers don’t even have to stop by your shop, and service advisors don’t have hope to make a phone call and catch customers when they’re available: just instantly text or email the estimate for instant approval.
Additionally, digital authorization protects your shop from liability in the event of a customer dispute by maximizing your visibility of key authorization details (like the phone number of the service advisor who sent the repair order).
Your shop can get approval from customers in a matter of seconds, and customers can have the convenience of handling the process on their time.
Digital vehicle inspections solve the problems that come with paper inspections, like unclear handwriting, lost pages, lack of trust, and more.
Digital vehicle inspections are vehicle inspections adapted for the modern age. Customers can see photos and videos of exactly what’s wrong with their vehicles, see the urgency of each proposed repair, and approve or decline jobs directly from their smartphones.
With digital vehicle inspections, technicians can build inspections on their smartphones or tablets. From there, service advisors can build estimates and send them directly to customers’ smartphones.
Customers can then approve or decline jobs on the go. In short, digital vehicle inspections move the approval process along faster and minimize the chances of any miscommunications between your team and your customers. In turn, your team can build greater trust with customers, enabling them to sell more work.
No matter what major big box retailer you walk in, no matter where in the country, if they have multiple locations they'll have a history of every purchase you've made.
We don't even really think about it, but that creates a seamless experience. Customers can expect the same level of care and service no matter where they visit.
Tekmetric Multi-Shop Shared Customer History allows users to connect customers across shops and view the history of those customers across all locations within their organization in Tekmetric.
Shared Customer History in Tekmetric enables multi-shop organizations to create that same experience in their organizations.
With just a few clicks, shop owners and general managers can quickly add customers from one shop location to another without actually typing out all their information again.
This means shops can provide a seamless customer experience across all locations and easily maintain customer information without worrying about duplicating entries.
Vehicle inspections are perhaps the most critical part of the repair process. After the customer stops by and describes the problem, it’s on your shop to investigate the claims, determine the cause, and recommend the next steps to get the customer back on the road.
Modern shop management systems let Service Advisors build out multiple inspection templates to help save time, and some go even further like Tekmetric enabling default inspections.
With default inspections, Tekmetric Users can set a default inspection template to automatically apply to newly created repair orders. Simplify workflows, and gain back time, all while delivering the same great experience to customers every time.
Service advisors won’t have to spend time searching for your shop’s standard inspection every time they build a new repair order.
Plus, technicians will have a standardized inspection to work off of, ensuring that every vehicle is thoroughly inspected to the same standard with the same level of care.
Free up service advisor time so they can focus less on a computer screen, and more on the customer they're servicing.
An auto repair estimate template, otherwise commonly referred to as a car repair estimate template, can be a great communication tool for your shop—or it can leave your team spinning their wheels in the dirt.
While it’s easy to assume that any old auto repair estimate template will lead to a faster repair order process, unfortunately, not all templates are created equal.
The most effective templates provide a standardized framework for the estimate and repair process and lay everything out for your team and customers in a digestible format. The least effective templates cause more work for your team and eat up extra time that could (and should) be spent taking care of the customers.
Nowadays, there’s a whole spectrum of template options to choose from, including pen and paper forms, downloadable PDFs, and full-service shop management systems with a built-in RO program.
Finding the right fit for your shop might feel like a challenge, but the effort you put into looking for an auto repair estimate template says you care a lot about your team’s time and value their autonomy.
Upgrading your estimate process helps your team maximize its potential by giving them the power to focus on what they do best—getting customers back on the road.
Thought Leadership
March 20, 2023
“Receipts.” We all know the literal meaning of this term—those pieces of paper or emails/texts a retailer sends you as proof of purchase, in case you want to exchange or return an item down the road.
In a casual sense, “receipts” also mean “proof” in the event of a dispute. For example, if your dog could talk and claimed he definitely did not steal the pizza from the picnic table, you could show him “receipts,” which could be a photo your astonished friend snapped of him while he was dragging the pizza away. Busted!
Ok, but in all seriousness, as a business owner, you interact with receipts in two ways:
Even though receipts exist in practically every industry, there’s a huge difference between the receipts customers get from an auto repair shop versus the receipts they’d get from a restaurant or clothing store.
Look at it this way: you don’t go to a restaurant and get an estimate for how much your food will cost. You see the prices on the menu, order, and then pay at the end. But in the auto repair world, we have to scope out the work with an inspection and estimate. That’s where the shop and the customer come to an understanding of the repair work that will occur, and get a preview of the cost, before any work gets done.
Without a solid inspection and estimate process, there can be a higher risk of misunderstandings and miscommunications, which can diminish customer loyalty and lead to credit card chargebacks. For example, a customer could misunderstand the severity of the need for a repair and decline it when they get their estimate, and leave a negative online review that their car still has issues. Or, a customer could say they don’t want a particular repair, but a service advisor misunderstands them. The repair happens, and the customer is upset when they get the final bill because they’d communicated that they didn’t want the repair.
That’s why estimates and receipts are extra important in our industry—they protect shops and customers. They give your customers peace of mind; they have a record of what repair work they got done on which day, and how much they paid. And in the event of a customer claiming a certain repair didn’t happen on a particular day, you could pull up your copy of the estimate and the receipt and set the record straight. You won’t have to deal with a frustrating back-and-forth process that can stretch out for days.
But beyond literal receipts, there are other elements of safeguarding your business. After all, protecting your business isn’t just about protecting it from financial and legal standpoints, although those are two important areas. You also have to think about things like your team’s productivity, employee management, healthy margins, and more. Auto shop management software is a great core tool that can help you safeguard your shop from multiple angles.
Thought Leadership
July 2, 2023
When it comes to efficiency in an auto repair shop, a technician’s expertise and performance are paramount. The service advisor might be the face who interacts directly with vehicle owners, but technicians are the eyes and ears – the “pistons” – that run the whole system. As a technician, your ability to complete your day-to-day jobs efficiently and effectively is crucial to the shop’s overall performance.
Using data can help you maximize your own profitability as well as the shop’s. From identifying the problem to performing the diagnosis and completing the repair, data can significantly elevate your performance. Simply put, when you accurately and comprehensively leverage the data available through a system like Tekmetric at every step of a repair, you are going to perform more efficiently – to the benefit of the shop and your own career.
When a vehicle is brought in with an initial concern, data can help you better respond to the customer’s needs communicated by the service advisor. By intentionally reviewing the data collected by the service advisor, you can better understand the reason the customer has brought the vehicle in for repair and ensure your diagnosis can uncover the true cause of the problem.
With Tekmetric, your job board and all the data it includes is your key to success. In fact, you can consider it your “digital clipboard,” as it includes all the details you need in one place. The job board shows approved estimates as well as completed work – so it’s your window into how efficiently you are addressing customer concerns, bottlenecks in the repair process and more. This tool enables you to follow up on questions or additional details so your service advisor can communicate with the customer. This in turn drives efficiency within the shop as you can ensure the customer’s concern is addressed promptly and correctly.
Once a problem has been identified, you can also leverage data via digital vehicle inspections (DVIs) to document diagnoses and show the exact cause of the problem. This includes making thorough notes, including photos and videos and showcasing other issues you find that could need additional repairs. By leveraging digital tools to complete thorough inspections, you can become a diagnostic wizard, solving problems faster and more efficiently. This not only translates to happier customers who get their cars back sooner, but also lets you sell more work, boosting your productivity and earning potential.
The most important part of the digital vehicle inspection is clear photos and videos. By including the right number of photos in your inspection, you can educate your customer on their vehicle’s performance. However, be sure not to overwhelm the customer with information. Tekmetric has found that 6-8 photos on average is the sweet spot, although this may change with your customer base.
A detailed DVI complete with photos allows the customer to review and approve the jobs they need the most, while planning for repairs that may come up in the future. As a result, you can educate the customer on the cause of their concern, share additional details if needed and simplify the communication process for you and the service advisor – ultimately increasing the average repair order (ARO).
Now that you have identified the problem, it’s time to complete the repair. As you work through your repair list, you can also use key metrics and information available on your job board to ensure you – and the shop overall – are working efficiently. For example, you can follow up with your service advisor on jobs you have inspected but are not approved for repairs. This helps drive the shop’s efficiency, so you can complete the work and get the car out of the shop to move onto the next one.
The other important aspect of the repair phase is collaborating with other technicians to better leverage each technician’s unique strengths and weaknesses. For example, if your specialty is brake replacements, you can work with your team to ensure you work on brake-related repairs. This helps streamline those repairs to you – the expert – so you can complete them faster and at a higher quality. In turn, the shop streamlines its overall processes, leading to more profit for the shop and for you.
Technicians are a critical part of a shop’s operations – but your role is not just limited to the actual repair. You can become even better in your role by using data throughout the customer experience: from the initial problem and diagnosis until the customer walks out with a fixed vehicle. In fact, utilizing data from the minute the customer walks into the shop leads to better diagnoses and more successful repairs. Learning how to use data correctly can help you perform at a higher level, ultimately increasing the profitability of the shop and growing your own paycheck.
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Thought Leadership
August 1, 2024
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