Meet Customers Where They’re At

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Read time: 3 min

When my husband Dana and I started Haglin Automotive, our loyal customers found us from The Yellow Pages.

Things have drastically changed since then thanks to all the technology advancements. Online reviews and Google play a big part in whether a customer will set foot in your shop or return for future repairs. 

At Haglin Auto, we always adjust to meet customers, and whether they’re a return customer or a new customer, we prioritize how they feel.

It’s important to meet your customers where they are. We even offer customers free vehicle pick-up and delivery service, free shuttle services, and free loaner vehicles.

But, more importantly, we make sure they understand their repairs and can see everything that’s going on with their cars.

Build Trust with Digital Vehicle Inspections (DVIs)

Haglin Auto has been around for 41 years in the Boulder area, and twice a year 30,000 people come in and out because of Boulder University of Colorado, so we’ve always had an influx of students.

And in order to cater to our college students, we started implementing DVIs. 

The reason we made the change in the first place was because our service writers would call a local college student and say, “You car is doing this, this, and that,” and a lot of the times a student would respond with, “I don’t understand,” “I’m not the one paying,” or “Let me call my mom or dad.”

From there, the student would make a phone call home, they would ask questions, and then the student would call back with questions. 

Meet Customers Where They Are

Once we realized this was happening often with our customers, we asked ourselves, “Okay, how do we adapt to meet their needs?” And from that point on, we decided to offer those students the convenience of our service writers sending all DVIs from Tekmetric straight to their parents, so they can see everything going on complete with pictures and videos.

Creating that relationship not only with the students but also with the parents has been great. And I understand firsthand what it’s like sending your loved one to another city or state.

My daughter, Krystine, went to Northern Arizona University. When we dropped her off for her freshman year, I made a point to drive to the local shops and based on who they were, I was able to determine which one she should go to if she experienced any car issues. 

“We want parents to feel comfortable with their children taking their cars to our shop.”

Knowing that someone was there for her if there was an issue with her vehicle was great, and that’s always been our philosophy. We want parents to feel comfortable with their children taking their cars to our shop. 

The parents can see everything, and with Tekmetric, they can actually authorize everything and even check out using Text-to-Pay.

Adopting the FORD Strategy 

At Haglin Auto, we treat all of our customers like family.

We’ve adopted the FORD strategy from The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Conventional Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World by John R. Dijulius III. With each customer that enters our shop, we make it a point to get to know them by asking them questions about each of the  FORD topics. 

If you can name different FORD facts about your customers and employees, that’s great! If not, you may want to find out more about them.

At Haglin Auto, we work hard to give our customers the experience they deserve. We always live by The Haglin Way.   

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

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This month we were all about operational efficiency saving you time in messaging customers, managing employees, and staying on top of your inventory. Your time is your money. So be sure to take advantage of these features to save time in your day. 

Save Time With Template Messages 

Effective communication is vital to a high quality customer experience. However, it can be time consuming and frankly, repetitive. That’s why we’ve introduced templated messages.

Your top 3 most used customer messages (inspection, estimate, and invoice) can now be customized to fit your shop’s communication needs and voice. These are fully customizable and paired with the ability to create any other message template you’d like. 

     

Who’s this for?: Customers on our Scale Tier with Tekmessage turned on. 

Learn more about default messages                        Learn more about message templates 

Manage Employees Easily Across Your Shops 

Have employees that work across your multiple locations? Well, managing them just got easier. This month we put out two separate releases that allow you to seamlessly create, move between shops, and delete employees right from the MSO dashboard. No more hopping in and out of each shop’s profile.

Who’s this for?: Customers with our multi-shop add-on package.  

Learn more  

Manage Inventory More Effectively With The Inventory Feed 

Managing inventory effectively is crucial for shop operations. To help shops stay on top of pricing and quality changes we’ve introduced the Inventory Activity Feed. This will now automatically log stock orders, parts moved into inventory, and purchase order cost updates. 

Who’s this for?: All customers. 

Learn More 

See Continuous Improvement of Our ALLDATA Integration 

In August, we launched our ALLDATA integration, offering you yet another option for labor guide integration with Tekmetric’s shop management system. Since then, we’ve continued to improve it including the introduction of vehicle specification information and a search bar for easy navigation. 

Who’s this for?: Customers on our Grow and Scale Tiers who integrate with the ALLDATA labor guide. 

Learn More About This Integration 

Tekmetric's September 2024 Product Rundown

October 3, 2024

Read time: 3 min

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Maintaining an efficient workflow is crucial to the success of any auto repair shop. A breakdown in workflow can lead to delays, a frustrated team, and unsatisfied customers. One key area where workflow can break down is during the inspection and estimate process. 

By investing in a more modern, cloud-based shop management system, you can establish a transparent, replicable digital vehicle inspection and repair estimate process, and streamline parts ordering so that service advisors can dispatch repair orders quickly to technicians. 

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!