It might sound simple, but it's true: smartphones and digital experiences have revolutionized the way people interact with businesses. We've all come to expect near-instant responses, simplified checkout processes, and visibility into what we're paying for.
And independent auto repair shops aren't any different. There's a unique opportunity where your business can meet customer's expectations with modern service and modern operations.
How Can You Make Your Auto Repair Shop More Modern?
We keep saying that word "modern," but what does that really mean for auto repair shops? When we step back and think about the modern independent repair shop, we could sum it up with three core concepts:
The freedom to run your business in a more contemporary way with data, industry knowledge, flexibility and independence to work as in whatever way is best for you and your shop.
The power to simplify your shop's operations can gain complete visibility, control and opportunity to determine the best path forward for every decision.
The best experience for your customers, every time, for every job, whether that's a coolant flush and pad replacement, or a turbo rebuild.
With the right tools in place, your team members won’t have to stress about extra oversight and can feel empowered to take the reins at work. And your customers can have a more active say in the repair process.
The features and capabilities found in modern repair shop software will fall into two main buckets:
Features that enable you and your team to work more efficiently
Features that enable you and your team to interact more smoothly with customers
Ultimately, the modern features we’re about to dive into will free up your time as a shop owner. Instead of stressing over small day-to-day details, you’ll be able to focus more on the high-level aspects of advancing your business.
Unlike traditional software that needs to be installed directly on your shop computer, which then needs to be maintained by that specific service provider in your shop's physical location, cloud-based software can be used on any device, from any location that has an internet connection.
With cloud software, everything is hosted on the provider's servers, but completely owned by and accessible to your shop.
Technicians can type inspection notes from their smartphones without having to leave their bays, service advisors can check on repair details, and owners can work remotely from anywhere with internet access.
And because all of your data is on the cloud, you’ll have more peace of mind that your shop won’t suffer from data loss if the hardware breaks down, and the platforms are always improving.
2. Real-Time Control with a Streamlined Shop Workflow
Just as a dashboard in a car allows drivers to see what’s going on with their vehicle, auto repair shop software acts as your shop's dashboard with a streamlined workflow. Shop owners gain total control of their business in real-time, while allowing service writers, technicians, and shop owners to see what’s coming in, what vehicle is in the garage, and what’s ready for pickup.
Because shop owners have a granular look at the status of each job at any given moment, they can gain a strategic view of everything happening in their shops.
Tekmetric also lets shop owners see the dashboard by day, week, month, and year-to-date, opening up a whole new level of forecasting with a complete view of how their business is performing over time.
3. Digital Vehicle Inspections For Enhanced Visibility
Digital vehicle inspections are an absolute game-changer for creating a modern customer experience at your shop.
Instead of handing guests a paper inspection, you can send a digital one straight to their device, where they’ll be able to read all the necessary details about the proposed repair work.
Tekmetric’s digital vehicle inspection feature helps you navigate that issue by bringing another layer of transparency to every interaction. Technicians can attach photos and videos to each DVI, so guests can see for themselves exactly what’s wrong with their cars. As a result, they’ll have peace of mind and trust your recommendations.
4. Simplified Parts and Inventory Management
Modern shop management software gives you an holistic view of everything happening in your shop for the ultimate level of management.
And successful parts management means you need to understand how your inventory is suited to the needs of your customer, the quality of the parts that are kept in the shop, and how to minimize inventory that is not being sold.
Modern shop management software makes parts and inventory management easy by combining every single aspect of running your shop, managing your inventory, and even ordering new parts into one streamlined workflow.
If you don't have a part in stock while working on a car you can quickly swap the part for a similar one in inventory, or instantly place an order for what you need and let you text the customer all the same system.
5. Instant and Digital Communication
These days, customers expect updates on the services they receive, such as shipping updates on their packages. Repairs are no exception. Customers are busy and want to know when they can expect to pick up their vehicles.
Thanks to true two-way texting, service advisors can give customers updates and even answer any questions that customers might have about their DVIs. Service advisors can update customers on the status of their repairs in seconds. They don’t have to dial a number or try to find customers in person.
Text-to-pay is touchless payment—customers can pay invoices directly from their smartphones. They don’t have to physically walk into the shop to hand over cash or a credit card.
Shops can take advantage of alternative payment methods to provide their customers with flexible service and simplify the payment process. Not only does this make it easier for your customers, but Tekmerchant even provides necessary protections to help shops prevent chargeback fraud, so you can have peace of mind knowing you will get paid for the work your shop did.
Running a Modern, Independent Auto Repair Shop
The ability for shops to track financial information, payment, and customer history will affect their success, especially as they take on new types of repairs on new types of vehicles.
As they update their repair offerings in response to new vehicles on the street, shops will need to keep a close eye on their metrics to ensure they are meeting their profit goals.
And of course, shops will have to respond to updates in consumer technology to ensure that they’re keeping their teams and customers happy.
With Tekmetric, you can modernize your shop and give your team and customers the flexibility and autonomy they want.
On busy days, it can feel like there are a million things happening at your shop. Technicians are hard at work getting repairs knocked out and service advisors are helping customers. Even on slow days, there’s work to be done. You might decide to tackle that new marketing plan or personally call customers to remind them of service work they’d previously put off.
No matter the circumstances, it’s important to have a way of juggling and managing it all. However, keeping track of everything with pen and paper, a whiteboard, or just by playing it by ear can quickly turn into a headache. After all, those methods are unreliable and complicated. Information can easily get lost in the mix, and all it takes is for one misunderstanding to knock things off track.
Repairs management software can keep you and your team on track and free up your time as a shop owner so you can focus on the high-level aspects of growing your business. Service advisors can use Tekmetric’s Job Board to see the status of repairs, appropriately delegate tasks to technicians, and give customers updates every step of the way.
Vehicle inspection checklists guide your technician’s through each aspect of a given inspection so that no problem areas go unaddressed.
Having a set list of points to check for each inspection will ensure they remember to look into each item listed. But before your shop gets started on inspections, you have to get down to the nitty-gritty of inspection checklists.
Find The Right Digital Vehicle Inspection Checklist For Your shop
There's no one-size-fits-all vehicle inspection checklist. It's essential to have different inspection checklists depending on the customer's concerns and what prompted them to bring their car to your shop.
One generic inspection checklist is not enough as it may be too broad or too narrow to cover all the necessary areas.
Your shop may have its own variations of inspections depending on the services you provide. For instance, an auto body repair shop may focus on checking for scratches, dents, and cracks, while a general repair shop will mostly inspect the belts, filters, fluids, and everything else under the hood.
So, how many vehicle inspection checklists do you need? As many checklists as there are common reasons for vehicle owners to bring their cars to your shop.
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