If your customers don’t understand their estimate, their repair order, or the progress of their repair, they may become frustrated or even decide to take their vehicle somewhere else.
But when service advisors communicate effectively with customers, they’ll increase the likelihood that each customer will become a repeat customer who will refer their friends and family to your shop. In other words, clear communication with your guests can exponentially improve your profits.
Everyone at your shop has their own responsibilities, but they all need to be skilled in communicating effectively with each other and with your guests.
Your service advisors in particular need to be great at communicating with your guests because they are the ones who will set the stage for your guests’ experience at your shop.
Here are three service advisor tips for assessing and upgrading communication with your guests.
Tip 1: Create a Streamlined Intake Process
When a guest enters your shop, it’s important that one of your service advisors immediately takes them through the intake process so the necessary repairs can get started as soon as possible.
Some service advisors might jot down key details about a guest and their vehicle, or use a spreadsheet to try to keep track of that information. But these methods can quickly become unorganized as important information gets lost in the mix.
Shop management software can help service advisors speedily move guests through the intake process while remaining organized.
For example, features like Default Inspections will make it even easier for your team to provide the same level of service to every customer, prompting service advisors to gather the same information every time to ensure no stone is left unturned in giving customers amazing care.
Tip 2: Help Guests Prioritize Repairs
Service advisors also help guests prioritize repairs during their courtesy inspection before the estimate. By showing customers what needs to be repaired, why they need it repaired, and what repairs they may be able to hold off on until their next visit, service advisors can put your customers at ease.
Digital vehicle inspections are a great tool that service advisors can use during this stage to explain and show key details, such as which part of the vehicle is experiencing an issue and how severe the issue is.
Guests will be able to see with their own eyes what’s wrong with their vehicles, and as a result, will be more likely to say “yes” to the proposed repairs.
You can even incentivize your service advisors during this stage by making it a friendly competition: the team member who sells the most repair work that month will win a reward, like a gift card to their favorite restaurant.
You can also remind service advisors that the more skilled they become at communicating with guests, the more they’ll be able to grow their careers.
Tip 3: Leverage Technology to Update Guests
As technicians work on vehicles, guests will be waiting, wanting updates on how far along the repair work is so they can get back home (or wherever their next destination might be).
With a cloud-based shop management system, service advisors and technicians can collaborate with ease. Service advisors can get a bird’s-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.
Shop management software with true two-way texting capabilities enables service advisors to send updates directly to guests’ phones. Service advisors can message guests through the system, and guests will see the messages as text messages.
This approach cuts back on the back-and-forth that often occurs with phone calls, and is an effective way to keep all of your shop’s customer communications in one place rather than on individual service advisors’ phones.
Tekmetric: Level Up Communication With Your Guests
Tekmetric’s customer profiles, digital vehicle inspections, and true two-way texting enable your service advisors to communicate clearly with your guests.
The results? Repeat business, referrals, and higher profit margins.
When your team puts these service advisor tips in action, your guests will be impressed and will remember your team next time they need repair work, or when their family and friends need repair work.
Repeat jobs are common in auto repair work. How often does a customer walk in and ask for something common like an oil change or a tune-up? Or does your shop specialize in one type of vehicle, and you're constantly handling the same repairs?
What if we told you we could help you build those most common repair orders in a matter of seconds? That way your service writers can focus on providing amazing customer service every time.
Because let’s face it, regardless of the job, your customers are relying on your team to provide the same quality experience they're used to in so many other industries. And if you own multiple shops, then your customers are expecting you to provide the same quality of service at each location.
Canned jobs make it easy for your shop to not only save time when building estimates and serving customers but also make it easy to provide a consistent and smooth customer experience -- in the end making your shop even more money by boosting your shop's average repair order.
With a complete view of how all your shops are performing and access to the tools needed to make changes quickly, shop management systems help run your shop with smooth and agile business operations, provide a consistent experience for customers, and ultimately maximize revenue and support your shop's growth.
Features such as unified reporting across all your shops and shared customer history work to create seamless processes for managing your business as a centralized organization.
Highlights from November include the refresh of Tekmetric Payments, launch of our Booking Tool in beta mode, and your #1 ask for the mobile app: a time clock!
Learn more about what we’ve been up to below.
Streamline Payments for Your Shop with Tekmetric Payments
We’re excited to introduce our refreshed payments solution, Tekmetric Payments (formerly known as Tekmerchant).
This refresh comes with some exciting new features including:
A dedicated “payments” section of the platform
View into payments over time and their details (method, timeline, etc.)
More detailed information around payouts (transactions included, payout schedule etc.)
A dispute management & resolution workflow right in the platform
Sunbit is now available as an additional buy now, pay later option
These enhancements are included on top of existing Payments features, at no additional cost for current Tekmetric Payments customers. This is just the beginning - expect more features and financial partners to be added in the coming months.
Who’s this for?: Tekmetric Payments Customers. Interested in adding this to your subscription? Contact us.
See the Evolution of our Mobile App - Time Clock & Enhanced Camera Experience
Your techs asked, and we delivered! The Tekmetric Mobile App now includes time clock functionality you've been waiting for, letting techs clock in, out, and take a break – all from their mobile device. We've also enhanced the camera experience with tap-to-focus capabilities and added a convenient "trash can" feature to image markup functionality for easy editing. No more switching between desktop and mobile for inspections – just perform seamless, efficient DVIs right from your phone.
Who’s this for?: All customers using version 1.7.0
Check what version you’re on the bottom of the left sidebar - Easily update your app via your app store
Ever wish that you could manage your scheduling process right from your Tekmetric account? Your wish is our command. Configure your appointment settings and embed directly onto your website in minutes. No more splitting windows or managing between two different systems.
Connect to PartsTech Seamlessly
We’ve eliminated the complexity of the traditional multi-step integration processes when connecting Tekmetric with PartsTech. Say goodbye to hunting down API keys or navigating complex vendor setups – now you can connect to PartsTech's extensive parts network directly within Tekmetric Integrations with just a few clicks. This enhancement was built to help make your parts setup experience effortless, allowing you to order them quickly on the estimate. This allows you to focus on what truly matters: getting vehicles back on the road faster.
Who’s this for?: All customers - Primarily those without PartsTech enabled
Gain Control of Your Pricing Strategy For Oil Changes
When you build a Smart Canned Job for oil changes, we put you in complete control of your pricing strategy. Now you can present service specials with clean, professional pricing that builds trust with your customers – perfect for advertising those competitive oil change specials while managing surplus charges effortlessly.
Get Professional-grade Accountability With PO# on Estimates
We know for some shops, fleet work is imperative to helping grow your business. Now you can add the PO# directly on repair orders, having it display automatically across estimates, invoices, and A/R statements for your fleet customers. This enhancement brings professional-grade accountability to your workflow, making it effortless to track approvals and maintain precise documentation. Just input the PO number once in the RO sidebar, and Tekmetric handles the rest – ensuring every fleet repair has a clear, traceable approval record.
Take control of your inventory management with our new shop-level inventory feed located on the shop dashboard which puts vital inventory edits at your fingertips. This view helps how you monitor inventory changes across your shop, making it easier than ever to spot trends, prevent shrinkage, and ensure you have the parts you need when you need them.
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