Service advisors serve as the major touchpoint between customers and your shop. While they ultimately need to build repair orders for technicians, they need to get that information from the customer.
And vice versa, when technicians provide inspection findings, service advisors explain those findings to the customer to figure out the best path forward.
That's why service advisors need to make customer service a focal point of their role, to build that trusting relationship between the customer and your shop.
Because when customers feel like they can trust that your shop is giving them the right recommendations, they'll feel more comfortable approving repair orders for the work their vehicles need to keep running safely and reliably.
1. Support Your Customers and Your Team From Anywhere
Remote work is here to stay, the ability and flexibility to access your shop from anywhere in the world, at any time, as long as you have an internet connection, is unparalleled. You've never had this type of control and access before.
Let the Cloud Do the Heavy Lifting
Think of the "cloud" like the lifts in your bays. Obviously you can't jack a car up on your own, so you bring in a tool to do that for you. That's pretty much what a cloud-based platform does for your business. Because modern shop management systems are cloud-based, nothing lives on your shop's computers, or stuffed in your binders.
Why is that a good thing?
Because you never have to worry about losing it, and you can access everything required to run your shop anywhere you have an internet connection. All that information is stored on servers operated, maintained and secured by your platform.
Access Your Shop From Anywhere
All of your shop's operations, data, customer history, vehicle inspection findings, declined estimates, and everything, is collected and saved remotely. This opens up a whole new dimension for not just shop owners, but general managers and service advisors too, with the ability to check on and manage every aspect of their shop remotely.
2. Help Your Shop as Run Efficiently as Possible
A lot is going on behind the scenes at an auto repair shop. Tekmetric helps you streamline those in-shop tasks so you can get back to leading your team as repairs come and go.
Inventory Table & Parts Reports
Tekmetric’s inventory table you'll gain full visibility into see exactly what parts sell well, which brands of parts your customers prefer, and which parts manufacturers your shop may want to avoid in the future due to repeated recalls or low inventory.
Labor Guide
Establishing accurate repair times shouldn’t be a guessing game nor should it take you away from your other service advisor responsibilities.
Built-in labor guide smakes it easy to find accurate labor times for repairs without having to leave Tekmetric. With VIN decoding, additional labor, and a wealth of labor times at your fingertips, you can build estimates faster than ever.
Labor and Parts Matrices
Tekmetric makes it easy to create and save markup matrices directly in your shop’s settings. When you’re building estimates, your labor and parts markups will be auto-applied based on your settings. No more guessing or extensive calculations!
3. Lead Your Team With Clarity and Communication
A good leader knows how to inspire their team while also trusting them to make the right calls. We’ve developed the following features to make it easier for service advisors to see the status of all repairs without having to leave the service desk.
Streamline your shop's workflow
By streamlining your auto repair shop workflow, service advisor's can establish a standardized intake process to ensure the same level of service, care and professionalism is provided to customers every time.
Build repair orders in seconds and apply the right digital vehicle inspection templates with just a few clicks. Service advisors can get some time away from the computer screen, letting them focus on the customer directly, address their concerns, and create a stress-free experience.
Visibility into upcoming work
With a clear view of scheduled repairs, technicians can manage their workloads more efficiently by providing a clear view of the tasks they need to complete each day.
And because Tekmetric provides technicians with easy access to customer data, including vehicle history, service records, and customer preferences, they can provide more personalized service to their shop's clientele.
4. Create a Personalized Experience
Building and fostering that trusting relationship between your customers and your shop starts with creating a personalized experience. Customers want to feel like they're being heard, and that their concerns or hesitations are being taken seriously.
When service advisors can take a step back from building a repair order to focus on having a direct and responsive conversation with clients, they can help customers feel like they're receiving the best guidance and care your shop has to offer.
Customer History
With detailed customer history available at your fingertips, even across multiple locations with shared customer history, Service Advisors can always stay on top of the latest repairs completed on their customers’ vehicles.
By linking customer data so that service writers have access to all past information -- digital vehicle inspections, estimates generated, approved or declined work, and completed repairs -- you can save your shop time while creating a more personalized experience for the customer.
Default Inspections
With default inspections, you can set up a default inspection template that will be automatically applied to every vehicle in your shop.
Service advisors won’t have to spend time searching for your shop’s standard inspection every time they build a new repair order, but instead can tailor their service and approach to the customer’s need with a standard foundation.
As a digital solution for auto repair shops, Tekmetric understands the importance of maintaining the highest security possible. Not only do we want to ensure that our customers receive full transparency anytime their vehicle is in the shop, but we also understand the value of keeping customer data protected and secure.
Last year, Tekmetric took our data security measures to the next level by achieving SOC 2 Type I compliance – and this year, we’ve stepped up our game to achieve SOC 2 Type II compliance. By earning both SOC 2 Type I and Type II compliances, we aim to continue promoting trust, transparency and security throughout the industry.
As a company that prioritizes innovative, reliable solutions, Tekmetric is proud to be among the first auto repair shop management solutions to receive SOC 2 Type I and II compliance. These certifications are awarded in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) standards for SOC for Service Organizations (SSAE 18).
What is SOC 2 Type II Compliance?
SOC 2 Type II compliance is awarded when a system meets five principles:
Security. SOC 2 Type II protects the system against any unauthorized access, ensuring customer data is only accessible to approved parties.
Availability. This allows for stronger capabilities in monitoring performance, disaster recovery and handling security incidents. For example, Tekmetric has many data centers across the country to promote better disaster recovery. If one center goes down, the others have backup data available, so shops can access their information without missing a beat.
Processing Integrity. This quality revolves around quality assurance and process monitoring. The information you process through the system must be complete, authorized and accurate.
Confidentiality. We recognize that our partner shops obtain many types of personal data from vehicle owners. SOC 2 Type II compliance assures you and the vehicle owners that visit your shop that their data remains confidential within your system.
Privacy. Above all, we want to make sure data is specifically used for its intended purpose. People value dependability, and this certification helps keep your shop’s data private according to the standards specified by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA).
What is SOC 2 Type I vs. Type II?
Type I: Describes how security and compliance controls are “designed” based on a specific point in time. For example as of March 31st, the organization conducts background checks and has job descriptions for roles and responsibilities.
Type II: Describes the “design and operating effectiveness over a period of time (audit period),” typically 6-12 months. This assessment shows the SOC 2 control implementation and operating effectiveness over that time period.
What Does It Mean for My Shop?
Security is a big concern in the modern auto repair industry – and with good reason. No one wants their data available to the whole world. With SOC 2 Type II compliance, we are able to keep any information that you put into Tekmetric secure, from your shop’s data to your customers’ information.
This happens without you needing to lift a finger. No need to track the last time you backed up your data or review who has access to your system! You can also assure your customers that their sensitive information is safe when they give it to you. They – and you – can sleep easier knowing the data is protected, and your shop management system meets top-tier industry standards to keep it that way.
Protecting Data in the Long-Term
At Tekmetric, we’re committed to driving positive change in the auto repair industry by promoting accessibility and transparency for both partner shops and the public. Achieving SOC 2 Type II compliance demonstrates that Tekmetric not only meets, but surpasses industry standards. We are committed to consistently measuring up on behalf of our customers, and data security is no exception to that rule.
By combining our leading shop management solution with top-class data security, we can better support you and your shop in protecting your data and your customers’ data – all without slowing your team down. Here’s to transparency, trust and reliability!
In auto repair, there are many moving parts to keep track of—both the literal parts your shop uses to repair vehicles, and the parts of your business that determine your shop’s efficiency, security, and ability to grow. If you want your shop to flourish, it’s crucial to devote part of your business to keeping track of the parts you order.
Many shops track parts in terms of cost of goods sold. The parts you need for the job are included on every repair order, so it’s easy to see what parts your customers are paying for as long as you have a solid process for building repair orders.
But what about in terms of accounts payable? How does your shop track how much you’re spending for parts from the supplier?
Summer is a busy time in the auto repair industry, and 2020 was no exception.
But as the seasons change to fall and winter, we notice that fewer people are taking their vehicles in for repairs. Of course, this varies from state to state. Auto repair shops in colder climates may still see a steady flow of customers as drivers winterize their vehicles.
In most places, a slow down in business is to be expected.
While there may be fewer walk-ins, there are several ways shop owners and service writers can stimulate business and maintain a healthy sales funnel.
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