SiriusXM and Tekmetric to Provide Enhanced Customer Experience at Auto Repair Shops

Your shop’s ability to grow, make a profit, and succeed hinges on clear and accurate invoicing.

If you’re still using pen and paper for your invoice system, you probably spend a lot of time reconciling records at the end of the day and may even have to stay late to put your books in order.

Paper means lots of copies, transposition of information, and a high probability of making mistakes. The same holds true if you’re using multiple software programs to juggle records at your shop to put together information for invoices. If you aren’t using a single, comprehensive system, there’s a good chance details will be incorrectly copied or left out.

Maximizing Auto Repair Shop Customer Service: A Guide to Selling Maintenance Work

Training service advisors how to properly sell maintenance work can create more loyal customers.

Drivers typically come in with an expectation of what's wrong with their car, which can make it tricky to sell maintenance work. Drivers might think you're trying to squeeze more money out of them, or may simply have a set budget in their mind and don’t plan on spending extra.

In reality, you're simply trying to go above and beyond and provide them the best service possible. So how do you show that, and which tools will help you transform the way you sell maintenance?

Here’s how to build customer trust while staying true to your auto repair shop’s mission of providing optimal maintenance recommendations.

Why Selling Maintenance Work Can Be a Challenge for Auto Repair Shop Customer Service

According to a survey conducted by AAA, 76% of U.S. drivers said that recommending unnecessary services was the top reason they do not trust auto repair shops. The survey also points out that ⅔ of U.S. drivers have managed to find an auto repair shop that they trust. Whether it’s an independent auto repair shop, or a chain repair shop, trust needs to be at the forefront of the customer experience.

Service advisors may be hesitant to sell maintenance work and only focus on the problem at hand because they don’t want to come off as pushy. But not recommending maintenance work can be a disservice to customers who deserve to know about any and all issues with their vehicle, not just the ones they’ve noticed themselves.

Add a Maintenance-Focused Inspection and Sales Process to Your Auto Repair Shop Customer Service Routine

When it comes to selling routine vehicle maintenance work, it’s important to remember that routine check ups will make a big difference on customer’s cars. Similar to the human body, cars are complex systems. Just like the body has a heart, nervous system, and organs, cars have the engine, the vehicle bus, and the control unit. If one problem is ignored, that could lead to more issues, possibly more serious than the last. For example, if a driver puts off replacing their brakes, it could damage the car’s rotors, which in turn, could lead to loss of braking power. This gets us back to one of the most important benefits of selling maintenance work: it helps your customers stay safe and get as many miles out of their car as possible.

Benefits to Selling Maintenance Work

1. Regular maintenance makes your customers’ lives easier. It prevents your customers from ending up on the side of the road and prolongs their vehicles’ lifespans.
2. Customers save money. Maintenance work can prevent car issues from getting out-of-hand, which may lead to spending more on larger repairs in the future. And who doesn’t want to address maintenance work before it becomes a much larger expense?
3. Providing maintenance inspections helps shops sell more work, which usually means higher ROs and a more profitable repair shop. Also, because maintenance work helps your customers’ vehicles last longer, they’re less likely to buy a new car, which they’ll probably get repaired at the dealership during the first few years.
4. Maintenance inspections help you queue up more work for the future. Even if they decline the maintenance work, you now have a relationship. You can track those declined jobs, and the service advisor and technician can save time figuring out what all might be wrong with the vehicle and resell that work.
5. Customers trust you more. When you provide reliable insights into your customer’s vehicles, your like their go-to car whisperer—a trustworthy person who reminds them to check stuff out on their vehicle before anything bad happens

Maintenance by Mileage

Shop owners, we recommend training your service advisors to check customer mileage at each visit and tracking it in your shop's auto repair shop customer service notes. By keeping track of customer mileage on each vehicle, you’ll be able to recommend maintenance work based on how many miles it has been since their last visit.

Mileage aside, a thorough digital vehicle inspection of all vehicle’s essential components should be performed regularly.

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!