Quick Management Tips from Automotive Management Network

Are you using the latest methods to send reminders to your customers? Do you share positives with your customers before you tell them what’s wrong with their car? Does your shop take photos of various failures? How do you share them with your customers? Check out the latest Auto Shop Monthly Management Tips from the Automotive Management Network to get inside secrets on managing your shop and increasing your bottom line.

A Better Oil Change Reminder

Of course you are already using regular mail, email and phone calls to remind your customers when their oil change is due. But, are you texting them, too? Something like the following can be quite effective:

“Hi Fred – According to our records, the oil change on your Pinto should be due about now. Reply to this text or call us today at 555-1234 to save $X off your oil change. Thanks from Harry at Main Street Auto!”

The technology keeps on coming and some of your competitors are always using the newest things. Keep up with them, or better yet, watch for those new things and be the first shop in your town to use them.

Before You Tell Them What’s Wrong with Their Car…

See if you can find one or two things that stand out as being good. Low miles, extra clean, no rust, sharp body style, great fuel mileage, never towed in, etc. It’s far too easy to focus only on the negative when discussing car repair. By balancing it with some positives the tech, the service advisor and the customer will see things a bit differently which can often increase the amount of sale.

Enhance your Show and Tell

For quite some time now shops have regularly taken photos of various failures or the different stages of larger jobs. Then, when the customer is at the shop someone grabs their smart phone or digital camera with those photos to help with the explanation. Some will also load the photos on a shop computer for a better look. The problems are that the camera and phone screens are small, and it can be inconvenient to get the customer to view a computer monitor. A big improvement can be made by using a tablet to take the photos and show the customer. Nice big screen and very portable. Try it…your customers will love it!