How to Work with Customers Who Use Online Auto Repair Estimate Tools

If you run an auto repair shop, chances are you have customers who think they know what’s going on with their vehicle as soon as they set foot in your shop. Although customers with preconceived assumptions can be frustrating at times, it's important to give drivers credit for doing their research, especially now when we have a wealth of information at our fingertips.

You might be thinking, “Yes, but automotive repair estimates online aren’t always the best source of information.” And you’re right. But as people, we often trust our own intuition and symptom-research more than we trust professionals. Consumers also have a hard time trusting the auto repair industry—or any business that gives diagnoses. Just as people look up their symptoms online and come to conclusions on WebMD, they tend to do the same when something is wrong with their vehicle.

Whether or not the information they find is accurate, the internet isn’t going anywhere. We’re all guilty of using the internet for quick and easy answers, which is why it’s important to empathize with customers. Just as they may Google their symptoms, it’s likely they’ll type into the search bar, “Why is my car making a rattling sound?”

Of course, the results that populate aren’t necessarily what an auto repair pro would point out. But whatever they find online still gives them some peace of mind, knowing they are informed before stepping foot into an auto repair shop that they may or may not trust.

It’s inevitable: people feel more protected if they understand—or even slightly understand—the issue at hand first.

Now, consider where your customers are getting their car repair information from. If you answered “auto repair estimate online tools,” you’re exactly right.

What are Free Car Repair Estimate Online Tools?

We’ve all seen these phrases online: “Get an Instant Estimate Now!” or “Know Your Car Repair Costs in Seconds!” There’s a good chance the words “fast” and “free” are also present. For the average person, knowing how much they might have to spend on something they’ve invested in is enticing.

When you see the words “free” and “estimate” online, you’ll likely want to check the link out. Your vehicle is crucial to your daily routine, and your hard-earned money goes towards paying for it, upkeep, preventative maintenance, and unexpected repair costs. Auto repair cost estimator tools are exactly that: a tool to estimate how much you might have to spend on your car’s repairs. If all a person has to do is enter their zip code, vehicle year, make, and model, and the service needed to get some peace of mind, chances are they’ll do it.

Who Uses Car Repair Estimates Online?

Because automobile repair estimates online are so easily obtainable, it’s important to look into who exactly is getting their vehicles repaired. Understanding the industry’s demographics helps determine who tends to use online estimates before visiting your shop.

A poll conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Ally Bank determined that people are no strangers to vehicle maintenance. The average American spends nearly $2,000 on vehicle repairs and maintenance over five years. The report broke the repair costs down into age groups:

• ​Drivers 18–34: $2,334
• ​Drivers 35–44: $1,978
• ​Drivers 45–54: $2,135
• ​Drivers 55 and older: $1,654

Research shows that 93% of American adults use the internet and 81% conduct research before making a purchase. Consumers researching auto parts are among the most likely to use search engines—80% for auto parts and 78% for tire dealers.

Both older and younger generations use the internet to access information. According to The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK), 73% of Boomers, 69% of Gen Z, and 59% of Millennials report using the internet primarily to access information. Doing online research before making a buying decision has become more prominent in everyday life.

Chances are, if someone owns a vehicle and has a computer or smartphone, they’ve looked up car repair costs online. This isn’t just for customers—some auto repair shop owners search repair costs to determine the average rate or set their competitive rate.

What does this have to do with car repair estimate tools? Age differences aside, typing a question into Google before making a decision is an innate habit among all of us.

Expectations Versus Reality

We have all become accustomed to new experiences due to technology. As a society, we’re used to moving fast to find “answers” and sometimes create false expectations before considering reality—or forget to temper our expectations with a professional’s opinion.

Instant Gratification Through Automotive Repair Estimates Online

Let’s say a customer’s vehicle broke down or they heard a strange noise. Years ago, they would have had to get to the nearest shop for answers. Now, they can get immediate gratification by simply typing into Google, “Why won’t my car start?”

Smartphones give us the ability to find any answer in our pocket. Technology has created a sense of instant gratification. We can order food, shop, or watch TV from our phones. Because we can make things happen and find answers in real time, we apply that to many aspects of our lives. Conducting research on the internet before making a big purchase will only become easier for customers.

Although surfing the web for answers is easy, not all results are accurate. That’s why it’s important to win over your customers in ways search engines can’t.

A Scope on How Online Research Can Impact Us

We’ve all heard of the “rabbit hole”—that never-ending, time-consuming state when searching topics online.

Let’s look at three types of headspaces customers can get into when they look up an auto repair estimate online. These aren’t clean cut and can vary, but breaking down how online research can make people think and feel might help your service advisors respond more empathetically.

The Worrier

This customer worries or catastrophizes after looking up their problem online. They might type, “Why is my car shaking?” and after several articles, conclude their car is going to explode. Their imagination fills in the gaps.

The Determined

These customers walk in with a mission: to get repairs started. They may do some research but could get overwhelmed with different answers and just want the repairs completed.

The Skeptic

These customers are more wary; maybe they’re more auto-savvy and aren’t as prone to falling down the rabbit hole. They fact-check what they read and may also doubt your service advisor’s recommendations.

Every customer is different, making it challenging for service advisors to know what headspace they’re in. When it comes to car repairs, how do you work with customers who have come to conclusions based on the internet, and how do you remind them that as a professional, you have the expertise to provide accurate answers?

Simply saying, “We’ll do an inspection to confirm what you’ve found” is the response most customers prefer. This shows them you hear their concerns and will look into what they’ve found online.

Educate Your Customers Through Your Shop’s Auto Repair Tools

As auto repair shop professionals, we have our own processes and tools to help teach our customers. The goal isn’t to talk at your customers, but to help them better understand what’s happening with their vehicle by walking them through your findings. Customers might think they know what’s wrong, but there could be more root causes that a Google search can’t see or explain.

When typing a symptom into a search engine, you can’t measure the severity of the issue. There can be a lot of nuance that gets overlooked. For example, typing “what’s that clicking sound?” could yield thousands of possible causes, but a professional can show the customer exactly what the noise is and where it’s coming from.

Here are just a few results that come up when searching “Why is my car making a clicking noise?”:

• ​Low oil pressure
• ​Worn valve train components
• ​Issues with the electrical system
• ​Misadjusted valves
• ​Damaged spark plugs
• ​Low engine oil level

Even if a customer doesn’t use online tools, being able to see for themselves what is wrong with their car and what steps are needed to resolve the issue is pivotal. Setting up tools in your shop that provide customers with accurate proof about their vehicle will enhance transparency.

Here are five tools you can use at your shop to better educate your customers:

1. Build Trust Through Digital Vehicle Inspections

A transparent, effective auto repair estimate process starts with a digital vehicle inspection (DVI). DVIs allow your customer to see what’s wrong with their vehicle with an accurate depiction of the issues. On the internet, your customer might see a picture, but it isn’t of their car. With DVIs, you can send detailed inspection results to your customers—straight to their smartphone. Along with notes, you can send images and videos, and make markings or edits to help your customers better understand the issue.

Educating your customers with a transparent inspection process helps build trust. Seeing a picture of their own car makes all the difference compared to seeing a hypothetical vehicle online. Giving them the ability to approve or decline work is an opportunity to provide additional work in the future.

2. Ensure Consent With Digital Authorization

Give your customers the ability to authorize what does and does not get done to their car. Multiple authorization options help customers feel agency and control, building further trust.

If your shop uses Tekmetric as its shop management software, you have several authorization options:

1. 1.Customers can sign their digital signature on your service advisor’s tablet
2. 2.You can check off that the customer has authorized the work while on the phone
3. 3.They can approve the work through text message

3. Build Rapport With Previous Declined Jobs

Declined jobs set your shop’s customer up to come back before looking the problem up online because you already prompted them that it might be an issue in the future. For example, if a customer comes in after doing online research and suspects their vehicle needs new ignition coils, and you also find their brake pads are wearing thin, you can mark the brake pads as recommended but not necessary. If they decline the brake pads, but later experience an issue, they’ll remember your advice and return to your shop.

4. Adapt To Customer’s Preferred Communication Methods

Tekmetric's two-way texting tool allows service advisors to seamlessly text customers straight from your shop’s software system. Instantly sending and receiving texts helps your shop quickly respond to customers and helps customers get a hold of your shop no matter where they are.

Emails, face-to-face communication, and phone calls are always great, but giving your customers several ways to reach you enhances their experience, builds transparency, and makes your team’s lives easier. If your potential customers are willing to type their car troubles into Google, they’ll likely take the time to text a trusted car expert.

Ways Tekmessage Can Enhance Your Auto Repair Shop:

• ​Instantly send and receive texts
• ​Make your customer’s lives easier
• ​Make your shop easy to contact
• ​Centralize customer communication

Consumers prefer a response time within a 24-hour window, so adapting to that wish helps build customer loyalty.

5. Be More Efficient With a Job Board

Tekmetric’s Job Board breaks down repair orders into three columns: estimate, work-in-progress, and complete. Implementing a system that gives your team a bird’s eye view helps techs complete ROs faster, giving service writers the ability to sell more work.

As soon as a customer brings their vehicle to your shop, the estimate stage is triggered. With a Job Board, you can view every step from estimate to work-in-progress. If a customer declines a job, it remains in the estimate column. Once approved, it moves to work-in-progress. Service advisors can quickly glance at the status bar to see if the RO is “waiting on parts,” “on-hold,” “waiting on customer,” “in-progress,” or “work not started.”

Having the ability to quickly see where a customer’s vehicle is in the process shows your customers how smooth your shop’s process is and the benefits of visiting professionals for repair estimates.

Tek-Tips on Navigating the Job Board:

1. 1.Choose what view you want: “active jobs,” “saved for later,” “accounts receivable,” “paid,” or “deleted.”
2. 2.Customize the view by column or list view. You can drag and drop ROs in list view.
3. 3.Each column can be sorted by RO number, status, date created, promised time out, service writer, or customer name.
4. 4.Easily find a specific vehicle, customer, or repair by typing it in the job board search bar.
5. 5.Populate any current RO statuses to show up on the job board.
6. 6.Statuses include: not started, requires authorization, pending authorization, declined, in-progress, need to order parts, waiting on parts, waiting on customer, balance due, etc.
7. 7.Populate ROs by employee or assign jobs to specific technicians.
8. 8.Select appointment type: “stay with” or “drop off.”

Teach Customers the Three C’s of Auto Repair Work

You’re probably familiar with the 3 Cs on your shop’s repair orders: condition (or concern), cause, and correction.

• ​Condition: What the customer is seeing or noticing.
• ​Cause: The technician’s diagnosis as to what is causing the vehicle’s condition.
• ​Correction: What needs to be done to resolve the issue.

Teaching your customers the 3 Cs helps them be more realistic about their vehicle repairs and more likely to trust professionals.

For example, a customer enters the shop due to a no start concern (condition). The tech runs diagnostics to figure out the cause. The service writer sends off the work to be authorized, and then the tech starts the work (correction).

Build Trust with Your Customers

Customers look up prices beforehand because they want to be aware of what they might have to spend before stepping into the shop. They also want a set price in case the shop overcharges them. The auto repair industry can sometimes have a bad reputation regarding pricing.

According to RepairPal, 66% of individuals who own or lease a vehicle believe they have been ripped off by an auto repair shop, and 38% worry that they cannot trust their mechanic. Gaining your customer’s loyalty through transparent work is optimal. If you want your customers to approve estimates, you have to build trust.

Five ways you can build trust with customers:

1. Embrace the Power of Word of Mouth

Customers are more likely to select an auto repair shop based on family or friend recommendations than any other form of marketing. According to a Nielsen survey, 92% said they trust recommendations from people they know over any other type of advertising.

Think of how many times you’ve seen this question: “On a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are you to refer our business to a friend?” Every answer leads your shop to a net promoter score (NPS), which measures your customer’s experience and predicts business growth.

• ​Promoters (score 9-10) are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth.
• ​Passives (score 7-8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings.
• ​Detractors (score 0-6) are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word of mouth.

The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

---

By focusing on transparency, education, and communication, auto repair shops can better serve customers who use online auto repair estimate tools and build lasting trust.