Marketing Automations – Tekmetric
Tekmetric Marketing Automations enable auto-sent, personalized SMS and email messages—such as declined service reminders, appointment confirmations, and review requests—that help auto shops maintain customer engagement by following up on declined services, recurring jobs, lost customers, recent visits, and appointments, with setup options for timing, message content, and customer targeting, distinguishing between marketing (opt-in, frequency-limited) and transactional (sent to all with market enabled) communications.
What is it?
Tekmetric Marketing Automations help your shop stay connected with customers without adding more to your workload. These automated messages can remind customers about previously declined services, follow up with customers you haven't seen in a while, or remind them of time-sensitive jobs like oil changes or inspections. Once set up, Tekmetric sends timely, personalized texts that appear to come directly from your front desk.
Below is detailed information about each available automation.
Types of Automations
- Declined Service Reminder: Follow up on services the customer didn't get last time.
- Canned Job Reminder: Remind customers about recurring services, like oil changes.
- Lost Customer Follow-Up: Re-engage customers you haven't seen in a while.
- Recent Service Follow-Up: Check in with customers shortly after their visit.
- Review Request: Ask for a Google review or private feedback.
- Appointment Confirmation: Send a confirmation message when an appointment is made.
- Appointment Reminder: Remind customers of upcoming appointments.
Marketing vs. Transactional:
- Marketing automations only send to customers who've opted into marketing and respect frequency limits.
- Transactional automations (Review Requests, Recent Service Follow-ups) send to all customers with Market to Customer enabled and are not subject to frequency limits.
How to Set Up an Automation
- 1.Navigate to the Marketing > Automations tab.
- 2.Click the +New Automation button.
- 3.Select the type of automation you want to create.
- 4.In the setup screen, you can:
- Name your automation.
- Choose the timing delay (e.g., send 30 days after a visit).
- Include or exclude Business customers.
- Enable/disable Email and/or SMS Text.
- Customize the message content.
- 5.Click Save Automation.
Some automations include additional setup options. Details for each type are below.
Declined Service Reminder
What is it?
Automatically sends customized follow-up messages to customers who declined recommended services during a past visit.
Why is it important?
- Increase conversion of declined jobs: Recover lost revenue from previously declined services.
- Improve customer satisfaction: Boost retention and repeat visits.
- Less busy work: Automate follow-up without manual outreach.
- Be authentic: Customize timing, message content, and audience.
Declined Service Reminder FAQ
- Who receives these messages?
- Customers who have declined services on a past repair order marked as 'marketable.'
- Are messages specific to an individual declined service?
- No. The automation triggers for any marketable declined services.
- Minimum delay time?
- As little as 1 day. Default is 6 months.
Canned Job Reminder
What is it?
Automatic email and text reminders sent after a specific service (e.g., oil changes, inspections, tire rotations). You can create up to five different reminder campaigns based on Canned Jobs and Smart Jobs set up in your system. When a repair order with one of these jobs is completed, a follow-up reminder is scheduled after your chosen delay.
Why is it important?
- Increase Repeat Business: Stay in touch with targeted messaging.
- Save Time and Effort: No need to manually track and follow up.
- Build Customer Trust: Reminders are canceled if the customer returns for the service ahead of time.
Tips and Tricks
- Oil Change: 6 months (customize for oil type)
- Tire Rotation: 12 months
- State/Annual Inspection: 10–11 months
- Cabin/Air Filter: 6–12 months
- Brake Inspection: 6 months
Adjust timing to match your customers’ habits and your shop’s strategy.
Canned Job Reminder FAQ
- Can I include multiple jobs in one automation?
- Yes. You can select multiple Canned Jobs and/or Smart Jobs in a single automation.
Lost Customer Follow-Up
What is it?
A marketing automation to re-engage customers who haven't visited recently by sending email or text reminders.
Why is it important?
- Never lose a customer again: Remind customers you’re still available.
- Keep your calendar filled: Fill your schedule with returning customers.
- Hands off automation: Set it up once and let it run.
Lost Customer Follow-up FAQ
- What qualifies a customer as “lost”?
- If the time since their last posted repair order exceeds the configured delay (default: 12 months).
Recent Service Follow-Up
What is it?
Automated messages sent a few days after a customer's visit to check in and show appreciation.
Note: These are transactional messages. They send to all customers with Market to Customer enabled, regardless of marketing opt-in.
Why is it important?
- Enhance Customer Service: Show you care after the visit.
- Catch Problems Early: Address issues before they become complaints.
- Save Time: Automate the follow-up process.
- Build Trust: Demonstrate commitment to customer satisfaction.
Recent Service Follow-Up FAQ
- Timing restrictions: Hours: 1-24, Days: 1-14, Weeks: 1-3.
Review Request
What is it?
Automated messages sent a few days after a visit, asking customers for feedback or a Google review. Customers can choose to leave a public review or private feedback (viewable only by your shop).
Note: These are transactional messages and follow the same rules as Recent Service Follow-Ups.
Why is it important?
- Boost Search Ranking: More reviews improve your Google ranking.
- Build Trust: Reviews act as social proof.
- Drive More Business: High ratings attract new customers.
- Gather Feedback: Learn from customer experiences.
Review Request FAQ
- How to prevent multiple review requests to the same customer?
- Enable "Limit to one request per customer" in settings.
- What if a customer posts a new RO before filling out a review?
- The original review link is disabled; only the new link is active.
- Can a customer submit multiple Google reviews?
- No, but they can edit or delete their review.
- Can a customer submit multiple Private Feedback messages?
- One per posted RO.
General Automations FAQ
Managing Your Automations
- How do I turn off or delete an automation?
- Edit to disable a channel (Email or SMS), which cancels pending messages for that channel. Deleting cancels all pending messages and removes the automation.
- If I turn an automation back on, will it send to past customers who now qualify?
- Yes, except for Review Requests, which only work for visits after enabling.
- What if I create two automations with the same timing?
- You'll see an error and must choose a different delay.
Automation Limits
- Lost Customer Follow-Ups: 3
- Recent Service Follow-Ups: 2
- Declined Service Reminders: 2
- Review Requests: 1 (can be disabled, not deleted)
- Canned Job Reminders: No limit
Message Logic & Timing
- If a customer returns before a scheduled message is sent?
- The reminder is canceled. For Recent Service Follow-Up, it's rescheduled based on the new visit.
- Will a customer receive a message if they decline all jobs or post an RO with $0?
- No. ROs with less than $1.00 paid are not eligible.
- Character limits:
- SMS: 10–500 characters
- Email Subject: 10–100 characters
- Email Body: 10–4000 characters
- Are placeholders required?
- No, but personalizing with placeholders like
[First Name]and[Shop Name]is recommended.
- No, but personalizing with placeholders like
- If Lost Customer Automation is set for 12 months, who gets messages?
- Only customers lost within the last 12 months.
- Will Declined Services reminders go to customers with very old declined services?
- No, only within the chosen delay period.
- If a declined job is deleted, will reminders stop?
- Yes, deleting removes it from automations.
- How to limit message frequency?
- 1 Marketing SMS/day, 2 Marketing SMS/7 days per phone number
- 2 Marketing Emails/30 days per email
- Transactional messages (Appointment Confirmations, Reminders, Review Requests, Recent Service Follow-Ups) are not included in these limits.
Performance and Cost
- How to view automation performance?
- The RO Marketing Source report shows details for each automation.
- Where to see performance metrics?
- In the Automations tab, showing messages sent in the last 30 days and scheduled for the next 30 days.
- Does using Automations cost extra?
- Included with the Tekmetric Marketing subscription.
- What if a customer responds by calling or walking in?
- Tekmetric attributes the most recent relevant automation as the marketing source for accurate reporting.
When creating an appointment or RO, the Marketing Source dropdown is organized into:
- Custom: Your shop's custom marketing sources
- Sent from Tekmetric Marketing: Automations sent to the customer in the last 60 days (with a Recommended label on the best match)
Your team can accept, change, or clear the pre-selected source.