Meet Customers Where They’re At | Tekmetric

When my husband Dana and I started Haglin Automotive, our loyal customers found us from The Yellow Pages.

Things have drastically changed since then thanks to all the technology advancements. Online reviews and Google play a big part in whether a customer will set foot in your shop or return for future repairs.

At Haglin Auto, we always adjust to meet customers, and whether they’re a return customer or a new customer, we prioritize how they feel.

It’s important to meet your customers where they are. We even offer customers free vehicle pick-up and delivery service, free shuttle services, and free loaner vehicles.

But, more importantly, we make sure they understand their repairs and can see everything that’s going on with their cars.

Build Trust with Digital Vehicle Inspections (DVIs)

Haglin Auto has been around for 41 years in the Boulder area, and twice a year 30,000 people come in and out because of Boulder University of Colorado, so we’ve always had an influx of students.

And in order to cater to our college students, we started implementing DVIs.

The reason we made the change in the first place was because our service writers would call a local college student and say, “Your car is doing this, this, and that,” and a lot of the times a student would respond with, “I don’t understand,” “I’m not the one paying,” or “Let me call my mom or dad.”

From there, the student would make a phone call home, they would ask questions, and then the student would call back with questions.

Meet Customers Where They Are

Once we realized this was happening often with our customers, we asked ourselves, “Okay, how do we adapt to meet their needs?” And from that point on, we decided to offer those students the convenience of our service writers sending all DVIs from Tekmetric straight to their parents, so they can see everything going on complete with pictures and videos.

Creating that relationship not only with the students but also with the parents has been great. And I understand firsthand what it’s like sending your loved one to another city or state.

My daughter, Krystine, went to Northern Arizona University. When we dropped her off for her freshman year, I made a point to drive to the local shops and based on who they were, I was able to determine which one she should go to if she experienced any car issues.

“We want parents to feel comfortable with their children taking their cars to our shop.”

Knowing that someone was there for her if there was an issue with her vehicle was great, and that’s always been our philosophy. We want parents to feel comfortable with their children taking their cars to our shop.

The parents can see everything, and with Tekmetric, they can actually authorize everything and even check out using Text-to-Pay.

Adopting the FORD Strategy

At Haglin Auto, we treat all of our customers like family.

We’ve adopted the FORD strategy from The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Conventional Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World by John R. Dijulius III. With each customer that enters our shop, we make it a point to get to know them by asking them questions about each of the FORD topics.

If you can name different FORD facts about your customers and employees, that’s great! If not, you may want to find out more about them.

At Haglin Auto, we work hard to give our customers the experience they deserve. We always live by The Haglin Way.

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FAQ

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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.

Drivers can sometimes see repairs as frivolous or not important.

Reasons for their skepticism can stem from many things: the customer can’t see what the service advisor is seeing on their end; they might not have a way to gauge the importance of the issue at hand; maybe a service advisor doesn’t communicate the problem correctly or forgets to ask the customer if they’re following along.

Tekmetric’s features empower auto repair shops to improve customer transparency, streamline communication, provide flexible payment options, and simplify the payment process.

These promote customer trust, enhance satisfaction, and ultimately help your shop close more repair orders. And that's what matters most.

Because at the end of the day, if customers feel they can trust your shop, they'll be more likely to return the next time they need something repaired.

As the world around us is constantly evolving, so is the auto repair industry.

An auto repair shop that stays stagnant and sticks to the status quo could be losing out on profits, reputation and valuable time.

Without a growth-focused mindset or the right forward-looking strategies, your shop could be missing out and fall behind others.

Fortunately, implementing a modern shop management system and standardizing your shop’s processes can help unlock your shop's full potential.

Break The Status Quo

Rapid advancements in technology are changing every industry around us, and because of this, customer expectations are higher than ever.

However, making changes to a process that you’ve had in your shop for years can seem like a daunting task.

These days, the best tool a shop can have in their back pocket is a shop management system. The right system should provide you with the tools to increase your bottom line, your reputation with customers and your overall productivity.

Implementing a quality shop management system can be a game-changer for shops when it comes to growing profits.

Systems such as Tekmetric help their users streamline processes, optimize workflow and enable shops to repair more vehicles in the same amount of time it was previously taking them.

Most importantly, the simple act of integrating a shop management system can increase your shop’s bottom line.

Increase Customer Loyalty

Shop management systems allow shops to ensure consistent, quality service to their customers.

As a result, these shops are building a loyal customer base, leading to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth which promotes growth of the business.

Customer trust can lead directly to your shop's financial gain, so it's important to ensure you're using tools, like Tekmetric, to increase customer trust and loyalty.

Gain Back Time

Finally, it's important to recognize whether some of your most time-consuming tasks can take up less time in your day by being automated through a shop management system.

Think about the tasks that you spend the most time on in your shop.

By using a shop management system to automate tasks such as appointment scheduling, inventory management and invoicing, shop owners can reduce both the time their team spends doing simple tasks as well as manual errors.

When less time is being spent on these important yet time-consuming tasks, the time shops get back can be spent on repairs, putting more money in everyone’s pocket as a result.

Breaking the status quo and unlocking your shop's full potential by implementing a shop management system is made easy by systems like Tekmetric.

This, in turn, can increase your shop's revenue and efficiency, build customer trust and satisfaction and provide valuable time and cost savings.

Tekmetric is the perfect solution for shop owners looking to take their business to the next level.

For more information, view our Cost of Doing Nothing E-book Here