Reasons to Update Your Current Auto Repair Invoice and Estimating Process

The article emphasizes the importance of updating your auto repair invoice and estimating process to improve accuracy, efficiency, and customer satisfaction in automotive service operations.

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Why You Should Update Your Current Auto Repair Invoice and Estimating Process

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1. Meet Any Relevant Compliance Standards

Depending on which state you’re operating your auto repair business in, you might be legally required to give customers an estimate before the technician begins working on the car and an invoice when the work is completed. Some states with a variation of this law include California, North Carolina, and Washington.

No matter which state you’re in, it’s a good idea to brush up on the latest applicable laws to make sure that your shop is in compliance. When you’re managing your team and growing your business, the last thing you want to deal with is a legal hurdle.

2. Provide Better Customer Service

Legal compliance aside, fine-tuning your auto repair invoice and estimating process helps you provide better customer service.

Think about it this way: when you go shopping, you want to see the price tag on an item before deciding to make a purchase. For your customers, getting an estimate is akin to seeing the “price tag” on an item before committing to a purchase. When customers get an estimate from you, they’ll feel more at ease and secure with getting a repair from your shop. In addition, they’ll know that you care about their experience and will be impressed by your team’s professionalism.

When a service advisor sends a customer an estimate, both parties are essentially signing off on a contract, stating that they understand the nature of the repair work to be performed and the cost. If a repair doesn’t go as planned or the cost is higher than expected, the customer will hold your shop accountable. Likewise, once the customer receives the invoice, if they walk back on a repair they signed off on or don’t pay, you can hold them accountable.

3. Minimize Chargebacks and Loss of Money

A major benefit of that increased accountability is that you’ll minimize chargebacks, and your shop will lose less money.

Imagine that you don’t have a refined repair invoice and estimate process in place. Your customer might have fuzzy expectations going into the repair. Then, once it’s time to pay, they gawk at the price—they didn’t think it would be that much. They might argue back-and-forth with the service advisor, and you might get dragged into the argument. Finally, things settle down, and the customer pays. You think everything is okay. But a few days later, you see: a chargeback!

Suddenly, you have a new headache on your hands that you need to solve to ensure that your team is compensated for their hard work and that your shop doesn’t take a financial loss.

By providing each customer with an estimate and invoice, you’re showing them exactly what to expect. They will have transparency into the repair process and aren’t surprised when it’s time to pay. As a result, you avoid wasting your valuable time and energy on chargebacks and safeguard your shop from financial loss.

4. Use Declined Jobs to Keep Better Records for Future Repairs

A fine-tuned auto repair invoice and estimating process not only safeguards your shop from chargebacks and financial loss but also helps your shop upsell work in the future. Any repairs your customers decline on an estimate can be sold back to them at a later time.

When a service advisor gives a customer an estimate, there’s a chance that they may not approve every listed job, especially the non-urgent repairs. They might decide to come back to your shop in a few months, once the repair is necessary. However, customers might forget to do so, and your team might, too. But with a structured invoice and estimate process in place, service advisors can keep track of declined jobs. From there, when the time rolls around for those turned-down repairs, the service advisor can notify the customer.

5. Increase Your Shop’s ARO

A transparent, effective auto repair estimate process starts with a digital vehicle inspection (DVI). When a service advisor sends a customer a DVI, the customer will be able to look at the attached photos and videos of their vehicle, as well as the proposed repairs and the urgency of those repairs.

Because the customer will see exactly what’s wrong with their vehicle, they’ll be more likely to sign off on all the work, rather than just what they think they need. The photos and videos paint a clearer picture of the necessity of each repair. As a result, you’ll sell more work per individual ticket, and your shop’s ARO will increase.

How to Fine-Tune Your Auto Repair Invoice and Estimating Process

While paper invoices and estimates might work in the short term, they’re not sustainable—and we’re not just talking about the environment. An ever-expanding paper trail means that service advisors will have to hunt down individual estimates in messy file folders, customers might misplace their estimates, and more.

A shop management system like Tekmetric can streamline your auto repair invoice and estimating process.

With Tekmetric, a service advisor can create a repair order and dispatch it to a technician to run an inspection. Once the technician conducts the inspection, the service advisor can send the customer a DVI, which will outline the exact repairs their vehicle will need. From there, the customer can approve or decline individual line items on the repair order, directly from their phone.

In order to prevent sticker-shock, Tekmetric separates the inspection and estimate sections. When customers open the DVI, they will first see the photos, videos, and other repair details. Once they scroll down, they’ll see the pricing.

When customers finish clicking through the estimate, designating the jobs they approve and decline, the shop has the go-ahead to start the repair. There’s a digital record of exactly what the customer approved, so when it’s time to pay, there are no surprises—and the customer drives off happy, leaves a good review, and refers your shop to their family and friends.

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FAQ

With Digital Vehicle Inspections shops can go the extra mile and introduce a new level of transparency through a frictionless experience for the customer.

They can get clear pictures or videos to show them what's wrong, have the inspection results sent to their email, and approve or decline work with just the click of a button.

However, while this is super simple for the customer, for Service Advisors, finding the right inspection can be time-consuming. Especially when your shop is training new service advisors and introducing them to your standard operations.

To save your Service Advisor's time and effort, we are excited to announce our newest feature: Default Inspections.

This feature streamlines the inspection process and makes it easier for you to provide great service to your customers.

Product Updates

Introducing Default Inspections For Tekmetric DVIs

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Think about your own day-to-day experience in and around your shop. What’s slowing you down, and what do you wish could be easier?

Maybe it’s showing customers inspection findings, maybe it's just keeping track of all your repair orders as you wait for parts or approval to start work. Or maybe it’s bringing in new business.

No matter what you think could be improved, chances are there might be a better tool for the job of helping you manage your shop.

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The Biggest Benefits of a Cloud-Based Auto Repair Shop Management System

November 2, 2023

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Let’s face it, tracking inventory is tricky. It takes keen attention to detail, an ability to anticipate your shop’s needs, great timing, and some serious research skills—not to mention a lot of time on the phone or computer, away from the action of the shop.

Bottom line? Keeping track of inventory is a job that most service advisors and shop owners didn’t sign up for. While some shops have a shop foreman to help with inventory, even the best foreman still needs a solid tracking system.

But when a shop runs low on the right tools and parts, it can mean turning away customers when you could be building loyalty instead. Simply put, without up-to-date inventory records, your shop may have to pump the brakes and turn away customers or delay jobs.

If your team wants to stay ahead in the industry, you probably see inventory upkeep as a frequent task. And without a shop inventory software, you might also spend hours calculating purchases, tracking orders, checking wear and tear to tools, and rotating stock.

Everyone has their own way of conducting the inventory process, but in general, inventory methods fall into three major categories: