The Customer Experience
Nothing feels better than putting a smile on your customers’ faces. When you put effort into customer service by making the shop more customer-friendly, you will be rewarded. As a matter of fact, consumers pay 17% more if they are happy with the service. They’ll also recommend you to their friends and before you know it you’ll have more clients, a great reputation, an increase in profits and maybe you’ll win an award.
Making your shop more customer-friendly is easier than you might think. Here are 5 ways to make your shop more customer-friendly:
Good Communication
Communication is an integral part of any successful business. Without good, consistent communication things can quickly go overlooked, forgotten or worse-job get done poorly. AutoServe1 helps you to communicate with your customers in a way they want to be communicated with. Customers love the two-way texting feature.
You’ll be able to send your customers videos and pictures of the repairs directly to their device. They’ll also be able to approve repairs that need to be done in a matter of seconds without taking much time out of their busy day. This type of communication is very popular with Millenials because they typically prefer texting over face to face communication or even phone calls. Giving them the option to communicate via text will make them feel catered to.
This method of communication also gets shops the crucial work approvals they need faster than “traditional” methods. People often don’t have time during the busy workday to take phone calls and go over a vehicle inspection report in detail over the phone. If it’s not the lack of time its the lack of a quiet place to take a call. Many people don’t have a “quiet” place to take calls during the day. Busy offices, loud streets, meetings and dining halls mean for a difficult phone call or voicemail. We’ve all been there, someone calls and you can hardly understand them with all that background chatter/noise.
With AutoServe1’s 2-way texting feature, they can go over extremely detailed reports righto n their phones. This means no more hard to understand phone calls, voicemails or waiting all day to get a callback.
Building Loyalty
Loyalty is extremely important when it comes to building a brand. 77% of consumers said they’ve held relationships with specific brands for 10 or more years. How can you increase your shop’s customer loyalty? Well, the first thing you can do is make a loyalty program for your customers. Make punch cards where each 10th visit to your shop rewards them with a free basic oil change or set of wipers.
Another thing you can do is ensure your shop follows consistent processes. When your shop has specific processes in place it means consistency for the customer. When customers come in and get consistent, high-quality service it can do wonders for customer loyalty.
AutoServe1 really helps shops in this regard. You can make custom checklists for all your services to ensure nothing is missed and all your offered services are done with the same consistency all the time. When a customer gets the first-hand experience with AutoServe1 digital vehicle inspections at your shop, they know what to expect each time they come in for work. The software uses the same process every time which speaks to its consistency. Autoserve1 introduces a new level of structure and organization that will be appreciated by both your staff and the customers.
Trust & Transparency
There is, unfortunately, some mistrust between some auto service shops and some customers. The reason for that is customers typically have to trust the auto shop on their word. When they say the repair was fixed properly, and additional repairs are needed customers with little to no auto knowledge just have to accept that feedback.
With Autoserve1, there is a unique level of openness with the inspection process. Thanks to digital inspections, customers get to participate in the auto repair process. Technicians can send them pictures and video evidence of repairs or problems that need to be repaired. This way the customer sees just what the techs are seeing.
When the inspection is done or when work is ready they are notified right through their phones. Seeing really is believing and if they can see the problem with their own two eyes they will trust your shop. When they feel like they can trust your shop, they’ll almost certainly be back time and time again. Check out this blog on how AutoServe1 has helped Blain’s Farm + Fleet impress customers.
The Atmosphere in Shop
The atmosphere in your auto repair shop important. If you don’t believe us maybe you’ll believe a highly relevant study from 1997 survey titled “Store Atmosphere, Mood and Purchasing Behavior”. The study reported the atmosphere influenced how customers rated establishments. Simple ways to improve the atmosphere are by putting in a couch, tv, wifi, phone chargers and coffee in your shop. If you want to cater to Millenials you can try bright bold colors and trendy fixtures.
The whole point here is to make your customers feel as comfortable as they would be at home. We’ve seen and heard shops putting tvs with video game consoles in the waiting room for parents with kids. Little things like this make the stressful process much easier for people. In the case of having a video game console for kids, you can almost bet that goes over extremely well for their bored kids. No more will those parents hear “IM BORED” at this family-friendly shop again. This also plants the seed in the kid’s head that your shop is a great place. This may be something they remember when it comes time for them to need auto repairs.
Ease of Access Repair Information
No one likes to be confused. A confused customer could lead to mistrust and possibly a loss of business. Gone are the days of paper reports. Autoserve1 offers clean and clear reports that are texted to the phone for the customer’s convenience. Digital inspection reports provide customers with much more valuable information than their paper counterparts. Include photos and video right in the report for customers to understand exactly what’s going on with their car. Digital inspections also help customers understand their cars maintenance schedule and what may need fixing next.
It’s clear that customers prefer digital inspections over paper inspections as it’s no coincidence that shops that employ these reports report see a 25% increase on their average invoices.
Taking care of your customers means they will take care of you. Get a free demo with our experts by filling out the form below.