Successful Customer Relationships Are Found In The Details (Lesson 11)
In your workshop, at any moment, it’s critical that you know the exact status of any job. The most important things to know are:
- The work coming in is logged consistently
- The allocated mechanics are working on their assigned jobs
- The actual work is being done efficiently
- The job is completed and delivered to the client at the time promised.
If you have a large workshop, you probably have a service manager, whose responsibility is to oversee all the jobs. He needs to be able to answer all of the important questions related to any of the jobs at any time. For example:
- Has a mechanic been assigned to the job?
- What stage is the job at?
- Are there any delays?
- Has the job been completed?
Depending on the size of your workshop, the time required to keep track of the answers to all of these questions (and more) is unrealistic unless you have a system in place to assist you.
If a client calls you, wanting to know if their vehicle is ready, how long does it take you to find out the answer for sure? Does someone have to run into the workshop, locate the vehicle and ask the mechanics when it will be ready?
What if a client contacts you to ask if they can possibly pick up their vehicle earlier than originally requested? Wouldn’t it make your life easier if you could access a system that could show you whether you could move jobs around to accommodate their request?
A system that shows you in real time exactly what the status is of every job in your shop will make your life – or the life of your manager – so much easier. One of the most common issues we see in the auto workshop environment is that often the information about job status is actually being stored inside the head of your mechanic. Unless you are a mind reader, you cannot know where each job is up to. You won’t know any information about it until you ask the mechanic who is working on the job.
An information system within your auto workshop is critical to your success. An information highway that keeps everything running smoothly from end to end is the key to becoming a successful and profitable business owner.
Would you agree that a lot of the problems and inefficiencies in your business are due to the lack of an information system? I’d really like to hear how you currently do things. Please leave your thoughts below…
To your success,
Australia’s #1 Automotive Business Growth Expert
