Blog

In the fast-paced automotive industry, things are always changing. This blog is made for automotive professionals — mechanics, shop owners, and service advisors — navigating the transition from traditional paper inspections to utilizing cutting-edge digital vehicle...

What’s keeping body shop owners awake at night? And how many of them could cure their worrisome insomnia with a body shop quality control checklist? Let’s look at the problem and some remedies. 

What’s keeping body shop owners awake at night? And how many of them could cure their worrisome insomnia with a body shop quality control checklist? Let’s look at the problem and some remedies. 

What’s keeping body shop owners awake at night? And how many of them could cure their worrisome insomnia with a body shop quality control checklist? Let’s look at the problem and some remedies. 

Every auto repair shop has customer turnover as people move away or give up their cars when they get older. By constantly bringing in new customers, you keep your bays busy and your shop profitable. However, it takes planning to generate leads for your auto repair shop.

When a customer trusts your shop with their car care, even the little signals you send matters. So, imagine if they get into their car and a grease smear stains their hands or clothes. That makes them question your auto shop quality control measures. And it could cost...

Business texting has been on the rise for some time now and with that came spam. The carriers have fought back against spam with new requirements for registration but this has left responsible business owners caught unaware.  If your business uses text messaging, you...

Despite your best efforts, some jobs end up costing more time and money than planned. And that hurts your bottom line. So, how do you set up your shop to deliver on time – no matter how big the job?  Wisely, the most successful shops turn to an automotive labor times...

Twenty years ago, I was challenged to go to a Toastmasters meeting by Mark, my friend and a quality assurance engineer at the company I was working for. He told me that he loved my ideas but that I was not good at presenting them. I honestly was a little hurt by his...

At a time when consumers value every minute and every dollar, businesses need to work harder to earn customer loyalty. Every time a customer drives away from their shop, you risk losing them to a competitor’s alluring discount or location. The secret to automotive...

If you’re going to measure one metric to drive your auto repair shop’s success, choose your average repair order (ARO). It serves as the key indicator of your business’s financial health and potential profitability. So, how do you make it grow? Ideally, you upsell...

Surely, you’ve heard all the buzz about adopting auto repair estimate software. And you know it’s time to leave your comfort zone of old habits. If you’re still on the fence, we’ll summarize how much this can change the game for you and your profit level. In short,...

Unlike previous generations, those who make their careers in today's auto-repair industry have an impressive array of outlets to share their multitudes of familiar frustrations.   Social media offers a simple way to commiserate.  A simple way to vent.  A simple...

These days, most modern auto repair shops use business text messaging to update their customers about appointments, promotions and repairs. This quick and convenient communication helps both staff and customers exchange vital information during busy days. However, due...

In today’s instant-reward world, no one wants to wait for long to get an answer. After all, we’ve all grown used to Google serving up information instantly. However, when it comes to auto repair, you want to make sure customers get a thorough estimate. That way, they...

“Do you do more than just transmission repairs?” For a transmission shop that has been in business since 1960, it was a fair question. For decades and three generations… The answer was no. We were busy, the work was consistent, and we had a streamlined process for...

Every day, auto repair shops waste time and energy with those tiny inconveniences that eat into your profits. Like it or not, every step between the hoist, the toolbox, the supply room, and beyond really adds up. By streamlining your shop, you can reduce wear and tear...

How much does it cost to win over a new customer? Estimates in auto repair chat rooms range from $17 to $148, with most reporting averages between $33 to $75. Now, rather than go out and fight for more business, invest your energy on keeping your current customers...

For years, managing an auto repair shop meant doing vehicle inspection reports based on paper checklists. This habit carries on today, even when most other parts of shop operations have moved online. You may think that digital vehicle inspections (DVIs) just replicate...

Clearly, you want to expand your auto repair business to win more market share and share your expertise more widely. Yet you want to know how to grow auto repair business without drowning in paperwork that consumes valuable time. Auto shops can grow while managing the...

Before supply chains made it harder to get a new car, the average American spent $1,986 on car repairs. Now, they invest even more to keep their vehicles running until they can afford, or even get, a new one. That trend helps auto repair shop profit margins. However,...

Are you looking for ways to make your auto repair shop’s customer relations more efficient? You’re not alone. With the latest CRM auto repair automation, you can streamline communication with customers while still sounding personal and friendly. If this type of system...

Reporting and metrics show that text updates have a positive impact on shop staff and their clients, yet a common concern from the front counter remains the apprehension that they may be sending too many texts.

Think about how many steps advisors and techs take around the shop every day to hand papers back and forth. Yet, all that wasted time can disappear with the use of vehicle inspection software. But where do you even start to make the switch? As many shops have...

When you think about auto repair marketing, a short list of items likely jumps to mind. First, you’ll need an advertising campaign, social media posts and some rave reviews, but that’s just a start. Marketing infiltrates every relationship and each step in your...

Quality control (QC), in the professional automotive repair business, is the term used to describe the final phase of the process where a vehicle is inspected after servicing. It is universally understood to be a critical part of any visit. Few would disagree. Fewer...

When your shop fills up with cars, you don’t have time waiting for clunky software to do its job. If your vehicle inspection software can’t keep up with your pace of work, you need to find one that does. Digital vehicle inspections (DVIs) can really make or break your...

Digital Vehicle Inspections (DVI) continue to catch on in auto repair shops across the country. With the gradual increase in software platforms offering basic digital forms, the number of shops that feel they are benefiting from DVI, however, is highly exaggerated...

Moments and Interactions Life is made up of moments and interactions, tens of thousands daily. Every one of these moments carries a weight behind it that we may not recognize and that's the power of influence. With so many moments and interactions throughout the day,...

Automotive repair businesses have come a long way when it comes to marketing. With the rise of social media and texting, you could overlook the tried-and-true method of email in auto repair marketing. But don’t be fooled: email is still an incredibly effective tool...

Digital Vehicle Inspection Software: A Secret Weapon to Boost ARO Most successful auto repair shops have one thing in common: a high average repair order (ARO). Specifically, they leverage digital vehicle inspection software to easily relate with their clients...

Without a doubt, few customers will admit they don’t know what’s wrong with their car or how to fix it. However, you can ease their car-repair anxiety by offering a digital vehicle inspection that makes the case for you. The transparency of a Digital Vehicle...

Every once in a while, I like to talk about things that are not technical or business related. Personal development is a favorite topic of mine, and I realize that it is an underappreciated subject. I think personal development gets a bad rap, and most people think of...

How Digital Vehicle Inspections Boost Customer Contacts Digital vehicle inspections offer a great way to thoroughly assess a vehicle in your shop so nothing gets overlooked. A digital vehicle inspection ( DVI) takes the standard paper checklist and makes it part of...

Automotive specialists are cursed to walk the earth acutely aware of a fundamental truth: things fall apart. In contrast, the average motorist more commonly adheres to what I call “the assumption of good function.” They’re blissfully unaware of the complexity of...

Creating an all-in-one solution for any industry is a pretty huge feat and typically not something that is ever 100% completed. If you think about your day, most people use 5 to 10 different digital tools to get their job done that aren't under one software umbrella....

On the topic of ensuring vehicle safety, an amusing thought crossed my mind regarding inspections and observation. I would hesitate to call this amusement a thought experiment, but it was (very) loosely based on a physicist, Erwin Schrodinger's thought experiment,...

Recently, I was quoted in an article about a shop's competitive advantage: https://www.autoserviceworld.com/if-this-is-your-competitive-advantage-youre-doing-it-wrong/. The idea that you fix cars better than others is not really a competitive advantage. From a...

In hindsight, it seems oddly fitting that the very first time I heard Chris Cloutier speak was when he was delivering a keynote speech at an industry event. It was AAPEX in the fall of 2017. A few months later, I found myself working for Chris and his software...

An Interesting Case An interesting case came up today that I wanted to translate into some insight from the SaaS (Software as a Service) side. Developers commonly face conflicting feature requests. The best solution isn't always clear, and they'll never please all...

Does Your Staff See Your Vision? As a business owner, you have a vision for your business. Having this vision keeps you focused on what you need to do now so that your business can maintain its trajectory towards that vision. This is great for you, but you can’t keep...

Leadership is one of my favorite topics. A leadership advisor once told me that leadership is tough because you don't get a medal or certificate stating you're now a great leader after certain accomplishments. Great leadership takes a lifetime to cultivate. I'm not a...

Back when I first began my journey in the automotive industry, I was told by my coach that every shop has a ceiling for maximum capacity. He said that the following formula would determine your potential ceiling for labor: Multiply your number of bays by your hours in...

One of the best pieces of advice that I was given from a trainer is to set goals for myself and my businesses. If I didn't set goals, then I would never reach ANY destination, let alone the one that I thought would be what I wanted. The trainer said to think of...

For years our industry has seemed to struggle to catch up to rising standards of customer service that others have made normal and consumers have grown to expect. But not this year. This year, we set the bar. Think about it. Hotels with no breakfast, airlines with...

There are a few areas to address when a technician states something to the notion of, “Doing the DVI is not worth my time.” Let's tackle the reasons why a tech might feel this way. The inspection takes too long to complete. A non-paid courtesy inspection should not...

I just wrote a blog about how competition is healthy, and I still stand by that. Competition makes us stronger. In the Bible, Proverbs 27:17 sums it up perfectly: "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." There is a saying that all is fair in love and war....

Competition is a good thing, yet it's something that we tend to look at negatively. Why? A lot of times it's because we aren't doing as well as we want to, so we blame our competition for our lack of success. Yes, that is a hard statement to write and understand. I...

For all the talk we hear about raising the image of the auto repair industry to a true profession, we must first have a reckoning with how we understand our relationship with those whom we serve. Restaurants and hospitality businesses have guests.Doctors and medical...

I do my best to stay agnostic when it comes to what kind of technology a shop should use. I don't want to promote something that works for one shop but doesn't work for another. I don't even promote Autoflow that much in my own blogs and presentations, BUT I will...

The following quote was given to me by a friend named Mark who owns multiple shops: "The challenge is to blend the technology in the front room with the touch so that you can create the trust to differentiate your company from your competitors. Trust goes beyond just...

Software can take a good shop and make it great. It can help streamline good processes and make communication easier, both inside and outside your shop

There is a great data model that I use in a lot of my presentations called the Kano model from lean six sigma. It identifies customer satisfaction in a short summary. In this model, you see that there are things that are expected/required and then things that are...

I've been developing software for the majority of my life now, which means I am getting old. And, one thing I've come to realize is that software seamlessly working with other software is a GREAT thing. Back in my early days of development, I worked in closed looped...

I recently read the book Change or Die, and I STRONGLY recommend it to anyone looking to make a change in their life or business, which I am pretty sure covers most of us. Yes, the title is brutal, but the writer makes a strong point about change being hard.

Being the communication medium between highly competent technicians and highly demanding clients is only one challenge point behind the counter of an auto repair facility. That point gets plenty of love thanks to texting and digital vehicle inspections. What about the...

In an early blog, I discussed feedback as a gift that you should receive (https://www.autoflow/blog/feedback-is-like-a-christmas-morning-gift/), much like on Christmas morning. Some gifts you love, some you return or re-gift, and some you throw away. The main point...

As shop owners, we know that it's an inconvenience for our customers when their vehicles break down, and we should do everything we can to make their experience at our shops painless. We know that they are busy with work, kids, sports, hobbies, pets, and the list goes...

I created the following example years ago to illustrate the importance of automotive repair shops performing a final quality control check on ALL vehicles that they touch. While it's a process that up front constitutes a change in your shop and in attitude, it will...

I’ll never forget the first digital platform I attempted rolling out in my shop. Introducing it to my chief technician was a nightmare. This was largely due to the fact that one of the features on that platform was a time tracking piece which was intended to provide a...

I have been asked how I handle running two auto repair shops and a software company, along with being a father (who doesn't like to miss his daughters' soccer games) and a loving husband (who at least picks up his own dishes, if I might add). I do it by managing and...

Does your shop have a pickup key box? It should.

We get asked a lot if our tool can be set up to text from a shop's number. While the answer is yes, I typically try to steer shops away from this and have them go with a different number. Why? Phone companies have AI blackboxes that determine spam and could put your...

What the heck is the cloud? Is it the internet? No, but it's on the internet. Is it good to have my software in the cloud? Yes, there are benefits. There are also risks, but anything digitized has risks. Stealing or hacking has always existed and always will. I would...

What is the B-Team Fallacy? It’s a belief that some solutions and tools are only required for under performers (B-Team) so they may attain to the same level as our top performers (A-Team).

I am constantly blown away by the technology that exists out in the world today! 3D printing is one of the latest technologies to come up on my radar and is a technology that will change EVERYTHING! Instead of waiting for a drone to drop-ship you a product, every...

Like any tool a technician uses, Digital Vehicle Inspections are not all created equal. Take a standard issued flathead screw-driver, for example. Every technician has a set of these. The tool is so commonplace that a casual observer might logically expect flathead...

There are a lot of supply chain companies that are working on drone deliveries to cut down on manpower and time for delivery, which all makes perfect sense. Since I like to be on the cutting edge of things, Craig and I decided to test this out at a recent conference...

I find this becoming more and more true: the more I read, the more I understand that there is a LOT I need to learn from a leadership perspective.

Do you have a DVI? Are you using that DVI to its fullest potential or just checking boxes? I was discussing this topic with a colleague recently and recalled a sermon I once heard. It involved a story about a man with a high-end electric guitar. The man never used his...

There are some things I miss due to COVID-19. One of those biggest things is group interaction. Throughout a normal year, I go to at least three Twenty Group meetings with fellow shop owners and attend roughly 10 automotive aftermarket repair conferences. I MISS these...

“I can’t get my team onboard to do this...” Uttering this phrase is a startling admission of the fact that you are not running the business; however, this doesn’t have to be a white flag. You can learn to fix this.What can you do to correct this? First, look at how...

Yes, my subject is a little brutal, but I have seen the message over and over again of “Due to COVID–19, our customer service will be delayed,” and I just don’t get it.

What a total mess this virus has caused. Jobs have been lost, businesses crushed, and people’s lives destroyed. I am amazed at what one virus can do.

It is my experience that many auto repair shop owners and their staff underestimate the value of digital communication without realizing they’re doing so.

If your shop isn’t offering a touchless repair experience, you should be. Now, more than ever, it’s becoming a critical component of our essential auto repair businesses.

I recently received the following Yelp review at one of my auto repair shops:"Clean shop with free coffee and water. Excellent services with knowledgeable and friendly staff. Manager sanitized my keys and inside of the car. Wonderful touch." I have preached Final...

As uncertainty continues to arise these next few weeks/months we may be in survival mode at our businesses. I recently had meetings with my software team, and both shops, to do my best to address the future. I thought it would be a good idea to share my meeting...

Wow, we are well into the new year and a new decade at that! Where does the time go? As a shop owner and someone who believes in Kaizen (continuous improvement), I'm constantly making changes to my shop and its processes. But, when is a good time to implement change...

First, let me state that my crystal ball is broken. But, I do know things are changing in the automotive repair industry, and the future will look very different than it does now. Cars are only getting more complex, as well as our customers, and technology is one of the main driving forces.

Recently, we launched Autoflow’s DVI Customer Insights feature, which is simply a deeper way of looking into what your customers are or aren’t paying attention to in the Digital Vehicle Inspections you send them. As an industry, we’ve made some assumptions, but now we...

I’m one of the first people to agree that as shop owners, we need goals, policies, and procedures to properly run our businesses. I also like to have supporting data to help me create those procedures and policies.

Most shop owners I talk with about my software and other software are frequently asking this question. It's an important one because software talking to software is the new normal, presently how the technology world works, and the future of how things will be...

​We are excited to soon release our Kiosk/Scheduler, the newest product addition to Autoflow’s already robust digital suite. This new feature will allow a shop to attach the scheduler to their website for customers to schedule appointments which will go directly into...

Knowing your why these days has become a hot topic, especially after Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why came out a few years ago, a good book to read if you haven’t. I thought I might take a blog post to talk about the why behind Autoflow. Before I owned a shop, I’d...

I love the title to this blog, Autoflow.AI; it sounds techy and geeky (which, of course, I am). I previously wrote about the basics and wonders of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IVR (Interactive Voice Response) but didn’t promote that Autoflow now has an AI...

In one of my shops, I witnessed the almost perfect digital service journey a few months back. A young executive read our reviews online, booked an appointment online, dropped off his car after hours, received status updates, and communicated with us all day via text...

There have been some amazing developments in technology over the last few years that continue to keep evolving. Two technologies that have grown leaps and bounds are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). The best way to describe these is...

There is an increasing discussion lately on cloud-based software.  With the term getting thrown around a lot, I want to address two core questions in this blog: what is a cloud-based system, and what are its benefits? I will not talk about the...

Feedback is a gift that a lot of people don’t receive well. Thankfully, I have a good brother, friend, and adviser, Mark Cloutier, who helps me see these things. We have had many conversations on the topic of feedback and why we should appreciate the gift that it is....

By now, I'm sure that most of us have seen the power of voice interactive devices like Alexa. This technology has come a long way and will continue to change how the next generation interacts with computers. It hit me a few weeks back to ask Alexa which is the...

Recently, I did another podcast with Carm Capriotto of Remarkable Results Radio. This time, it was focused on entrepreneurship and my life's lessons learned (listen here). One of the topics we discussed was what Ben Horowitz called The Struggle in "The Hard Thing...

"I messed up," "I made a mistake," "I f$*!#d up;" these are some of the hardest statements to make. Even though, as humans, messing up is a daily occurrence, we never want to admit it. Why? Because we want everyone to see us as all-knowing, exceptional people. The...

That really isn't a fair comparison at all and actually doesn't work unless you start looking "outside the box,"...that old, tired cliché. I have mentioned Amazon in past blogs for several reasons: they leverage technology to replace old ways of doing business, they...

I believe most things in life need to be approached in phases; there is a cost in trying to take on too much. We are human, and the more change we try to put on ourselves, the more resistance we get from ourselves and everyone around us. That is why I love the...

A few years back, I heard a friend tell of a pastor that challenged everyone in the church to pick one word for the new year and seek to live by that one word instead of making some sort of new year's resolution you won't keep. I thought it was interesting, gave it a...

The majority of traffic coming through our doors is referral-based, whether stemming from online reviews or good neighborly advice from our existing customers. I personally love when a new customer tells me that he/she heard about my shop from a family member, friend,...

There are a lot of frustrated shops that go digital and expect an immediate increase in their Average Repair Order (ARO), but that just isn't the case unless they are using the DVI (Digital Vehicle Inspection) properly. What do I mean by properly? Here is the system...

Personally, I hate acronyms. I think smart people create them just to frustrate simple people like me. IoT is the Internet of Things, not to be confused with IoE, the Internet of Everything, which is another subject. It is basically all physical things connected...

Training! That should be the end of this blog, and I should have nothing more to say than simply training. But, of course, I'll go on.  Most people would tend to think I would've answered technology, but if you don't have top people to run your processes and systems,...

Collaboration is a great thing and is how people build things never imaginable. In order to build a rocket-ship, you need many different parts manufacturers, engineers, and computer scientists all working together to build something great. Why in the automotive repair...

Yes, I have been on a kick about who owns the data that a shop owner collects. And, I want to clear up any misconceptions out there in this auto repair world about who owns a shop's data, even the data collected from your Digital Vehicle Inspection reports. Once...

I get this question asked a lot: “Why can’t the software I want to use integrate with my shop management system?” There really isn’t one easy answer to this question, but let me start with one of the problems I see. There is some sort of misconception about who owns...

Yes, my title this week is somewhat long and confusing, but let me take it apart piece by piece. This Friday, I will be joining a Town Hall with Carm Capriotto on Remarkable Results Radio about Quality Control. This topic is not sexy and can be boring, yet it is very...

“Dealers Need to Get on the Text Message Bandwagon: Dealer service communication overwhelmingly takes place either in person at the dealership or over the phone; only 2% of all customers currently receive service updates via text message or email. Yet, 37% of Gen X[1]...

This week, my post goes video again! Why you should use a Digital Vehicle Inspection in your shop.   The Desire for Continuous Improvement As an auto repair shop owner of Golden Rule Auto Care, Chris Cloutier realized the need for a better way to communicate with...

This week, my post goes video. Why should you choose a cloud-based SMS over a desktop version?   The Desire for Continuous Improvement As an auto repair shop owner of Golden Rule Auto Care, Chris Cloutier realized the need for a better way to communicate with his...

Technology is a multiplier, and we in the auto repair world should love and respect what it means to our businesses. I know we all resist change because we're comfortable with the way things have been done, but isn't it nice to no longer have to remember all 3,000...

Not that cars are becoming difficult enough, now the future is forcing us to know way more about technology than we ever wanted (ok, sure, I like technology...). Because computer networks are a tough issue to deal with, we've put together a page to help guide you in...

I think a lot of us shop owners have figured out that we can get parts through Amazon.com like we can anything else. I am lucky enough that my shop, Golden Rule Auto Care, is on a pilot program to test Amazon.com parts ordering through my Shop Management System...

Technology is a great multiplier. If used properly, it can multiply your efforts. Remember, peoples' time is a limited resource, and, with proper technology, it can become multiplied. What does this have to do with some internal chat method for your auto repair shop?...

Regardless of whether you use a digital inspection or not, you need to be thinking about getting tablets for your technicians. If the tablets you purchase are put in a strong case and have screen protectors, they will last for a while. I have some tablets in my shop...

The stage is set for us to talk technology and the automotive repair industry. Vision Conference 2017 is coming up this week, and yours truly will be there with Scott, one of my Autoflow associates. Let's talk about the Shop Technology Timeline, where you're at and...

I get asked this question a lot: "What kind of tablets should I use at my shop?" So, I put together a list of a few tablets I like and posted it on my Autoflow site: http://www.autoflow/support/tablets/. You'll see links to Amazon for each tablet on that page, too....

Jasper Engines & Transmissions knows quality and is a company I admire for their processes such as Lean Six Sigma. They recently published about the release of Autoflow's new Quality Control feature. Following is a repost of what they shared. Jasper Engines &...

I recently read a great article in Ratchet+Wrench (R+W) called the "Four Areas to Address When Digitizing Your Shop," in which my good friend, Jeremy O'Neal (advisorfix.com), was quoted several times. R+W and Jeremy made the article a practical approach to digitizing...

What is the Shop Technology Timeline? It is a guide that I built for automotive repair shops to follow to become more technologically advanced in their operations. A more efficient and productive shop leads to higher profits and a better customer experience, which we...

Long before I owned an auto repair shop, I dreaded when my car broke down for a couple of reasons.  One, I never had the money to fix it, and two, I was going to have to drop it off at a shop and let it go into a black hole of time. I hated being in the dark as to...

As a shop owner, I'm always looking for ways to improve my shop, my efficiency, and the overall experience I give to my customers. Over a year ago, I implemented a quality control process for all vehicles before they left my shop. Simply put, a front counterperson...

Whenever I am asked why vehicle inspections are important, my answer is simple: you owe it to your customers to report the overall health of their vehicles. Personally, if I went to a doctor because of a strange-looking growth and he checked out the growth yet didn't...

It's not easy to achieve "simple," but when done right, time-consuming tasks are made easier. With a simple click of a button on an Autoflow customized workflow, the shop just solved two problems: one is tracking each car in their vehicle inventory; the other is...

Simple is never easy. For instance, TiVo is fast, easy, and simple. VCRs? Not so much, though both basically provide the same service. IPads are easy and simple while desktop computers aren't. I have taught the basics of computers in a lot of different settings and...

Since we live in a world that very much revolves around "me," this is becoming an important and relevant topic. I am not saying that everyone in this world is stuck on themselves, but we have become very particular about how our time is allocated or wasted. Sitting in...

We live in a world where all information is now at our fingertips...well, almost all information. We can pull content from the internet for just about anything: up-to-the-minute news, what our friends are eating, where to vacation, what the cheapest gas prices are in...

There is no worse feeling than having an incredibly busy, profitable day at your shop and then noticing upon closing the one car in the parking lot that fell through the cracks and no one touched. You turn to your service writer, and they shrug their head after you...

I enjoy talking, and reading about the subject of disruptive technology. Doom and gloom maybe, but interesting. I have heard lots of predictions about the auto aftermarket repair industry. And, I do agree that one day, driverless cars (provided by Lyft, Uber, Google,...

Shops have solved the need to monitor their workflow with whiteboards. Although functional, whiteboards have their limitations. The whiteboard stays in one spot and is not remotely accessible. They can be easily erased, and then there's the handwriting which, at...