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CRM for Auto Repair Shops: Help Drive Customer Satisfaction

April 6, 2023

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 is new to you, you may wonder how it works and what the benefits would be for your shop. This blog post will clear up those questions by sharing tips, best practices and examples of shops that thrive with a CRM.

What is CRM and How Does It Work in Auto Repair Shops?

Customer relationship management (CRM) acts as a central database for all your relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. Staff share this data to personalize your messages, enrich those relationships and grow your business.

With auto repair CRM software, you spend less time checking files or on the phone. Even if another colleague spoke with a customer, you have all the details at your fingertips. Overall, this saves you time and money when you:

  • set up automated visit follow-ups to thank them for coming in
  • send out customer follow-up emails to check on their satisfaction 
  • deliver promotional or seasonal blasts, appointment reminders and prompt for feedback or reviews

These key features of a CRM auto repair system can bring in new business or existing customers more often:

  • Database – One source creates a complete picture of your customers’ needs and preferences so you can improve the quality of your service. This guides decisions regarding sales, marketing and customer service.
  • Customer history – All records generated by other systems, such as a shop management system (SMS), integrate with your CRM so you don’t have to flip back and forth. 
  • Data Analysis – Since you have so much data, this helps identify your most profitable customers,  potential customers and those who come less often, to inform your sales and marketing decisions. 
  • Business Intelligence Tools – These tools read customer behavior, market conditions, sales performance, product trends and more. This intel helps increase  sales revenues and customer loyalty. 
  • Social Media Interaction – Track online comments and set up posts by integrating your data with your marketing plan. Now, you can better promote your services, based on feedback without trolling through various apps. 

Benefits of Using CRM Software for Auto Repair Shops

There are five main benefits to using CRM software in your shop:

Improved customer service

Customers love when you remember their names and details from their last visit. By using merge tags, you personalize every message sent out, whether it goes just to them or every client. The tags automatically insert a customer’s first name, surname or even vehicle make and model into your messages. 

As a result, you can quickly speak directly to each customer rather than blast out generic emails to everyone on your list. This helps bring a human touch to automated messages and lets your customers know you remember them.

You can also reply to service requests and questions faster since all the information sits right in front of you. No more fumbling for folders or asking a colleague for an update.

Increased efficiency and productivity

Having a CRM as a virtual assistant, you can streamline scheduling and book appointments using technology. Customers can pick times from your calendar that work for them, saving you valuable time. 

As a result, you can send periodic, automated reminders about appointments or upcoming promotions so customers are more likely to take action. This reminds customers about your business and invites them to come back for future services or purchases. Now, you always stay top-of-mind with your customers without manually emailing them every single day. 

Internally, staff also receive notifications to stay on top of tasks. No more balls get dropped!

Enhanced data management and reporting

Having all customer and vehicle information in one place makes it easier to pull out trends so you can adapt more quickly. This helps you develop better marketing and even order parts with more insight.

Since staff work with specific fields in digital documents, they create more complete and accurate records. As a result, you don’t miss out on key information when planning your next steps. 

Better tracking and analysis

Next, you can tailor who gets which message through audience segmentation and filters. For example, you can set parameters within your system for behaviors and trends, such as:

  • Dollars spent per visit
  • Most common makes and models
  • The number of days since their last visit. 

As a result, you can target customers who generate more profit or upsell more to those who are just below that metric.

Having real-time metrics means you don’t have to wait until the end of the month to crunch your numbers. See what’s happening now so you can respond sooner. 

Boost in revenue and profitability

When customers feel valued, they repay you with their loyalty and by telling others about your caring approach. 

With a CRM, you can use the information from a customer’s last visit to your shop to craft more timely reminders. For example, you can pull results from digital vehicle inspections and send out targeted messages based on the car’s condition.

Knowing the work done on their car allows you to discuss replacing parts or any other relevant promotions or discounts. In other words, you leverage the results of today’s digital vehicle inspection for better marketing messages tomorrow.

This saves staff time since they can work through the database to identify and follow up on leads. With all the data sorted, it’s easy for them to see what to do next.

Tips for Choosing the Right CRM Software for Your Auto Shop

Okay, now that you see the reasons why you may want this type of system, where do you begin? 

These factors rise to the top of the list of things to consider when selecting a CRM software for your auto repair shop:

  • Size and type of shop
  • Budget and pricing models
  • Features and functionality
  • Integration with other software and tools

When shopping around, ask these questions to vendors:

  • How can I add my existing customer data? 
  • Is it easy to use?
  • How can you train my staff to use all the features?
  • How long will it take to put it in place?
  • Will it integrate easily with my systems? 
  • Can this CRM platform grow with your business? 
  • Does it enable self-service? 
  • Is my customer data secure?
  • Is it cloud-based so it’s accessible from anywhere?
  • How does its AI augment my sales and marketing process?
  • Is the CRM customizable? 

Autoflow’s CRM offers these features so auto repair shops get off on the right foot, right from Day One:

  • Intuitive user interface – Our simple interface makes it easy to use our software on any device.
  • Support and training – Best-in-class training and world-class support with the fastest response times
  • Leverage automation – Customize your automated workflows to keep bays full and keep your technicians busy.
  • SMS integration – Digitize your shop into the modern era with seamless integrations to your shop’s SMS.
  • Third party powerups – Add payments, expert video content and data sharing with your favorite in shop tools
  • Cloud and web based – Save your data to the cloud to protect and access it from all of your shop’s devices.

CRM success stories

Before teaming up with AutoFlow, a shop faced the challenge of struggling to earn good reviews and repeat business. Without a CRM, the staff had to collect reviews manually. At times, they missed the chance to remind customers to come back in since they didn’t have a service reminder.

With a CRM, they automated follow-up texts and emails, while creating automated workflows for reminding customers of their upcoming services.

As a result, the shop collected far more reviews and earned more repeat visits, all hands-free.

These customer testimonials speak volumes about how auto repair CRM has helped them:

  • “Great communication tool with customers. I get incredible reviews from all of my customers. I just started with the marketing tool and am excited about the possibilities.”
  • “We receive very valuable feedback from our customers. Our Google reviews have also increased with the use of this system.”
  • “We’ve been able to automate our maintenance reminders.”

Best Practices for Implementing and Using CRM in Auto Repair Shops

Once you decide to add this tool to your kit, you want to make the most of it. If you follow these tips, strategies and guidelines, your CRM investment will pay off for you quickly.

Tips for successfully implementing a CRM software in an auto repair shop

  • Staff training and onboarding – Empower your staff for success by setting up training sessions so they build their skills, understanding and confidence.
  • Data migration and clean-up – Use this opportunity to remove old and duplicated files. Now, you have a fresh start!
  • Customization and configuration – Think about how you want to use this system then build it to easily extract what you need. This will pay off with reports that speak to your priorities.

You’ll also want to develop strategies so your staff buy in this system and adopt it without returning to old habits. Start your conversations with them early in the process since no one likes a surprise. This will give you a chance to collect their ideas on how to customize a system that works for them all.

Most of all, listen carefully for cues about their concerns. Then, present a big-window view of how they will benefit from having one central source for information. Openness right from the start will make them feel more involved in the process.

Next, create guidelines for effectively using the new CRM to drive business results. This will require:

  • Consistent data entry and management
  • Regular reporting and analysis
  • Ongoing staff training and support

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Change always feels hard and adding a CRM to your shop could cause ripples. By facing them head-on, you can adapt and move forward more quickly.

For example, expect to encounter these challenges when rolling out a new system:

  • Resistance to change from staff
  • Poor data quality or incomplete files
  • Lack of integration with other software and tools

These strategies and solutions to help overcome these challenges

  • Clear communication and expectations – If you’re enthused about the possibilities from this change, make it infectious.
  • Ongoing training and support – Support your staff by helping them if they struggle. Some may not learn more quickly than others so turn them into mentors. Also, create a culture where it’s okay to ask for help.
  • Continuous improvement and adaptation – As you get used to the system, you’ll see opportunities to use it more wisely. Encourage your staff to find new ways to capitalize on the data and celebrate their success.

Now is the time for auto repair CRM software

No matter the size of your auto repair shop, a CRM can enrich customer relations and your understanding of their needs so you can grow. With the latest auto repair automation tools, it’s easy to talk to your customers in just the right tone and learn from them.

By doing so, you’ll keep customers engaged with your business now and into the future. Request a demo today to build those bonds with an effective CRM.

Lois Tuffin

Lois Tuffin

Automotive freelancer

Craig O'Neill