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 the paper process on a screen. However, they achieve far more while making shops more efficient and profitable.
In short, they mesh with other systems and change how to run an auto repair shop.
If you’re still recording inspections old-school, perhaps you have yet to see how DVIs streamline your shop’s operations. Once you compare the two systems, you discover how much you can gain by going digital.
Managing an auto repair shop on paper
When you rely on paper, your shop runs less efficiently, communicates less clearly and misses out on opportunities to grow. Those factors can really hurt your bottom line.
Let’s start with efficiency. While it may seem quicker to write information down, remember that you have to type it into a system later. That’s double the work.
Every time to transfer data, you open yourself up to the chance that you’ll transpose numbers or misspell a name. Overall, you’re not saving time if you have to do or check things twice.
Paper systems also limit you from sharing information with car owners via email or text. Instead, you spend valuable minutes on the phone, explaining or describing damage to specific parts. Of course, that only works if you can get them on the line and don’t have to play phone tag.
If you don’t adapt, you end up trapped in this old way of running an auto repair shop. However, switching to digital vehicle inspections sets the stage for next steps to automate auto repair shops for the future.
Once you give up paper inspections, you can send summaries of work done in the bays to the front counter with ease. From there, the same information goes to the customer, no matter where they are.
How to run an auto repair shop with DVIs
Compared to the paper world, digital vehicle inspections offer a more transparent and seamless approach to working with customers.
For starters, you can:
- Send text messages to customers with status updates
- Easily share pictures and videos to show them worn parts
- Integrate inspection details within your work orders
As a result, you earn customers’ trust when they see images to back up what you say their vehicle needs.
Within the shop, DVIs save your staff time – which ultimately saves you money. Every time you get a customer’s approval sooner, you shave minutes off a work order. Now, techs can move onto the next car and generate more profit.
These features speed up workflow within shops:
- Standardized templates for every make and model
- Streamlined workflows so a tech never misses a step
- Inspection forms that link with your POS to accelerate your accounting with accuracy
For single shops, all these steps speed up their operations. For multi-shop owners, you can multiply the savings and wonder why you didn’t switch sooner.
In summary, digital vehicle inspections represent the future in auto repair. Auto shops have already adopted remote payments and online systems, so this is another logical step forward.
