Today’s consumer is opting to book services online, with a clear preference for digital interactions over phone calls. This shift presents an opportunity for your auto shop to align with modern consumer expectations and stand out from other shops by allowing customers to book appointments online.

76% of consumers expect to be able to book an appointment online. You must meet your customers where they’re at. When was the last time you called an airline to book a plane ticket? Or called a restaurant to make a reservation? It’s all digital now.

-Kieran O’Brien, CEO of Shopgenie, an auto repair scheduling software

The benefits of online appointment scheduling tools extend far beyond offering your customers the convenience they seek.

Here are some examples of why appointment scheduling software is indispensable for shops committed to optimizing their operations:

Get your shop organized with a clear appointment calendar.

In the digital era, relying on traditional methods for scheduling appointments, such as using a hand-written schedule, can contribute heavily to disorganization. By using scheduling software in your auto shop, you adopt a way to manage a clear shop calendar. 

Keeping a clear, digital shop calendar has cascading benefits that can completely change your shop: 

• Put your team on the same page —  Whether a service advisor, technician, shop manager, or shop owner, each team member can see what is happening in the shop that day — allowing everyone to be in lockstep. 
• Create clear technician assignments —  Many auto shop appointment software allow you to assign an appointment to a specific technician. This allows a technician to see which jobs are assigned to them. When their assignments are clear, they always know what’s next — reducing downtime.  
• Know your appointment capacity — With the ability to add and view appointment details, you make it easier to know your shop’s day-by-day appointment capacity based on the complexity of the jobs coming in. You will also avoid double booking appointments. 

Reduce no-shows with automated appointment reminders.

Appointment no-shows hurt your auto repair shop. A no-show is an empty bay and lost money. 

Many auto shop appointment solutions allow you to set up automated appointment reminders that you can send via text and/or email. Sending timely notifications via text or email to customers about their upcoming appointments minimizes no-shows. It also allows you to fill canceled appointments so you are not left with an empty bay. This feature not only minimizes no-shows and keeps your bays full, but also improves customer communication and customer satisfaction.

Impress customers with appointment reminders sent via text and email.

Customers love convenience. An appointment reminder received via text or email is extremely convenient for most customers. Many consumers have grown to prefer communicating with businesses in this way instead of over the phone. When receiving a text or email about an upcoming appointment, a customer can immediately view the message and confirm or cancel their appointment. This type of customer experience is very user-friendly and will help boost customer retention in your repair shop. 

Save time with automotive scheduling software.

Time saved across your shop operations is invaluable to your business (see related blog post). By changing how you schedule appointments, you can save hours of time. Instead of dedicating a team member’s time to appointment reminder phone calls, use automated appointment reminders so you can turn that employee’s focus to a different strategic initiative. 

Digital Tools Will Help Your Business

Appointment scheduling tools can help you streamline a couple of areas of your shop’s workflow. At PartsTech, we encourage you to check out auto repair software solutions that offer end-to-end tools to help organize and streamline your entire operations. Read this blog post to learn more: How to Choose the Best Auto Repair Shop Software.