Do I Need a Shop Management Program?

[tylerl]

Hey guys looking for a little advise for people that have been in my situation. We are a smaller shop but really starting to transition to doing more volume in the past 2 years. Been in business for 10 years now and currently have 2 full time tech's and myself. I manage most of the office and service writing stuff and even occasionally help wrench in the back when required. Looking to hire a service advisor soon to help with the work load on the counter.

 

Currently we just use a a mix of excel spreadsheets for invoicing and customer history, as well as Google calendar. My questions is will I see a big benefit from moving to a all in one management program? Is it worth the monthly fee's for a smaller outfit like mine? 

 

Should mention we are in the powersports arena (mostly boat repair with some other rec equipment) so some of the platforms out there are not 100% tailored to our industry with the ones that are not offering up everything you would get out of a automotive program. Thanks in advance for the help!

[JustTheBest]

Hey Xtreme Marine! Thought I would chime in on this. I currently do not own a repair shop - I did - and how I help repair shop owners to get the car count they want and need. 

Your question about value is one that only you can answer. But let me ask you this "How do you stay in touch with customers?" Do you send them Christmas cards; Reminders; Maybe even the odd promotion?

What I'm really asking is "how do you mail or contact your customers?" Or do you just want to "churn and burn" - keep wasting money on getting new customers only to have to replace them in a few months. 

To get to the point, every business (repair shop) will have a loss in customers. Let's face it, some move away; change jobs; buy new cars and some even die. But the BIGGEST reason customers leave your business is "indifference". They think you don't care! 

So I can't speak to your specific requirements but from what you outlined, looks like you've got things "duct taped" together pretty well. That would be like my repair shop going across the street to  borrow their floor jack to lift my car; and then driving down the street to borrow the other shop's oil filter wrench, just so you can do an oil chance on my car. You know - sort of "duct tape" it all together. 

Sorry if I'm being a smart a** - but your customer list is your most valued asset. After all, without customers you would be running a hobby. But once you go through the learning curve of getting a proper system up and running (because there WILL be a learning curve, I promise) , I'll bet that a good system set up well will prove to be worth the "weight". 

Hope this helps!

Matthew
"The Car Count Fixer"
More help? Join the conversation on YouTube @ Car Count Hackers

 

 

 

[DAC]

We are also a small shop in a small town, same situation. I have been contemplating an upgrade myself. We use QuickBooks and it's worked well for us. I may consider an upgrade down the road, but for now it does what I need. 

[JustTheBest]

Hey DAC, I get it. Actually, I've used QuickBooks in some applications when getting some things started and I've got nothing bad to say about it. Maybe it's not centered on the auto repair shop - but it's a lot better than scribbling down names and numbers on a napkin!

And understand this - I'm not selling anything - and I can't tell you what app you should or shouldn't use because I haven't worked with any of them for a long time. But here's something I can tell you - You said you've got what you need with QuickBooks. Great. But I always ran my businesses with the "where do I want to go?" attitude (or question). 

I listened to sales people selling their stuff because that was the only way I could understand what their product/service could do. But the overall focus was me, asking myself, "will this take me to where I want to go?", and in all honesty, that's the real question you need to answer (for yourself - nobody else!)

Hope this helps!

Matthew
"The Car Count Fixer"

P.S.: Follow me on YouTube @ Car Count Hackers

P.P.S.: How to Get Car Count in 72 Hours or Less - Guaranteed!

P.P.P.S.: Facebook?

 

[dfrisby]

About 70% of my business is powersports (ATV's and UTV's).  I also do automotive work.  I have 2 techs and myself as well as part time service writer. I can't even imagine operating this business without some sort of shop management program. I started out with baymaster and was extremely happy with them until they were transitioning to online only.  The price was reasonable.  When they transitioned I panicked as there were alot of flaws and I ended up switching at that point to AllData.  I probably would have been better off to stick it out with baymaster, and if they would have held off their transition until they had all the bugs worked out I would have.  In addition to AllData, I have added "myshopmanager" which is a marketing program that automatically texts my customers checking in on them about jobs we have completed.  It also has a VERY GOOD vehicle inspection part that allows us to send a text to our customers with pictures and videos of their vehicle inspection.  This has sold alot of extra work we wouldn't have had without it.  In order to grow in this industry at this time, you have to invest in the technology.  I think I'm paying $289 a month for "my shop manager", and I'm ok with that as I can see clearly it's bringing in an extra $2,500 a month in revenue  per month as long as we are using it.  We've been so busy the last couple month that we have not been using the inspection feature as much as we should be.  Our biggest problem there is staff.  If anyone has any advice on getting quality mechanics that want to work and can show up on time... please share your secrets.  I could be a 3 tech shop instead of a 1 1/2 tech shop if I could just find the right people.  The 1/2 is my second and isn't efficient or reliable.... and may not be employed for long.