When people want their car fixed, they don’t just go to any auto repair shop. They look for a business known for its exceptional service quality and ability to deliver outstanding results.
Even if that perfectly describes your top-tier automotive service center, potential customers might not know it unless you have a proven process. You can show your expertise, build trust, and deliver outstanding results by defining the exact process you use that makes your shop unique. Here’s how that works.
What’s a Proven Process?
A proven process is the exact way that your team does things at your auto repair shop. It’s all the key steps you take to serve your customers. Step one starts at the very moment they enter your shop. The last step reflects what you do to ensure you’ve fixed their car to their satisfaction.
Ideally, you’ll want to break your process into three simple steps, but you can have more if that’s how you run your business. For the best results, each step must describe how you deliver results for your clients in a clear, concise, and repeatable way.
Do it right, and you’ll give your team operational clarity and the framework needed to take your shop to the next level. Your customers can rest assured that you have a plan for their car repairs. Your business will run like clockwork as a result, even if you want to step away for the day or longer.
How to Create a Proven Process for Your Auto Shop
As you start defining your proven process, it’s easy to settle on “People bring in their cars, and we fix them.” But your approach goes a whole lot deeper than that. There are many steps in-between people arriving at your shop with a broken car and leaving with it fixed.
So, take the time to think about the auto repair experience you provide your customers. Reflect on how you set your shop apart from the competitors, too.
Some things to think about include:
- Do you perform digital vehicle inspections (DVIs)?
- Do you prioritize customer convenience by offering pick-up and drop-off service, shuttle service, or loaner cars?
- Are your technicians highly trained and certified, equipped with high-tech diagnostic tools, or skilled in advanced troubleshooting?
- Is your team great at providing transparent pricing information and educating customers about their vehicles?
- Do you have a clean, well-organized facility with a welcoming waiting room with all the creature comforts?
- Do you have a special process in place to quality control work and minimize call-backs?
Take these pieces of information and break them down into three actionable steps your team completes to serve your customers.
Auto Repair Shop Proven Process: An Example
Here’s what a three-step proven process for an auto repair shop might look like:
Step 1: We Take the Time to Learn About Your Car’s Needs
When you come into our shop, our team will get to work looking over every corner of your car. We’ll take photos and videos while jotting down notes to assess your car’s condition thoroughly. Our technicians will complete the necessary diagnostic tests to provide accurate repair recommendations.
Step 2: We Let You Know Our Repair Recommendations and Pricing
After the digital vehicle inspection, our team will share our findings with you and review the repair recommendations. We’ll always take the time to explain complex terms and procedures so that you can make excellent car care decisions. We will provide a fair quote with a clear breakdown of the cost of parts, labor, and other expenses.
Step 3: We Complete Maintenance and Repairs Using Quality Parts
Our highly trained and certified auto technicians will complete the authorized repairs using quality parts. We will use proven repair practices to remove and replace the parts and confirm they operate as expected. We back up all our work with a guarantee to ensure you get the highest quality of service at every visit.
As you can see, the sky is the limit in what you want to focus on. Boil down the steps into the most important things you do to serve your customers, and your proven process will quickly take shape.
Ways to Share Your Processes with Clients
Once you have a well-defined proven process, share it far and wide to tell the world what your auto repair shop offers. Start by informing your managers, service advisors, and technicians about the process. Ask them to use it as their framework going forward.
Put your process on your website, post it on your social media channels, and include it in all your other auto shop marketing materials, like video podcasts. Don’t forget to directly tell all your customers about your newly defined approach and encourage them to share the news with their social circles. You may even want to print it out and hang it on the wall to be seen by customers as they enter the shop’s waiting area.
As you share your proven processes, the steps will establish you as a leader in the industry. Customers will soon look to you as their trusted guide whenever they need quality car repairs.
Benefits of Defining Your Process
You can benefit in all the following ways when you put in the effort to create your proven process.
- Close Confidence Gap: An auto shop-proven process helps new and existing customers feel confident about your expertise and ability to deliver outstanding results.
- Boost Auto Shop Marketing Success: Sharing your proven process brings more customers by showing your commitment to providing the ultimate car repair experience.
- Streamline Operations: Your process can significantly streamline your operations by eliminating unnecessary steps and simplifying your team’s daily tasks.
- Improve Productivity: Employees that follow your proven process will have higher productivity levels and better work quality overall.
- Accelerate Growth: As your shop gains more customers and gets a productivity boost, your auto repair shop’s growth will accelerate.
You’ll also enjoy a better work-life balance with a proven process guiding your team to greatness. With the framework as a guide, your team can handle the essential duties, allowing you to take some much-needed time off.
Need Help from Shop Marketing Pros?
Defining your proven process can be difficult, but your auto repair shop will prosper if you do. So, if you’re having trouble breaking your operations into three steps, let Shop Marketing Pros help you.
To get in touch, fill out our online form, and we’ll contact you to schedule a discovery call. We look forward to helping you elevate the success of your auto repair shop, so feel free to reach out anytime.
