How Electronic Vehicle Inspection Software Can Help You Make More Money?
Vehicle inspections aren’t a new thing by any means. However, in the past, results used to be recorded exclusively on paper. Nowadays, technicians perform digital vehicle inspections (DVIs) with the results being saved on a tablet. Some vehicle inspection software providers also let users print out the results and add them manually to their shop management system (SMS).
The best inspection systems are the ones that allow shop owners to put up results and recommendations to the customer’s profile straightaway. AutoLeap is an auto repair shop management software that enables you to seamlessly communicate with your team and customers.
Issues with Paper Inspections
Paper inspections were great a decade ago because there wasn’t any alternative. Technicians and service advisors would just get on with it, ignoring problems like illegible handwriting and disappearing clipboards in the process.
Similarly, customers were quite accepting of coffee and grease stains. Some auto repair shops would even redraft the whole inspection for clients and then actually show them the problems under their vehicle’s hood.
The thing with using pen and paper is that no two inspections are the same, or equal. Even when the inspections are performed by one technician, two or more forms will look totally different. Moreover, service advisors tend to be “selective” in the services they’re selling.
Not all services can be sold easily. In particular, if repairs are likely to be expensive, service advisors often only mention the super-urgent problems so that a customer’s ticket can be as low as possible. They may believe that they’re helping a client out and saving them money. In reality, they’re just delaying the inevitable. Eventually that ignored issue will become critical and, when it does happen, the customer might even head over to another shop due to a lack of trust upon your services.
So, how to address these problems in your auto repair business?
The Digital Solution
Digital inspections are a game-changer. Through mobile technology, you can utilize customized inspections for a complete bumper-to-bumper evaluation or a simple tire report. The more you record, the higher your repair order value is likely to be. To that end, some shops have really comprehensive DVI systems (for example, a 50-point inspection sequence) in place.
Besides, setting up a digital inspection system is no rocket science. To start off, you have to enter a note about the vehicle portion(s) being examined. After that, the technician’s recommendation is added if required.
The speed of this procedure can be increased with a software that provides canned notes and technical advice. Next, you have to pick a color to grade the car portion. Following is a typical color code in this regard.
- Green: Good
- Yellow: OK
- Red: Bad; Needs Repairs Urgently
The Power of Visuals
The final step involves taking photos of the part. Shop owners that use DVIs say that pictures are like silent service advisors. They do a brilliant job of making a customer understand what’s wrong with their car and what must be done to fix it.
Compared to just words, visual evidence is a lot more convincing for any customer. As the saying goes,
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
This is certainly true of photos during digital inspections. They create more transparency for an auto shop while increasing clients’ confidence.
Furthermore, since you can instantly email or text vehicle condition pictures to customers, they can see the problems from home, office, or anywhere else they might be. It’s like a virtual shop visit for them.
Once clients have seen pictorial evidence of the faults in their car, they’re also more likely to agree to the recommended repairs. As a result, service advisors won’t have to “push” a sale too much.
