It may be hard to believe but the booking process that your Workshop uses will determine whether a potential customer chooses you or the competition. To be successful in the Australian Auto Repair Industry, Workshops need to make the Job booking process as fast and as easy as possible for customers.
With that being said, many Workshops make the mistake of using outdated or inadequate booking processes which often results in potential customers going elsewhere.
Here are 5 Signs Your Workshops Booking Process is Broken.
1. Potential Customers Bounce without Booking
The first sign that your Workshop’s booking process is broken is having potential customers leave / bounce from your website or over the phone without booking in for a service. When this happens it often means that your Workshops offering, or process is not up to scratch.
To reduce the risk of losing a potential customer to the competition you need to make your booking process as fast and as easy as possible. Whether it be your website, or over the phone, potential customers should be able to quickly identify the services you provide, the prices you charge and be able to book in at a time that suits them best. The easier and more accessible your booking process is for customers, the more customers you will convert, it’s really that simple.
Related Article: 5 Ways Mechanics Can Enhance the Booking Process.
2. Potential Customers Begin a Booking Request and Fail to Complete
One of the most frustrating thigs for Mechanical Workshops is to losing a potential customer after they have begun their booking request. What this says is your process is far too complex or time-consuming!
The best way that your Workshop can avoid losing a potential customer during the booking process is to make your online booking process as fast as possible. Don’t require for too many details, you should only need the essentials. You don’t need to go into great depth, your number one aim is to get a potential customer to submit the form as fast as possible. The longer your form takes to complete, the more potential customers you will lose.
3. Delayed Decision Making
Another common sign of a broken booking process is having potential customers delay their booking decision. Often the main reason why a potential customer will delay their decision is because they are seeking other alternatives.
When a potential customer feels that they have to seek alternative providers it often says they don’t think your pricing is competitive. Before you promote your services, it is important that you have the right pricing strategy in place. It is important that your Workshop frequently reviews competitor pricing, and you adapt your pricing strategy to either meet or better what they are doing. If your Workshop offers the best possible price, it will be really hard for a potential customer to turn you down for the competition.
4. Your Booking Process has not been updated in over 3 years
The Australian Auto Repair Industry has changed dramatically over the last 3 years. The way Workshops take and receive bookings in 2019 is much different to the way they do it today. A mistake that many Workshops make is not updating their booking process regularly to meet the current market standards.
To stay competitive, it is so important that Workshops frequently review their booking process and adapt it to meet what the customer wants. At the end of the day, you need to offer the booking method that customers want, or you will lose them to other competitors.
Related Article: Customer Trends Changing the Auto Repair Industry in 2022.
5. You Employ someone to only take Bookings
One of the costliest mistakes that many Workshops make is employing someone or having a mechanic sit by the phone to take customer bookings. Either option will cost your workshop time and money.
Taking bookings is a job that can be automated with the right industry specific tools implemented. Using a Workshop Management Software like Workshop Mate, mechanics can automate the booking process from start to finish. All your mechanics will need to do is confirm the job with the customer. The entire process is automated from start to finish.
Related Article: Expenses Workshops Can Reduce Easily in 2022.
Final Word,
The booking process is arguably the most important part of running a Mechanical Workshop. If your Workshop has an old or difficult booking process, you will struggle to attract and retain customers. The 5 signs presented are common indicators that a booking process is broken and can be avoided through the solutions presented.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To read more articles like this, please visit the Workshop Mate latest news page here.
About Workshop Mate,
Workshop Mate by Jeal is an Australian, Web-based, Workshop Management Software that simplifies and automates the daily tasks of running a mechanical Workshop. Using innovative technologies, Workshop Mate removes common frustrations experienced at the Workshop – opening your doors for future growth.
Workshop Mate features include Job Management, Stock Management, Quotes, Invoicing, Integrated Accounting, Barcoding, Customer Bookings, Service History, Job Allocation and more – in the one central, easy-to-use application.
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