The Australian Auto Repair industry is continuing to change. The way mechanics operated 3 years ago is much different to the way they operate today. With technology continuing to advance, there are now many tools available to mechanics that automate everyday tasks and escalate growth.
For many Workshops time is their biggest liability. If your Mechanics find themselves doing common administration tasks such as bookings and chasing customers, you will find other areas of your Workshop will suffer. This is where Automation can help!
What is Automation?
Automation is a set algorithm that has been programmed to achieve specific outcomes without human input. Automation reduces time spend on every tasks, reduces costs and opens doors for future growth.
Here are 5 tasks Mechanics MUST Automate in 2022:
1. Customer Bookings
Does your Workshop still find itself taking customer bookings by phone or email? If you do, you will already know how time-consuming it is. As a workshop owner time is your biggest asset, your customer booking process shouldn’t take your staff away from the more important task of servicing and repairing cars.
For Australian Auto Repair Stores, a Workshop Website is the best tool available to automate the customer booking process. Instead of having customers call or email to book in their next service, a workshop website gives them the ability to book online at a time that suits them best. The biggest benefit of a Workshop Website is it removes the time-consuming manual booking process for your customers and staff.
Related Article: Why Australian Workshop MUST Have a Website.
2. Stock Management
The Auto Repair Industry is well past the days of using spreadsheets for Stock Management. The biggest problem with doing stock take manually is there is a high risk of error, not to mention the amount of time it takes to complete. Making one slight error could cause chaos and take hours to fix.
Using a Workshop Management Software like Workshop Mate, mechanics can automate the entire stock take process. As a centralised business solution, Stock numbers automatically update in the background as your workshop buys and sells. The biggest benefit of using a Workshop Management Software for stock take is it automatically compiles live reports in the background without you needing to do anything. At the click of a button, you can know where your workshop stands.
Related Article: Tasks you can automate using a Workshop Management Software.
3. Customer Completion Reminders
One of the most frustrating jobs for Australian mechanics is reaching out to customers upon a job completion. Many times, mechanics are unable to get into contact with the customer on the first attempt. This leaves them with the task of having to follow up later.
The benefit of using a Workshop Management Software is mechanics can completely automate the customer reminder process. In Workshop Mate, mechanics can set reminder preferences to automatically remind customers via SMS or email when their vehicle is ready for pickup.
Related article: How to Increase Customer Retention Rate in the Auto Repair Industry.
4. Business Reporting
Creating business reports is a painful and time-consuming process for Australian Workshops. Creating reports is an essential and necessary task for your Workshop, but it shouldn’t take you away from your core focus of fixing cars.
One of the benefits of a Workshop Management Software is it reduces time spent on the business reporting process. As a central destination for your Workshop, the software automatically collates the data in the background as you trade. In the click of a button mechanics can generate valuable business reports on essential business areas such as profit & loss, sales, efficiency, bookings, part sales and jobs.
Related Article: How Workshops Can Improve Reporting.
5. Accounting & Invoicing
Accounting has always been a frustrating and time-consuming task for small businesses around the world. One the best things about the advancement in technology is there are now solutions available that simplify the accounting and invoicing process.
Using a Workshop Management Software like Workshop Mate, mechanics can integrate business accounting to the management software. The benefit of integrated accounting is all financial data such as customer orders, receipts and payments will automatically synced from your management software to your accounting software without you needing to do anything.
Related Article: Why Integrated Accounting Is Essential for Mechanical Workshops.
Final Word,
To be successful in 2022, Australian Workshops need to minimise time spent on administration tasks and focus on maximising growth. Automating the 5 tasks mentioned above will free you up and put your Workshop in a good position for future growth.
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About Workshop Mate
Workshop Mate by Jeal is an Australian mechanic industry specific, cloud-based management software that simplifies and automates the running a mechanical Workshop in Australia.
Get features like, Job Management, Stock Management, Quotes, Invoicing, Integrated Accounting, Barcoding, Service History, and Job Allocation – all in the one central, easy-to-use application.
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