Running a business doesn’t need to be all struggle and strife. Sometimes the way to lighten the load is through the path of least resistance. Keep reading to learn three strategies that will save you so much time and make a huge impact on your bottom line.
1. Go digital
ATTRACTING NEW CUSTOMERS
Business success relies on adaptability and thinking ahead.
While you might not have been born into the digital era, a lot of your customers definitely were. Purchasing behaviour is now completely dictated by convenience. The traditional phone call booking is seen as a laborious process that very few want to participate in.
Today’s customers want to communicate with you digitally via SMS, social media, or email. To attract and retain the new generation of customers, make it easy for them to see you and reach you through the digital world.
EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY
Standout businesses have phenomenal teams and the best tools and parts. However, even these superpowers can’t free you from the day-to-day activities that drain time right before your eyes.
Industry-specific, mechanical workshop software manages you, your employees and your customers efficiently, while simultaneously lifting the mountain of manual tasks into digital thin air.
2. Self-service bookings
Workshop bookings get your customers in so you can make money, but they can cost a fortune to manage.
Manual bookings mean time on the phone, time leaving and waiting for messages, time rescheduling, time confirming, time following up and endless amounts of resource-juggling.
A digital, web-based appointment booking system is your personal secretary at a fraction of the cost. Not only do most customers love to manage their own bookings, but imagine the amount of manpower you could redirect to provide an even better in-house service.
COSTAR’s Web Appointments allows your customers to book themselves into your workshop through your website – no exchange of emails and no phone calls required. Appointments are confirmed live for the customer through the website and optionally via SMS, with contact and vehicle details automatically entered into your COSTAR system.
Automatic appointment reminders, confirmations and missed appointment texts can be configured to further enhance the customer experience.
It simply doesn’t get any easier than that.
3. Go visual
If there’s one thing that can drain the business bank account, it’s the domino effect of poor, interrupted or messy communication. As the bedrock of every relationship, adding a visual element to your words strengthens your message tenfold.
With COSTAR’s Digital Vehicle Inspection software, you can use a tablet or phone to capture photos, details and notes of customer vehicles when completing their initial inspection. The colour-coded checklist can then be sent to customers via email – informing them of the exact condition of their vehicle and highlighting any specific elements that may require their attention.
Sending a digital inspection report enables you to:
- Provide a transparent understanding of any problems
- Reinforce trust
- Facilitate informed decision-making
- Increase accountability
- Provide clear information without the use of industry jargon
The moral of the story is to show and tell.
Talk to a specialist
From industry integration and supplier connections to inventory management, fitment guides, sales analysis and appointment scheduling, COSTAR delivers the software to ensure your workshop thrives.
Contact us to find out more or book a demo and see the difference COSTAR will make to your business.
1800 819 984 (AUS) or 0800 100 913 (NZ).
