15 years ago, Alan was a truck driver and Rhonda, an accountant with many clients who happened to be in the Automotive & Tyre industry. Together they were searching for something different and having stumbled across a tyre store at the right price, it was the perfect time to take the plunge and they purchased a Jax Tyre Store.
After learning the tricks of the trade, three years ago they switched to Tyrepower. This saw Alan’s first exposure to COSTAR, while Rhonda, having previously worked on the accounting side, was familiar with the system giving the duo the confidence that this was the right move. Funnily enough, above this Tyrepower store was the first ever office for Microhouse, back in 1981.
After witnessing the stores success over the past three years, we thought it was time to ask how COSTAR plays a key role in running their business…
Tell us a bit about the process of working with us
“Everything’s easier, and if there’s anything wrong, I know I can always ring, and the issue is resolved quickly. The years don’t seem as long as here, we’re able to operate how we want, and we can breathe. We’re not fighting with the wrong people and we’re working together.”
“Microhouse is very easy to deal with and so friendly, and we’ve found COSTAR has a relationship with each store, it’s really nice.”
How has COSTAR improved your business?
“It saves time and everything is done better. The biggest thing is you look more efficient in front of customers, not having to ring all these different people to find the products your customers are chasing, it’s all handled within the one place.”
What are your favourite or most used features of COSTAR and why?
“We like the booking screen and the appointment reminder side of things, it’s nice and easy.
Being able to produce multiple business-critical reports and prepare them to exactly what I want, and it gives me the data I’m looking for, be it sales reports, P&L, stock reports, anything. Plus, if there’s something wrong, I know I can always ring Microhouse Support Desk.
We also love the cash drawer feature; we weren’t going to operate without it. It’s the confidence and security, you don’t have to worry about hanging a key somewhere, it’s locked, and it’s controlled in COSTAR. You’re always in and out of the office, so it’s a huge safety feature these days.”
Do you find that our tyre and parts supplier integrations save time and bring efficiencies to your shop?
“Just being able to check stock levels and availability straight away definitely saves time. It has been our first exposure to tyres and spare parts ordering. With our previous business software, we couldn’t look at tyre stock levels let alone order any stock, we had to use separate online programs, so to go straight through C2C Web Order is fantastic.
And when you get the old “oh you didn’t order it in time,” you can easily reply “no mate, that went through at 9:15am,” and you’re confident.
Or if customers are wanting a specific tyre or particular size you can quickly check and you know you can have them here on that day, so again you sound more confident.”
“You can always teach an old dog new tricks and that’s COSTAR”
What have been the benefits or improvements since working with Microhouse and COSTAR?
“Everything is just so much easier – it’s good being able to have the peace of mind knowing that we’ve got the stock when we need it and we can give our customers an accurate quote straight away.
The Appointment Scheduler – you can see exactly what’s happening with your day and have the confidence when making a booking that the time allocated is available and greet the customer when they arrive. So, if one of your employees say “I definitely booked it in but it went somewhere” you can say “no, if you put the booking in, it’s there, if the booking isn’t there, you didn’t put it in.”
Everything’s traceable – you always have people who will challenge you with bookings, whether that be staff or customers, but we’ve got proof if you need it. COSTAR keeps us honest and our customers honest.”
“Everything is done better with COSTAR.”
If you’d like to share your story we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch with your COSTAR Business Manager or simply email sales@microhouse.com.au
