Is Pre-Scheduling Appointments Right For Your Shop?
I was listening to a podcast about auto repair shops and the subject of scheduling the next appointment came up. They mentioned in that in their research about 50% of customers were good with scheduling the next appointment. As often as I hear from shop owners that their customers do not want to schedule the next appointment, I would have thought their research would show only 5-10% of customers were good with scheduling the next appointment.
Tip: “I’ll pencil you in for your vehicle’s next appointment”. This lets down the customer’s guard, while informing them the appointment can easily be moved to fit their schedule.
This led me to consider how my shops could grow from scheduling the next appointment what tools they would need to start pre-scheduling. So, I listed some of them based on the Mitchell1 Manager SE.
You will need a scheduling system the whole shop uses. You will need an easy way to schedule the customers next appointment, in many cases (like an oil change) with the click of a button. Lastly an easy way to notify the customer ahead of the appointment, so they are more likely to show up.
Step 1: Use the built-in scheduler in your Manager SE.
Step2: Learn how to use the LOF button in the Manager SE or add Propack.
Step3: Use Social CRM to send automated email and text reminders to your customer.
Step4: Use Message Center so you can respond to your customers when they respond to the automated reminder text (which also comes with other benefits).
Your Local Mitchell1 Rep is here to help you with all the products listed above. They will show you how to use each one to ensure you can start increasing sales by pre-scheduling the next appointment.
