How to Make Your Auto Repair Shop Employees More Productive
Many shop owners believe calculating their Effective Labor Rate (ELR) is the most accurate way to determine their company’s performance.
To raise your ELR, you have two options:
- Paying employees less is a good idea
- Boost the productivity of your store
Teamwork is the way to go since your employees are the lifeblood of your company. Your month-to-month performance will improve as your organization becomes more efficient.
This will boost both your bottom line and your mental health.
As a result, you’ll require auto repair shop software to assist you in reaching your objectives.
The following six tactics can help you increase team efficiency and improve your ELR.
The Shop’s Communication Should be Enhanced.
Excellent customer service necessitates effective communication.
Do you know what your service advisor’s responsibilities are?
Your service advisor is in charge of establishing the best first impression possible on your visitors.
When a customer walks into your business, the service writer should greet them and determine what the problem is with their vehicle.
When an issue arises that necessitates that the service writer leaves their workstation and go to the technicians’ station to convey a message,
If you don’t have a service writer on hand, you may be unable to serve the following customer.
This story explains the use of technology for communication tasks requiring human intervention.
Less struggle means more time for your service writers to focus on providing customers with a better service experience.
If the person responsible for receiving a part isn’t available, it may cause a delay in your technician’s work and force them to wait.
Repairs should be aided rather than hampered by clogged funnels in your shop.
Establish A Climate of Cooperation and Encouragement.
When it comes to making your shop better, who do you think has the greatest idea?
The employees who work at your store daily often have the finest suggestions for enhancing it.
Employees who greet customers or work on cars may see something that management isn’t aware of.
As a result, they clearly understand how little issues may turn into major service disruptions.
Prepare your employees to notify management of any limitations.
In the future, they may begin to work together and set up a new business model. Problems go unsolved when management and team members aren’t working together. This causes delays in labor activities and lowers the mood of the entire workforce.
Help Your Team Achieve Their Goals!
We sometimes lose sight of the fact that our employees are people and not just statistics when we look at our financials and our shop’s ELR.
They are also people with aspirations, desires, and plans for the future.
When was the last time you asked your coworkers about their feelings on the job?
Your employees will perform better if you show them that you care about their futures.
They get a kick out of it, do a good job, and are a pleasure to be around.
They place greater emphasis on the finer points of their work. Because of their strong camaraderie, they can assist their colleagues to a greater extent. As a result, your ranks have less turnover and a lower stress level.
Improve Your Relationships with Your Visitors
Paying for car repairs isn’t fun, let’s face it. For most people, it’s more important to invest their money in things they genuinely like.
So, people want assurance that the money they spend on their vehicle maintenance is well spent. This is because they had to spend many hours without their vehicle. So, of course! They will need reassurance.
Customers may be confused about their estimate, repair order, or the current status of their repairs; this is not uncommon. As a result, they will have no faith in the authenticity of the information you provide. Visitors may leave and take their automobiles elsewhere if they aren’t happy.
Good service writers, on the other hand, may assist tourists to feel more at ease throughout their stay at your hotel or resort. As a result, there’s a better likelihood they’ll come back. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best ways to get new customers.
The Use of Metrics-based Gamification and Incentives For Technicians and Service Writers
Your mechanics probably enjoy working on cars. On the other hand, working on the same dozen models over and over again might be laborious and monotonous.
After a long day at work, your service writers may be worn out.
One way to rekindle employee enthusiasm is to provide them with a cause for their enthusiasm. Auto repair shop software can help you with this. According to the Talent LMS 2019 Gamification and Work poll, 89 percent of employees believe gamification makes them more productive and joyful at work.
Look at the end-of-week results of your techs by comparing who received the most positive feedback from customers. Or whichever service writer sold the most tire rotations. Suppose you gave out gift cards to winners weekly or monthly.
Or a get-together for the entire workforce to commemorate a job well done?
Enjoying your work and rewarding your team for going above and beyond with gamification is possible. Loyal repair crews are likelier to provide excellent service with a smile when they are recognized.
And who wouldn’t want a squad like this?
Making Service Writers More Self-reliant
There are various methods to keep an eye on your everyday operations, but imposing too many limitations might cause your firm to stall.
Service writers may ask for your permission to revise an estimate or make other modifications that might secure the transaction, for example. Your work will be much easier when you utilize auto shop POS software instead of doing this manually, and your work will be much easier.
If such is the case, they will be frustrated, and their performance will suffer since they cannot move orders as quickly as they want. Your time may be better spent creating and improving your vehicle repair business than managing your employees.
Learn More About: How to Start a Car Detailing Business
Conclusion
Using auto repair shop software, you may establish a welcoming and helpful work atmosphere for your employees and clients.
Your clients will be more pleased as a result of this.
