Digital vehicle inspections are straightforward for customers to read and understand. They also help build trust by providing photographic and video evidence addressing vehicle concerns with supporting information.
It makes inspections a natural part of the repair order process. Technicians can quickly check off and enter inspection results without creating an additional form.
Streamlined Processes
Table Contents
Digital inspections are a great way for auto shops to improve customer and service repair professional relationships. They allow technicians to take supporting documentation of the vehicle by photo and video and replace paper processes with a tablet or smartphone. This will enable customers to clearly understand the issues being addressed and the work that needs to be carried out.
Customers can review and approve repairs via a two-way text message or on their computer or phone at home. This gives them complete transparency, control, and experience, which helps build trust between your shop and the client.
It’s no secret that many drivers don’t trust the auto repair industry. They often believe they’re being upsold on unnecessary repairs, especially when it comes to complex repairs. Digital vehicle inspections help to combat this by allowing technicians to effectively relay information and demonstrate the issues with supporting photos and videos.
It also allows your team to identify additional recommended and urgent repairs, which will help drive revenue for the business. This information can then be accessed by the service advisor and used to generate estimates for the customer. Accepted and declined jobs are also tracked so the workshop has a full customer history that can be accessed anytime.
Enhanced Customer Experience
A digital vehicle inspection allows service repair professionals to record photo and video evidence of issues, ensuring that their customers understand the “how” and “why” of repairs. This eliminates skepticism from car owners who have had past experiences of being oversold on unnecessary services and helps build trust between technicians and customers.
The digital inspection also allows technicians to include notes, photos, and videos that can be sent directly to the customer’s phone or email with a single click. This closes the communication gap between the service bay and the customer, making approval for additional repair jobs more accessible.
For example, if the technician notices that the brake pads are worn down to dangerously low levels, the customer will be more likely to agree to have them replaced during their current visit rather than at a future date. This results in increased average repair orders and a more satisfied customer.
Additionally, the logs that digital inspections create allow customers to keep track of all the work they have done in your shop. This can help reduce the number of calls and emails your Service Advisors have to answer, allowing them to spend more time helping your customers. This will further improve customer satisfaction, which is critical for long-term business growth.
Increased Productivity
In addition to facilitating upselling opportunities and ensuring the customer has access to detailed images of their vehicle’s condition, digital vehicle inspection software offers increased productivity rates for technicians. Rather than describing the necessary repairs on paper that can get damaged or misplaced, digital assessments are accessed from a tablet or mobile device and have all of the information needed for technicians to complete their work in one place.
A digital inspection can also create a detailed work order listing all items recommended for repair and their estimated cost. This enables customers to understand better the work that needs to be performed and can help build trust between the technician and the customer.
A digital inspection can also send the completed work to the customer with a button. This enables your shop to take advantage of customers spending over three hours a day looking at their phones and will likely be more receptive to your service recommendations and supporting photos and videos in the form of a text than they would be during a phone call. Lastly, a digital inspection can also add canned jobs to your reviews to allow you to quickly build out a repair order for standard services such as brake flushes and alignments.
Increased Trust
In addition to eliminating paper waste and enhancing efficiency, digital vehicle inspections can alert customers to potential problems. This is possible thanks to the ability of technology like AI and IoT to detect anomalies in vehicle performance and send an alert when needed. This allows technicians to fix problems before they worsen and prevent costly repairs.
Unlike traditional inspection forms that are stored on paper and can get damaged, a digital inspection runs solely within the software and can be accessed anytime, anywhere. This enables a more precise line of communication between technician and customer with standardized estimates. It also means that if an issue arises during the repair process, a record can be accessed immediately, and a new assessment can be created without starting from scratch.
Digital inspections can also be shared with the customer by email. This helps build trust with the customer by allowing them to see an objective form of documentation that verifies what is going on with their car. This creates a sense of transparency and builds trust in your shop, which can lead to more sales of additional services.
Today’s motorist is busy; they are worried about getting to work on time or safely transporting their children to soccer practice and Grandma’s house. They are not interested in lengthy explanations over the phone or in person. They want a quick and easy solution, precisely what digital vehicle inspections provide.