How Auto Repair Shops Phone Answering Can Impact Business
Auto Repair Customer Interaction
There is a very old saying that is as relevant today as when it was first uttered, that first impressions count. This is especially true within the auto repair business, where customers have long held the suspicion that your average auto shop is going to bill you for as much as they can, while not necessarily doing everything on the list. People who have a problem with their vehicle are quite likely to be stressed out about it, especially if it is needed to get to work, or deliver and collect the kids from school. What they are looking for when they call the auto shop is for a friendly, professional and helpful voice at the other end of the phone.
The Major Problems Customers Experience
Every business has busy periods, and that is normally when the phones suddenly start to ring incessantly. This can seem to the workers be an annoying distraction, but each phone call is a potential customer, who are after all, the very lifeline the business depends upon, and should be treated with courtesy and respect. People receiving a brusk reply, or trying to hold a conversation with someone in the workshop, where they cannot hear because of the noise in the background, will not be impressed. What is equally bad of course, is when no one picks up the phone, because very few people these days will leave a voice message and realistically expect a prompt return call, they are more likely to just ring the next number on their list.
Cars Break Down at Inconvenient Times
Maybe it is just coincidence, but cars have a wicked tendency to break down at the most inconvenient times and places, often outside of normal working hours. Such stranded potential customers want to talk to someone about booking it in repair right now. Having to wait until you open tomorrow is probably not going to work for them, and it certainly doesn’t work for you, because you just lost a customer. This is where utilising the services of a professional telephone answering service can give you a serious advantage. While you and all your competitors are closed, your calls are directed to staff, dedicated to your account, and thus able to answer with the same greeting as your shop provides during the day. With the questions and prepared answers your own staff use, and with the same people answering each time, their voices will soon become as familiar to them as your regular day time crew.
Better than the Real Thing
One of the major reasons why a call answering service is good for your business, is that the people responding to your potential customers are not mechanics, or panel beaters. They are trained professionals in customer service who understand exactly how to react to any customer interaction. They are probably far better at it than any of your normal staff, which means that the phone call to subsequent customer ratio is probably better than when you are actually open.
The costs for using such services is extremely affordable, far more so than employing someone to sit in your garage all night, every night. In fact, your day time staff would do well to take some tips in how to answer the phone properly from your answering service provider.
