Best Advice for Body Shop Owners

If you really want to move the needle in your business and grow using the same strategy that massively successful companies like Amazon, Uber, and Netflix have built their empires on, one of the most powerful things you can do is utilize the human trigger of convenience.

We all look for more convenient ways to do things. It’s the way we’re wired. It might as well be coded into our DNA. And, on a weekly basis, many of us are letting convenience impact our purchasing decisions. That’s what you’re doing any time you log onto Amazon and buy something that you could’ve gone and picked up at the store. 

I caught onto this pattern of human behavior back in 2017, which led to me developing our original photo estimating technology. The problem I was looking to solve was not, “How can I give a customer an estimate?” The problem was, “How can I give a customer an estimate in a more convenient way?” 

Historically, it hasn’t been very convenient for a vehicle owner to get an estimate from a body shop. Driving to the shop and waiting for an estimate eats up a giant chunk of their busy days, and for many customers it may be difficult to set aside the time to do that during business hours. Getting rid of those inconveniences for the customers that act as barriers to them actually showing up for an estimate will immediately get you a lot more estimate traffic. 

Think about what you’re doing in your shop right now that is creating convenience for your customers. Some questions to ask yourself are:

1. What are my business hours? How can I continue to serve my customers outside of regular business hours?
2. Is my website easy to navigate? Is it clear to customers what their next step should be if they want to book an estimate or repair?
3. How do I communicate with my customers? Are customers able to reach me via their preferred method (phone/text/email/chat/etc.)?
4. Are customers able to book their own repair?
5. How can I make it easier for my customer to book a rental car?

Finding ways to create convenience for your customers in all of the areas above will predispose them to choose your shop for their repair. In fact, right now over 40% of customers booking repairs and estimates through our system are doing so outside of business hours, either late at night or early in the morning. If you are not offering options to customers during that time and your competition is, think of all the business you may be missing out on!

Keep in mind, using the human trigger of convenience to your advantage doesn’t just work with customers, it also works with finding and maintaining staff, as well as creating strong working relationships with your business partners, DRPs, and insurance partners. If you create convenience for people, they will gravitate towards you. So, be the path of least resistance and watch your business grow. 

Let me know what you think, and keep crushing it out there!

- Ryan

‍