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New Owner. Any help appreciated.
Hey guys I’ll keep this as short as possible. Dad had an auto repair/towing business for 20+ years in Northeast PA which I worked in. Dad got hurt on the job and had to sell. I’m now trying to reopen the shop myself but it’s been a really long time since I’ve been in the business. Assume I know nothing at this point. What suggestions do you guys have for payment processing, CRM etc? How about Shop Monkey? Identfix? Just throwing out some things I have heard may be helpful, but last time I was in a shop we used Mitchell books lol. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
PS Don’t limit advice to the software side, like I said, assume I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s been awhile.
Thank you all in advance! -
8 Replies
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Kyle,
How about you list your top 5 things you would like advice on at this point?
Also, do you have any photos you can attach?
🙂
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Kyle,
How about you list your top 5 things you would like advice on at this point?
Also, do you have any photos you can attach?
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Hey Tom thanks for responding!
I would say my top concerns would be on the software side… ie CRM, Payment processing software and credit card processing etc. Just trying to figure out if anyone has a good catchall software for scheduling clients, taking payments, managing work orders and similar tasks.
Thanks for any help! -
Kyle,
Things like CRM, CC processing, etc. may be dependent on which shop management software you choose, so I would go after that first. Start by going to the comparison chart on this site:
Then narrow it down to the ones that may work for you. Then go to the full survey on each of the possibilities.
https://www.automotivemanagementnetwork.com/tools/software-shop-management-surveys/
Narrow it further, then contact your finalists and request a demo.
It will take some time, but this is the most important “equipment” purchase you will be making. 🙂
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Thank you so much!
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Kyle,
Before you start looking at software programs, I strongly recommend coming up with a list of musts, a list of wants, and a list of like-to-haves from a software system. The reason I say this is because it’s very easy to get caught up in all the bells and whistles you’ll see in a demo possibly causing you to make a decision on a system that doesn’t really meet your needs.
I hope this helps!
Rick
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I like the YES management system by PACE software. We’ve used it for about 13 yrs now. For CRM we are with Kukui.
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I like baymaster, it functions well has marketing, digital inspections email and text capabilities and is very inexpensive. I would actually not start software, most management software is similar and there are many other things to consider. The first thing i would do is set a budget for at least 6 months. The second thing i would do is put a marketing plan in place to drive revenue including direct mail and the internet. i would make sure i spent enough on effective marketing to provide the sales necessary to meet the budget goals with profit as an expense line on the budget. After that was done it would be time to start interviewing for staff, place ads on indeed, craigslist, zip recruiter. Recruiting is a job that you should do at least 2 hours a week every week of the year even when you are fully staffed. This should get you started, but i would also make a plan for after you get the doors open and document it. We wrote an operational guide and add a operational procedure to it quite often. If you have any questions reach out. Eric
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I think before you do any of the above, you need to decide what services you are going to provide. For example, if you want to properly service European cars, you may have to invest a lot more to be well-supplied (oils, fluids, scan tools, etc.). If you are going to try to service all makes and all models, you should be prepared to get in over your head until you learn your capabilities. How many techs will you have? Are they already in place? What are their qualifications? Do you have equipment that needs upgraded before you can really start providing high-level service?
These are the kind of basics you need to establish before you get too far into what software is best. No matter what anybody says, all vehicles are NOT the same.
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