Workshop Technology rivals the Dealerships

The auto shop management technology available to a small mechanic has changed outstandingly in the past few years. What used to cost thousands of dollars (often tens of thousands) and was a nightmare to implement/use/train, now costs a few dollars a month, can be implemented in minutes and requires virtually no training.

The short video below shows how a garage can create a log book service job, order the parts, recieve them and have everything updated virtually instantly almost without any typing. If, ten years ago,  you’d have suggested to a workshop that you could do this they would have thought you were crazy, how times have changed.

This is a very interesting point, one that requires some attention.

The old way of doing business was that basically those with the biggest budget / team / business often won. The small shops often could not compete on systems, professionalism and service (although many small businesses had a better, personalised service, they often could not provide the additional extras that improved the customer experience). Nowadays, with modern technology so easy, effective and inexpensive, even the smallest of shops (even a 1 man mobile mechanic) can compete just as effectively on systems and professionalism. Throw in some good old fashioned personalised service and it puts the small garage in an enviable position.

Think about the dealership who is competing with you in the service market. Years ago the dealers did not care about parts and service, they made money out of selling cars. Now, that’s completely flipped, and the dealerships make nothing on selling cars and virtually all their profit is in parts and service. That has seen the dealers encroaching more and more on the aftermarket industry.

Now that you can compete due to auto shop management technology, it could even put you in front of the dealers. Think about the dealers costs and processes. They still have old clunky systems that cost a fortune and require significant infrastructure, while the independent workshop can now be agile and and is empowered by modern, easy to use, low costs systems that are often better than the very expensive systems used by the dealerships.

With an open mind, and an an openness to embrace the technological changes, it may transform your business (and potentially the industry). Can you afford not to adapt?

Utilisation of technology is empowering even the smallest garage and strengthening the Automotive Aftermarket Industry.

Watch this video and look at it through the lens of “how technology is empowering the aftermarket industry”.