Shop management software to grow your auto repair business

Both literally and figuratively, the auto repair business comes with many moving parts. Every successful repair shop has inventory, shop management, technical data, and marketing all moving in sync, powering its business engine. Parts distributors and recycling yards face similar challenges.

To save time and boost profits, you need software that can streamline processes, keep jobs and financial data organized, improve customer communication, and more. Here are the different types of software that can help keep your auto repair business firing on all cylinders.

Technical Auto Repair Information

Technical auto repair information can be broken down into a few basic categories:

• Vehicle servicing
• Maintenance
• Diagnostic data
• Repair procedures

Also, each category works slightly differently for different types of vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, and vans.

To manage technical repair data, you need software built explicitly for each type of information you have to manage and the different kinds of vehicles that arrive in your shop. This is especially important as drivers diversify their vehicles, often shifting towards smaller, more fuel-efficient solutions.

Just as importantly, your software has to be online. Your cloud provider’s security systems safeguard cloud-based software, and it’s also easy to access from various locations. This way, shop managers, technicians, and support staff can access the information they need to do their jobs no matter where they are, as long as they have an internet connection.

With Workshop by Autodata, for example, you get technical information from 142 original equipment manufacturers for 34,000 different models. This solution gives you access to the crucial technical data of 99% of all vehicles on the road, including:

• 360,000 wiring diagrams
• 600,000 step-by-step instructions
• Regular vehicle updates

Repair Shop Management

An auto repair shop that runs efficiently enjoys better profits and produces more satisfied customers. Some of the essential functions that repair shop management software must address include:

• Customer management
• Invoicing
• Estimating
• Reporting

When all these systems work together on a single platform, the overall management of your repair shop is centralized, organized, and streamlined.

These benefits are precisely what you get with Solera’s Direct-Shop software. Direct-Shop provides tools for estimating, managing customers, reporting, and invoicing that are easy to use and implement.

Auto Repair Shop Marketing

Even though many repair shops have regular customers that come again and again when they have issues, connecting with new—and existing—clientele helps you grow your business.

In today’s marketing environment, you need a flexible solution that incorporates several different kinds of advertising channels, including:

• Online ads
• Social media
• Email

You also must understand exactly what each customer needs to hear and see to help move them through the marketing funnel.

With Direct-Target, you get an ideal digital marketing platform. In addition to managing campaigns across social media, online ads, and email, Direct-Target also enables you to boost your strategy with geo-targeted ads and AI-powered predictive marketing. With these features, you can custom-design your marketing to reach customers precisely where they are while also giving them the most compelling messaging.

Parts Distribution Management

Parts distribution management also involves balancing multiple elements, for example:

• Product descriptions
• Images
• Specs
• Service bulletins

When you can manage all these with one software solution, it’s easier to identify and source the parts that shops need for efficient repairs that keep their customers coming back.

For example, if you have the right product descriptions, you can eliminate miscommunications regarding the parts that best address specific repair needs. For instance, while, in many cases, knowing the vehicle year, make, and model is enough to identify the correct part, other elements, such as color and build material, can be equally important.

With TurboParts, you get a centralized system that provides you with the kinds of images, descriptions, and specs that enable you to ensure your repair shop customers get the right parts every time.

Furthermore, TurboParts can serve as a unified e-commerce engine. This way, you have a single system that ensures quick, easy ordering for all of your clients.

Auto Recycling Yard Management

Recycling yards, with parts, constantly flowing in and out and vehicles that may have dozens of useful components, need a robust software solution to support profits. In addition, recycling yards have to manage multiple kinds of relationships simultaneously, including partnerships with:

• Repair shops that may have vehicles that have reached their end of life
• Used car dealers that often get trade-ins they can sell for parts
• Parts resellers that need inventory to sell to their customers

But you also need to be able to reach a vast – even global – market with your products. By diversifying your clientele this way, you create more and more opportunities to sell recycled parts.

With Hollander, you get a software solution that empowers you to:

• Manage your yard, including every aspect of your recycling business and the parts you provide
• Boost efficiency by controlling your most essential processes, which makes it easier to boost productivity while limiting the time and energy it takes to do so
• Build relationships with customers, making sure you’re able to provide them with exactly what they need at the right time and price

Auto Shop Software Solutions by Solera

Solera’s full suite of auto shop, supplier, and recycling yard software puts you in control. Solera’s solutions, give you deep visibility into every aspect of your business. You also get the ability to control the granular details that enable more significant profits and happier clients.

With the right software, it’s easier to identify ways to grow your business and inefficiencies that may be impacting your bottom line.
Learn more by connecting with Solera today.