Reviewing Customer Calls - Best Practices

Converting Callers into Customers

With RepairPal, hundreds, and potentially even thousands of people are going to see your shop online every month. Some of these people may call to discuss their car issue with you over the phone.

If the call isn't handled at your shop to the best of its ability, you’ll be missing a golden opportunity to gain a customer for life. Unlike customers who are referred to you via word of mouth, customers who call you because of web-based or other forms of marketing need to be convinced that you are the right shop for them.

We recommend reviewing your calls each week to see how your team is doing at converting customers.

Greeting

Clearly identify the business name
Clearly identify your name (person answering the phone)
Give customers a sense of welcoming

With this style of greeting: “ABC Repair!”, often, the person answering the phone has to repeat the name of the business or this leaves the caller fumbling at the start of the call. A more welcoming greeting would be “ABC Repair, this is Jane, how can I help you?"

Customer Service

Ask for caller's name
Use a friendly tone
Empathize with any expressed concerns
Offer any shop amenities (loaner vehicle/ shuttle/ early and late drop-off, etc)
Be familiar with RepairPal and partners when mentioned

Car Complaint

Ask for vehicle details
Ask for car symptoms

Asking questions to gather the information you need and redirecting the conversation toward these questions – this is an important one. Even when the customer has rushed to a conclusion, this doesn’t mean you need to do the same.

Customer: “How much will it be to replace the valve cover gaskets on a 2005 Ford Focus?”

You: “Let me ask you some questions first, so I know we’re on the same page. How do you know you need your valve cover gaskets replaced?”

Customer: “My engine is leaking oil”

You: “That is one possible cause, and it sounds like you’ve done your research. I can take a look at your engine and make sure this is the source of the leak and then give you an estimate to completely solve the problem.”

Conversion

Give details to build confidence such as shop warranty, years of experience, etc
Explain next steps
Provide available appointment (or late drop off) times

Try saying “I have an opening Monday at noon and Tuesday at 9 am. Do either of those times work for you?” instead of “Do you want to make an appointment?” This way if the customer says no, you can find a better time that works for them as opposed to convincing them to come in all together.

Estimate Requests

Here are some reassurances you can give to price shoppers contacting you:

There are a couple of potential problems based on what you’ve described. I am a fair price guarantee shop. That means you’re going to get a fair price with me, no matter what the issue is.
I am sure you only want to have this repair done once. We guarantee all our work, so you can feel secure knowing the repair will be done once and will be done right.
You can rest assured, I promise not to do any work on the car until we’ve diagnosed the problem and can give you an accurate estimate.

Include our Fair Price Estimator Widget onto your website so that customers can get an estimate on their own

Listening to Calls

Our calls page is designed to help you review and manage all the calls that come through RepairPal by giving you an easy way to see the important information about them. In addition, we provide additional functionality to help you track the source of your calls as well as transcription and billing information.

See details on managing calls here: Managing Customer Calls