Tekmetric Launches Smart Jobs, Industry’s First One-Click Job Building Feature

It might sound simple, but it's true: smartphones and digital experiences have revolutionized the way people interact with businesses. We've all come to expect near-instant responses, simplified checkout processes, and visibility into what we're paying for.  

And independent auto repair shops aren't any different. There's a unique opportunity where your business can meet customer's expectations with modern service and modern operations.

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How Can You Make Your Auto Repair Shop More Modern? 

We keep saying that word "modern," but what does that really mean for auto repair shops? When we step back and think about the modern independent repair shop, we could sum it up with three core concepts:

1. The freedom to run your business in a more contemporary way with data, industry knowledge, flexibility and independence to work as in whatever way is best for you and your shop.
2. The power to simplify your shop's operations can gain complete visibility, control and opportunity to determine the best path forward for every decision.
3. The best experience for your customers, every time, for every job, whether that's a coolant flush and pad replacement, or a turbo rebuild.

With the right tools in place, your team members won’t have to stress about extra oversight and can feel empowered to take the reins at work. And your customers can have a more active say in the repair process.

One of the best tools for modernizing your business is a modern, cloud-based shop management system.

Tekmetric, a Houston-based leading auto repair technology company, was named the winner of a silver Stevie® Award in the Achievement in Growth category in The 20^th Annual American Business Awards®.

Tekmetric was nominated in the Achievement in Growth category for the company’s tremendous growth and expansion in the last year.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. 

Co-founded in 2016, Tekmetric offers an all-in-one SaaS business management system for auto repair shops. As the auto repair industry’s leading cloud-based solution, Tekmetric has grown from just a few customers to more than 3,000 shops across the U.S.

In the last year alone, Tekmetric’s revenue has increased by more than 115%, a reflection of its role as a trusted industry solution for increasing shop efficiency.

“Tekmetric strives to deliver premier service and value to auto repair shop owners who partner with us, and this unmatched level of care wouldn’t be possible without the outstanding team we have built,” said Prasanth Chilukuri, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Tekmetric.

“To experience an expansion that more than tripled to more than 95 talented professionals from across the U.S. and Europe has been an incredible journey. We are honored to have been recognized in the Stevie for our continued growth and leadership in the auto repair industry.”

More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s Stevie Award winners.

Nicknamed the Stevies®® for the Greek word meaning “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Monday, June 13. Tickets are now on sale.

“We are so pleased that we will be able to stage our first ABA awards banquet since 2019 and to celebrate, in person, the achievements of such a diverse group of organizations and individuals,” said Maggie Miller, president of the Stevie Awards.

Whereas traditional methods of payment require dipping a card in the same terminal as other customers or the hand to hand exchange of cash or check, the ability to pay by text message through SMS mobile payments takes the complexity and headaches out of the payment process for owners, service writers, and guests alike.

For auto repair shops in particular, giving guests the ability to pay by text not only streamlines the guest experience but also frees up service advisors from having to do a bunch of data entry, giving them more time to help other guests.

Here’s how text-to-pay works on our Integrated Payments, Tekmerchant. As you’ll see, we’ve built in opportunities to enhance efficiency while strengthening the relationship you have with your guests at each step of the process.

Step 1: Complete the Repair Order & Send the Invoice

By connecting Tekmerchant to Tekmetric, service advisors can quickly review the invoices of completed work and simply click a button to text the invoice to the guest.

Since the invoice is automatically generated from the repair order and is easy to edit within Tekmetric, the service advisor can reduce the time they would usually spend writing invoices.

Step 2: Collect Payment

Once the invoice is sent, the guest will receive a link that takes them directly to their invoice and pay screen. From there, they can review the work that was completed and make their payment, prompting them to input their billing information.

The customer inputs their card information, including their billing address, making it a verified payment.

At this point, all the service writer has to do is make sure that the payment has been approved and that everything checks out.

Pro Tip: Enhance Guest Service with a Call or Personal Text

Because service advisors and guests both have access to a digital invoice, it gives service advisors the opportunity to add a human touch to the payment process without the guest coming into the shop.

Consider having service advisors give guests a call or send a personal text message at this part of the process.

While this may seem like an extra step, it gives service advisors a chance to check-in with the guest to ensure all approved work was completed, which is a big step towards avoiding chargebacks.

Calling the guest is also a good chance to remind them of any maintenance that may need to be taken care of in the future and any upcoming deals or events. If the guest is too busy to take a call, Integrated Payments has a Text-to-Pay feature giving them the freedom to pay when they have time.

If everything looks good on the invoice, the guest can easily pay and move on with their day. You get paid fast and the guest is able to pay at their convenience.

Step 3: Return Vehicle to Customer

Once the payment has been processed, all that’s left to do is to return the vehicle.

Pro Tip: Add a Key Drop-Box for Convenience

Some auto repair shops use a key drop-box or locker to make vehicle returns more convenient for their guests and service advisors.

Most contactless drop boxes use programmable codes, so you can put the guest’s keys in a locker, send them the code, and let them pick up their car when they’re ready.

With a key drop-box, everyone wins: service advisors don’t have to worry about staying late; shop owners don’t have to worry about paying a service writer overtime, and your guests don’t have to feel rushed to make it back to the repair shop before closing time.

Turbo-charge Your Payments Processing

The Integrated Payment text-to-pay feature makes life easy for your guests and service advisors, and can potentially save you time, money, and headaches.