Running a heavy heavy duty repair business is not easy. It’s an entirely different venture. Everyday, you have to fix trucks, cranes, and bulldozers, where even a small mistake can cause a lot of trouble. Meanwhile, you have to keep an eye on a number of ongoing processes such as inventory, repair jobs, payments, etc.
Therefore, you need to look for a reliable heavy duty shop management software. But, just like many repair business owners, you would wonder what type of system you should choose. That’s why, today, we will let you know what features you should look for in such a software. Stay with us.
1- Payment Integrations
First thing first, when you fix heavy duty machines, and vehicles, you charge hundreds of dollars. Also, sometimes, you charge even more, reaching up to several thousands. However, in the repair industry, not all the customers make advance payments, or pay you full amount on time.
Often, they get their heavy-duty vehicles fixed, and forget to timely pay you. As you have to manage a lot of expenses, you cannot deal with such scenarios. For instance, you have to clear dues to your suppliers and dealers, pay rent and salaries to your technicians, etc. when you don’t have it, you will be unable to pay them.
Similarly, customers prefer different payment methods. Some deal in cash, others prefer using debit/credit cards, and digital wallets. This is why your heavy duty shop management software should offer payment integrations.
Using this, you can accept payments through PayPal, Square, and debit/credit cards, online and digital wallets as well. Along with that, the software will automatically send payment reminders to the customers regarding unpaid, or partially paid invoices. Thus, they would know they need to clear pending payments. The result? You will be able to manage all your expenses.
2- Inventory Management
Managing inventory is a challenging task when it comes to a repair business like yours. Everyday, you keep an eye on several small parts, and accessories such as brakes, suspensions, levers, shafts, filters, axles, tires, ripper cylinders, sprockets, idlers, etc. Often, it happens a few times that you don’t have some of these parts your customers are looking for. As a result, you lose several sales opportunities every month.
Unless you keep using manual methods like paperwork, you will continue experiencing errors, and missed entries. That’s why inventory management is one of the crucial heavy-duty repair shop software features you can’t run without. Using this system, you will always stay on top of your stock, helping you boost sales.
Whenever a part, or item gets low in the inventory, the system automatically notifies you. Moreover you can also reorder inventory from your preferred, or desired suppliers. Thus, you will always have all the required parts, and can serve your customers right on time.
3- Repair Job Management is a Must
Handling multiple repair jobs and several customers at a time can be tough. Most of them expect the following two things from your side
- Efficient and high-quality repairs
- Timely communication
However, it’s quite impossible as you are busy handling a lot, and dealing with multiple customers at a time. Additionally, some heavy duty repair jobs can take more than expected time.
This is one of the reasons why your heavy duty shop management software can be useful in this regard. When you use this, you can create repair tickets for every job. In the ticket, you can easily mention contact details of your customers, issue with their vehicles and expected delivery date.
So, when the job is completed, the software automatically notify the customer. Similarly, the system sends notification alerts through SMS or email if there’s any change in the repair status. This way, customers can learn their vehicles, or machines have been fixed and they need to revisit your store.
4- Marketing Automation
These days, marketing your business is a must if you really want to grow, and boost your customer base. For that, you can look for the best marketing types business owners use all over the globe.
More importantly, it’s vital that the software you are picking for your repair shop should have a marketing automation feature. Using this, you can send promotional messages and emails to specific customer groups. Hence, they would know what repair services, and other accessories you are offering at your store. This will surely help you boost profitability.
Final Words
Starting a heavy duty repair venture is not for everyone. It’s suitable only for someone who can handle pressure, tight time constraints, and is very good at customer dealing. In addition, one needs to boost efficiency, and get rid of manual errors. Therefore, you need to equip your store with reliable software having all these features. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading this post, and will wait till we come again with another amazing article.
