DealersEdge Professional Forums

DO YOU FOLLOW UP ON BODY SHOP ESTIMATES OR DO YOU JUST HOPE THE CUSTOMER COMES BACK?
IF SO HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE CALLS?
THANKS FOR THE HELP.

Yes, follow up is crucial to continued success. The call is simple, "Mr. Customer, this is joe from XYZ body shop, I wanted to call and see if you had any questions about the estimate we gave you yesterday or can I offer any assistance in dealing with your insurance company, like e-mailing pictures or faxing estimate copies?
I think you'll find most body shops are not doing this and it is a good way to differentiate yourself. Have you considered oaying a bounty to the estimators for every one they close?

RKing nailed it. The same would apply to a service deptartment. We tend to avoid this because we don't like telemarketing. But, think of businesses who call you who are trying to sell you something, but manage to do it in such a way that you are not bothered by it. Use a no sales pressure approach and offer to help them solve their problem. While most of the calls will not succeed, a few will and the effort and cost expended is very low. One more job each week or month is well worth it.

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Tom Ham
AutomotiveManagementNetwork.com