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Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Clive Atthowe on February 28, 2008, 9:11 pm Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:53 pm Post subject: Customer Booking Procedures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Does anybody have any proven methods of ensuring customers turn up for appointments , we seem to have an increasing problem with this and have tried various methods with only limited results. we have tried using a booking fee taking payment upfront but we only do this on rolling road testing this works well but we are seeing service \ diagnostic bookings going the same way, lost bookings and no shows some with unbelievable excuses just thought i would ask how other people approach their bookings and if anybody had any different ideas.  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by dave mc gee on February 28, 2008, 10:48 pm, in reply to "Customer Booking in proceedures" Clive, I had similar problems for a while and then i started a text reminder service sent to customers 2 days before their appointment. Works for me Cheers, Dave.  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by john chadwick on February 28, 2008, 11:10 pm, in reply to "Customer Booking in proceedures" we have electronic booking system with text system built in. might be worth a look (igis)  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Graham Bullock on February 28, 2008, 11:45 pm, in reply to "Customer Booking in proceedures" What sort of lead time are you talking Clive? I find a lot of the "No Shows" are people that want work doing but if I give them a two week lead, they don't like it but take the appointment just in case. They then try to get the job done elsewhere, if they can't they turn up here no problem, but if they can they don't bother to let me know and then don't show. No amount of calls or texts would get them here after that. Hardly any forget. I think more and more people just can't manage without their car and hate waiting. Graham  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Derek Warwick on February 29, 2008, 7:39 am, in reply to "Customer Booking in proceedures" Hi Clive, I know what you mean, I've been getting a few cancellations lately, especially on a Saturday. I didn't used to work weekends when I first started working for myself 8 years ago but so many people can't make it in the week so I started doing Saturday mornings. That makes Saturdays quite precious and they get booked up quite a few weeks in advance. The other week I had a job booked in for Saturday and it had been booked in for a few weeks, on the Friday night about 9.30 the guy rings to cancel!! Grrrrrrrrr! Also, a while ago now I was on my way to do a job that was about half an hour away and the guy rings me to tell me not to bother as he and a mate had now fixed it! I wouldn't mind so much if I hadn't already loaded the van but I was nearly there! so I sent him a bill for a £40 call-out charge. He phoned me a couple of days later to ask what the bill was for and I explained that as he hadn't cancelled a reasonable time before I was entitled to charge him a call-out. He replied "I'll pay your petrol money!" "That's very good of you, and what about my time!" was my reaction. Some you just have to smile at and when you can make a little more on some jobs it partly makes up for all the ones that don't pay very well. Regards, Derek  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Martin Tribe on February 29, 2008, 1:13 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Why is it that when they don't show up their phone always goes straight to answerphone or they just don't pick up. The worst is when they come in the week later to try and rebook for the same job like nothing ever happened & then wonder why I don't have much time for them!!  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Keith Simpson on February 29, 2008, 7:15 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Hi Guys I'm afraid that's life and theres nothing you can do about it. Keith  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Peter Warman on February 29, 2008, 7:37 pm, in reply to "Customer Booking in proceedures" Peter Warman - Administrator Hi Clive I have had a few no shows recently and as i work on my own it sometimes means you loose a half or full days work, then they will phone up a few days later to tell you that they could not spare the car that day after all and can they re-book.......not easy to bite your tongue We now take full details AS YOU SHOULD including a mobile number, you can then send them a gentle text reminder when they don't show We also have a list of "no show" names on the wall next to the T card system......they don't get a second chance Other bizarre things i get: Customer with a Volvo 850 1994 booked for a full service and MOT, did not show so i rang her at 9:30am, she said she needed the car for a few errands so could she drop the car of at 11:30am and could she have it back by 2:30pm to pick the kids up from school.......after a few comforting words from me she turned up 10 minutes later Even more bizarre is i have had a few customers ask if they can collect their car lunchtime to go to the local shop to buy their sandwiches for lunch, then bring the car back to finish the work We close at 5:30pm, then you get the customer who works late forgetting his car is being serviced, his company switch board has closed and his mobile is turned off or silent in his jacket pocket, turns up at 6:30pm No real solution to it all........perhaps a KiteMark for customers Peter  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Clive Atthowe on February 29, 2008, 8:52 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Clive Atthowe Thanks for the replies, seems we all have some issues with bookings I am going to try a vip booking service taking a fee up front to ensure priority service, offering this to all customers then if they decline and the cars is not ready the same day then they have at least had the opportunity to have priority service we can then concentrate on the pre paid customers  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Phil Dunmore on February 29, 2008, 10:33 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Philip Dunmore We don't get much of this only 40 miles from Clive. We also rarely have a jammed diary so can react quickly to most customers needs. MOT's & services are the only things that get booked well in advance, MOT reminders help a lot to relieve last minute requests. We try to allow spare time to deal with breakdowns & urgent jobs almost immediatly. This is not always the most efficient way to utilise staff but I think it is what the customers want. Nobody likes to wait anymore, even for the jobs that we may see as non urgent. The key points are flexibility & understanding what different customers want or expect. The common instances for us are extra work resulting from MOT fails/advises and service findings. We have to juggle parts availability, workshop capacity, urgency of repair and customers needs. Sometimes the decision to rebook or offer to do it immediatly is made whilst talking to customer for authorisation. Regardless, it's always preferable to do it quickly whenever possible.  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Russell Davey on February 29, 2008, 11:56 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Russell Davey "" I am going to try a vip booking service taking a fee up front to ensure priority service"" Risky business Clive. I wouldn't like to be in the restaurant game thats for sure! If you know what I mean! Russ  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Tom Williams on March 1, 2008, 3:01 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Tom Williams Hi, Know your customer is probably the best answer. Sometimes when you take a booking something in the back of your mind says 'he/she won't show' I suppose the problem is more the economic slowdown we may be facing. Most times when we get a no show at the moment it's a relief, because we are often overstretched, trying to squeeze in just one more MoT or emergency clutch job. TW  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Kim Doerr on March 1, 2008, 4:07 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Kim Doerr | Message modified by user UKAT5116 March 1, 2008, 4:09 pm I would second what Tom just said, it doesn't happen much but when it does it gives me a break and usually i fill the time anyway, also like Peter i work alone and this can mess up your day. I had one customer that failed to turn up then booked the following week and did the same again, well that was enough, so i told him to get lost and i certainly am not short of customers. I think you will have to live with it Clive. Regards Kim.  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by John Wallis on March 1, 2008, 9:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" John Wallis | Message modified by user UKAT5567 March 1, 2008, 9:05 pm We tend to feed off a large executive housing estate and our post code is NE20. Whenever I take a booking outside of our immediate area is when we start to have people who don't turn up. It's almost like another sense that comes into play when you are booking in. We've got four blokes to keep busy so I need the work and when it doesn't arrive I tend to look forward in the diary and offer people the chance to have their car sorted today. It's not always convenient but more often than not they jump at the chance of the "cancellation" which gives me time to fill in their slot from the next day. Just as an aside I started using Google ads on our website which can be targeted to your area and the response was good!! But it was a lot more time and effort doing estimates for work that you didn't always end up with. I still think word of mouth is by far the best advertising. JW Link: Western Way Garage  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by tony bickers on March 2, 2008, 7:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Tony Bickers Interesting thread ! Most of what I come up against has alresdy been covered in earlier replies, I am currently running at 10 weeks plus in advance bookings which leaves very little time for the inevitable " this has broken and I need it fixed yesterday " brigade, I am expereriencing the busiest time now that I have ever come across since I went on my own in 1990, strangely enough , this also ties in with the big main dealers around me saying they have not really started to get busy since before Xmas last, Um, I wonder why that is?, their labour rates is the answer,I am in sleepy Suffolk and dealers around me are charging £80 plus per hour, I am sure it will be proportionally more in Peters area, people will not pay this sort of money nowadays as they percieve that they are not getting value for money, and I would agree.I was in a Honda dealership yesterday and they had a menu pricing list up in reception, the one that caught my eye was a £200 charge for a cambelt change, blanket model coverage, what about if the water pump is knackered,what about the balance shaft belt?, did a Honda recently when the pump was £80,do they replace the rollers and idlers, no,yes, Jap stuff is manufactured to a very high quality but would anyone here just replace a belt only bearing in mind the car will go another X ammount of miles before the belt would be due for another replacement, even Vauxhall dealers do not replace the water pump when doing a belt change and my nearest dealer charges £300 just to change the belt kit ! My solution to the original question is to pre-alert my customers to an imminent job that I know will be due in soon, I would never use an impersonal message like a text, too easy to delete and forget about, I ring them up a month before reminding them that their MOT or whatever work is due is coming up shortly, most punters don't even realise they are coming up for a MOT so are grateful for the call,and it gives the personal touch and also shows that you are in advance of their upcoming appointment, very often in my experience, this call will be made on a Sunday night quite late, that seems to be the only time I get free nowadays ! Tony  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Barry Rudd on March 2, 2008, 10:30 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Barry Rudd I just put on my best basil voice and say "no problem, thanks for letting us know, actually we are a bit overloaded at the moment so its no problem at all byeeee" and put the phone down and mutter t@@ser at least we arnt in the restraunt or taxi business cheers Barry  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by John Ritchie on March 3, 2008, 9:25 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Hi Clive , so glad you started this post as i thought i was doing something wrong .Some interesting points being raised here . I work alone and like Peter and others have stated , it hits harder and so damn frustrating .I am thinking about giving up saturdays as the number of no shows & excuses has risen over the last few months , more so on saturdays but rising on week days .I dont want to depress myself in seeing how much i have lost in feb , had 2 today but luckily overbooked as i had a hunch somone wouldn't show . Had a guy book in his mgf for a geo setup and on booking it he asked if having mixed aspect ratios would be ok ... 55 one side , 50 other ..duh obviously not .Explained he needs another 55 profile so he left the booking for the tuesday saying he would get his tyres sorted before geo setup . Monday night ..last thing he cancels saying he still hasn't got tyres ( had 4 days to sort it out) i re booked him for the following wed as he could only make a wed and he didn't show ...got a call later to say how sorry he was .I explained i wasn't keen to re book him again but he promised he would be there so today he was booked for 3pm and he turned up at 2.50 to say he still hasn't got the tyres and asked where do we go from here .. obviously i showed him the door and politely sugested to find someone else as i wont be doing it ,The really anoying thing is i could have filled the slot 3 times over ! Lost £90 today alone so need to try something different Regards John  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Phil Dunmore on March 3, 2008, 10:28 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Philip Dunmore Should have sold him a tyre  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Keith Simpson on March 4, 2008, 8:46 am, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Keith Simpson We get this all the time, In the past we have charged £10 at the time of booking refundable on job. The amount of people that was put off we soon stopped it. We now tend to overbook on a daily basis just to make up for the no shows. I know it's frustrating but you have to take it on the chin that's life. My wife missed her Dentist appointment the other week she has been billed £25 for the no show, if she doesn't pay it, she has to find another dentist as they will take her off the books. Garages wouldn't get away with it. Keith  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Clive Atthowe on March 4, 2008, 8:57 am, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Clive Atthowe Very interesting response to my original; post, thanks for the replies , seems most people are having some problems , we are slightly different to most people in as much as we mainly carry out diagnostics , rolling road testing and modification work, all while you wait appointments for the rolling road and Saturday mornings are pre paid we have done this for a few years without problems, its the other general work where we have no shows and last minute cancellations .On reflection i think we will just over book and complete as much work as we can each day i see no other way round it.  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking in proceedures Posted by Derek Warwick on March 4, 2008, 6:25 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking in proceedures" Derek Warwick Just had another one today, half hour before I was supposed to be doing it! Today hasn't turned out very good at all, Another job turned out to be nothing much. Think I'll retrain as a plumber! Derek  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by Peter Warman on March 8, 2008, 12:27 pm, in reply to "Customer Booking in proceedures" Peter Warman - Administrator | Message modified by user Peter Warman March 8, 2008, 1:27 pm Hi Clive We have now made the decision when customers come in or speak to us on the phone to not give any sort of diagnosis even if it is a well known fault, but to book the vehicle in and then access the problem, giving a diagnosis and being able to charge for that diagnosis and repair Last Friday a good customer brought his daughter in with 2000 Renault Megane 16v with the usual misfire. I told him what i thought it was and if we replace them all it should be ok....not a long job. So i booked it in for the following Monday I got a call on my mobile at home Sunday evening from him to say his daughter is not feeling very well so she will be unable to bring the Renault in Monday morning, she will get in touch at a later date. Well i have not heard anything more so can only assume that armed with the information i gave her they have repaired it themselves or just told another garage to replace the bits i recommended So how do other members handle this, do you give the customer a clue as to the problem even if you know what it is, or just book it in for testing, thus being able to charge for your knowledge, equipment and experience I am sure if she went to the Renault dealer she would not have got any response, just a pleasant receptionist booking it in for further investigation So no more free bee diagnosis so they can take it away and repair themselves........i have been in this game for 30 years so i should know better Peter  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by Michael Whitworth on March 8, 2008, 2:18 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel" Mike Whitworth - Administrator Hi Peter, I never give a diagnosis without looking at the car and I never(or rarely) have a "quick look" I tell them I have not time to do a positive diagnosis so there is no point as I would be guessing. I tell them it could be a hundred different things causing their problem so best book it in. Some will book it in but then not show up cos the garage down the road "scanned it and fitted a lambda sensor" on demand. Some wont book at all and keep going to local garages till one will do it on demand and the sensible ones book it in and turn up at the agreed time. AND they are usually more than happy to pay whatever it costs and generally leave you to get on with it.  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by Tony Sefton on March 8, 2008, 6:55 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel" Tony Sefton I must be the Worst person in the World for Telling the customer what Might be wrong with their car, I have alway tried to be Helpful and Get people back on the road as soon as possible. ( Usually doing the job whilst the customer waits ) To be honest Most of my jobs are done from by starting with that quick Diagnosis and then if its a simple job, Like AFM faults, Lambda sensors, Throttle pedal on Ford diesels etc We usually do an immediate repair. ( usually Keeping a Happy customer, a small profit and no vehicles piled up waiting to be looked at ) I always thought that it was the Fairest and most efficient way to do the job and it saves booking piles of cars in and finding out that we have too many problem jobs to sort out and can't cope with them all. But Recently We are finding that most Vehicles are coming in with several Faults, 1 Permanent fault and several Intermittent faults, So you Cure the Permanent fault and the Customer takes the Vehicle away and the Intermittent fault Returns, The Customer then Returns and Still has to Book the Car in for Further Diagnosis, So all you have done is waste an hour or more and got nowhere. ( the one I am thinking about is a Transit Connect with Codes for A Faulty Throttle pedal, EGR code and Rail pressure codes, We Cleared the codes and Throttle Pedal came straight back on, and the glow light was flashing. We plugged a Spare pedal on off a Focus and the Fault Cleared, Plugged the Original pedal back on and the Code re-appeared and the light started flashing again. ( We Explained that we should Rectify the Permanent fault first and then carry on to see if the Intermittent faults re-appeared and that the Pedals were a Common problem. So We ordered the Correct Pedal and the guy brought the van back in for it fitting, We fitted it, cleared the codes and he took the van for a Test Drive, He came back saying that it was Exactly the same, The light was flashing again and it was cutting out, We Re-Read the codes and EGR and rail pressure returned. ( So the Pedal had cured the first fault ) He was only the driver of the Van and couldnt Authorise any Repairs or booking in. So We Removed the Pedal, And Told him that it needs Booking in next week, SO. All in all, Time Lost and a Pedal on the Shelf for the next one that comes in. Most Likely the Vehicle will come back in next week, for the Job finishing, But If the driver thinks that We Must have diagnosed it Wrongly as the Pedal Didn't cure the problem, Then They might decide to go Elsewhere. ?? I am now wasting most of the day, Explaining to customers that they need to book in, doing quick repairs where possible, Answering the phone etc I am not getting through a Fraction of the work that I should be doing, So I definitely need to Change this Situation before it cripples me and my Business. YES you can get too much of a good thing and you can get too busy Contrary to Customers Beliefs.  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by clive atthowe on March 8, 2008, 8:22 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel" Clive Atthowe Peter , we stopped giving out advise some time ago , we found our own trade the worst , we would give them free technical advise usually common faults then later we would learn that they had tried changing the parts that we had mentioned and not surprisingly it didn't cure there fault and then we were getting a bad reputation for miss diagnosing there fault even though we had not set eyes on there car . Company policy know book in the car so we can diagnose the fault (we test not guess) we are also trying to avoid any while you wait diagnostics it uaually causes problems with the usually comment being it only took ten minuets how can it cost that much .  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by Shaun Dale on March 8, 2008, 9:58 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel" Shaun Dale If I have a good idea what the problem is I tell the customer that, but I won't tell them what I think it is. My usual statement is something like "If I tell you what I think it might be and then it turns out to be something different you'll say "but you said..." so let me make some tests and confirm what I think it is, book it in." If they do great, if they don't and they wanted a free telephone diagnosis then you were never going to get the job anyway. I'm sure I've helped loads of people go to the local spares place to fix their own cars. I had one guy say after about 3 phone calls over the same problem "I'll have to send you a Christmas card this year" I think I said "pop a £20 note in it then". No card, no money. Shaun  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by John Wallis on March 8, 2008, 10:03 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel" John Wallis | Message modified by user UKAT5567 March 8, 2008, 10:04 pm Hi Peter How many times do you get asked "What do you think it could be?" My answer is always the same....Phewww I could guess all day what I think it might be, but you need to leave it if you want it sorted properly. I very rarely do on the spot repairs if I can at all help it. You don't make money that way. Plus when called out to non starters I always send two men and recover the vehicle to check the problem properly. A quick jump often doesn't sort the problem. JW  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by Andy Evans on March 8, 2008, 10:12 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel" Andrew Evans "A quick jump often doesn't sort the problem" yes but it usally gives you a bit of satisfaction Cheers Andy E  Post a Response ( * ) Required

Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel Posted by Barry Rudd on March 10, 2008, 12:31 pm, in reply to "Re: Customer Booking - Then Cancel" Barry Rudd Hello Mr Solicitor I want a divorce-it's really simple-no children involved, we agreed to walk away with what we had when we married. Ok Barry all you need to do is geta form from the court for about 30 quid and do it yourself-NO WAY!, I'll need to see you and it will cost a grand. Dont tell them anything at all except a long list of possibilities for the given fault. I've started telling people about my Astra H experiences-300+V for a brake light not working-New REC and coding, computers used for diagnosing the most "simple" faults like horn not working with side lights. They are then quite relieved to get away with less than a hundred quid I'm personally fed up with the google lot-much worse than the old "man in the pub". So I have decided to be more ruthless and give away nothing except general advice to the public and those local garages that cant even be bothered to check for HT or a blown fuse before calling me out It's time to protect our livelyhoods and earn what we are worth cheers Barry  Post a Response ( * ) Required

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