What’s the one daily task that simplifies your shop life, increases upselling opportunities and dramatically boosts profits?

For a growing number of shops, the most important task involves snapping customer vehicle condition photos and sharing them, along with digital multi-point inspections and repair orders, with customers.

The sentiment that a picture is worth a thousand words has perhaps never been truer than for a customer literally staring down evidence of needed, and most times unexpected, vehicle repairs.

Since spring, shops using Bolt On Technology’s Mobile Manager Pro automotive software suite have taken and shared 100,000 photos with their customers. On average, 7,500 photos are captured every week, which is a testament to the effectiveness of the “seeing is believing” notion.

Now, instead of trying to explain why a customer may need to buy new tires, or brake pads, or replace a corroded battery, technicians, with the click of a handheld mobile device, can show them.

In all, our data shows that nearly 90 percent of our Mobile Manager Pro users actively put into service the software’s photo-taking capabilities. The number of regular photo-takers continues to grow, as does the bottom lines for shops that have made this feature a part of their daily routine.

Along with the photo capture feature, shops are also benefitting from VIN scanning (88 percent usage rate) and digital inspections (84 percent usage rate). The new recommendations capability, which goes hand-in-hand with image capture, continues to increase in popularity as more than 70 percent of shops regularly use it to make new repair recommendations as part of the vehicle inspection process.

An add-on automotive software solution that automatically integrates with leading shop management systems, Mobile Manager Pro enables technicians to ditch scrawled handwriting in favor of digital, easy-to-complete forms, including customizable multi-point vehicle inspections, VIN and license plate scanning/decoding and more.

Since its release in the fall of 2013, Mobile Manager Pro has been proven to increase efficiency and productivity in the bays. But, for many shop owners and technicians, the real proof of the application’s usefulness is in its ability to take photos.

Our research has shown that the uptick in photo-taking is paying off. Techs that take three or more photos, or make three or more service recommendations have seen repair orders increase by $60 to $85. In all, shops are more than doubling their repair order profits simply by showing, not telling.

How does your shop communicate customer service recommendations?

To learn more about Mobile Manager Pro and the power of using photos to drive higher sales, call Bolt On Technology at 610-400-1019.