Do I Need a Shop Management Program?

[tylerl]

Hey guys looking for a little advise for people that have been in my situation. We are a smaller shop but really starting to transition to doing more volume in the past 2 years. Been in business for 10 years now and currently have 2 full time tech's and myself. I manage most of the office and service writing stuff and even occasionally help wrench in the back when required. Looking to hire a service advisor soon to help with the work load on the counter.

 

Currently we just use a a mix of excel spreadsheets for invoicing and customer history, as well as Google calendar. My questions is will I see a big benefit from moving to a all in one management program? Is it worth the monthly fee's for a smaller outfit like mine? 

 

Should mention we are in the powersports arena (mostly boat repair with some other rec equipment) so some of the platforms out there are not 100% tailored to our industry with the ones that are not offering up everything you would get out of a automotive program. Thanks in advance for the help!

[JustTheBest]

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[DAC]

We are also a small shop in a small town, same situation. I have been contemplating an upgrade myself. We use QuickBooks and it's worked well for us. I may consider an upgrade down the road, but for now it does what I need. 

[JustTheBest]

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[dfrisby]

About 70% of my business is powersports (ATV's and UTV's).  I also do automotive work.  I have 2 techs and myself as well as part time service writer. I can't even imagine operating this business without some sort of shop management program. I started out with baymaster and was extremely happy with them until they were transitioning to online only.  The price was reasonable.  When they transitioned I panicked as there were alot of flaws and I ended up switching at that point to AllData.  I probably would have been better off to stick it out with baymaster, and if they would have held off their transition until they had all the bugs worked out I would have.  In addition to AllData, I have added "myshopmanager" which is a marketing program that automatically texts my customers checking in on them about jobs we have completed.  It also has a VERY GOOD vehicle inspection part that allows us to send a text to our customers with pictures and videos of their vehicle inspection.  This has sold alot of extra work we wouldn't have had without it.  In order to grow in this industry at this time, you have to invest in the technology.  I think I'm paying $289 a month for "my shop manager", and I'm ok with that as I can see clearly it's bringing in an extra $2,500 a month in revenue  per month as long as we are using it.  We've been so busy the last couple month that we have not been using the inspection feature as much as we should be.  Our biggest problem there is staff.  If anyone has any advice on getting quality mechanics that want to work and can show up on time... please share your secrets.  I could be a 3 tech shop instead of a 1 1/2 tech shop if I could just find the right people.  The 1/2 is my second and isn't efficient or reliable.... and may not be employed for long.