September 2019

D igital tools are absolutely vital in today’s garage business. In the workshop you need online access to work on the latest vehicles, and all trends are heading in this direction. Meanwhile, there are a host of management tools that help owners and managers run the business more smoothly. Invoicing, customer relations, and many other aspects of your business can run better with the right tools. When one thinks about tools with reference to the garage, images of spanners, screwdrivers, and highly expensive diagnostic devices spring to mind. For the manager or business owner though, a garage management system (GMS) could be just as useful, or perhaps even more useful. When you are rushing from one job to the next, a GMS might seem like something you could think about getting later. However, is it really just a ‘nice to have’ or is it a necessity in today’s changing business landscape. Leo Freebairn, National Sales Manager at TechMan says: “Simply googling ‘reasons why businesses need new software’ will throw up a list of bullet points like increased efficiency, decrease human error, increase ROI, an advantage over competition or better manage customer relations to name a few. “TechMan are by no means the authority on why businesses need to keep up to date with the latest technology in today’s challenging marketplace, regardless of what industry a business operates in. However, it has recognised that when this comes to the independent garage sector the choices on offer were in many cases dated, old technology or simply an invoicing system with a customer database attached. “With the changing landscape of the independent garage, owners now want better, faster, more accurate, real-time information on their business. Meanwhile, the growth in garage owners educating themselves on business courses through the likes of Andy Savva, The Garage Inspector, shows there was a gap in the market to offer garages ‘the right tools to do the job’ from a GMS perspective.” Leo says TechMan has identified a number of key areas where a GMS can really help: “We pinpointed that these are the real pain points for many independent garage owners.” Selling hours Leo observes: “As an independent garage the only commodity at your disposal is hours. Parts are a bi- product of selling hours. While most independents steer away from the pressured environment of the main dealer workshop, many still acknowledge that they need to increase the amount of hour sold. Most fall into two main categories. There are those who are already tracking hours sold through spreadsheets or lengthy manual processes, which can be inaccurate. Then there are those who want to track hours, but who have little or no idea of where to start the journey. Solutions to this issue are now available with today’s technology.” Recruitment “Recruitment is a very widespread issue across the independent garage sector,” says Leo. “New generations of technician coming through want to know how their working day can be improved by using the latest technologies such as tablets for 36 AFTERMARKET SEPTEMBER 2019 ONLINE TOOLS AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS www.aftermarketonline.net EFFICIENCY BOOST All the latest digital tooling designed to help you in the workshop, as well as the best management systems that enable your business to run more efficiently Below: Autopart Online on the go