June 2020

we have become.The overall efficiency of a business is how many personnel you employ against the number of hours you sell. I believe Techman saves you the resource of one or more employees because the whole business communicates better and stops time being lost unnecessarily.” On his advice for workshop owners in 2020, Mick observed: “Analyse your business now and if you feel you can’t, then invest now in a GMS so that you can before it’s too late.” Integration On what he thought would help workshops most in 2020, TechMan’s Customer Liaison Director Peter Mcilhiney said: “The recent integration with Euro Car Parts has allowed customers to have access to prices and part details at a click of a button. Front-of-house can be more efficient when ordering parts, also when creating estimates for customers as parts are created automatically in the system and can be ordered directly from TechMan. “Social distancing measures that TechMan can facilitate will be key for workshops returning to work after lockdown as well. Using ECP online ordering removes the need to be constantly using telephones. Meanwhile, sending videos and E fficiency and opportunity will be the watchwords for businesses looking to roar out of lockdown. Technology, in the form of garage management systems can really help in this regard. With COVID-19 now playing a part in the business strategy for so many workshops, TechMan have been speaking to its customer base to find out how they plan to get back to normal and recover from the pandemic downturn. Leo Freebairn, National Sales Manager at TechMan, commented: “TechMan has found that many workshop owners have turned their attention to business process and finding ways to cut costs, refine the way they conduct their business and look at new ways of generating footfall. “This is great for those that already have business management tools like TechMan in place. This allows them to look at the history of bookings, profit margins, where they can make improvements to everything from booking up the diary to allocation of work within the workshop.” Looking forward “What lies ahead for those that are running paper-based systems though?” asked Leo. “Or those who have software that is limited to producing invoices and some basic reporting? “This is the time to be standing out from the crowd. This means electronic vehicle health checks (VHCs), for customers via video, tracking where customers are from, and monitoring staff efficiency, recovery rates and parts margins.” Mick Shaikly of Shaikly Motor Company in Colchester, Essex has shared his experience of what TechMan has allowed him to do during the lockdown, and how he plans to use TechMan to implement the changes he thinks will be required to come out of COVID-19 stronger: “Running a business these days has 34 AFTERMARKET JUNE 2020 GARAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS www.aftermarketonline.net FUTURE-PROOFING Garage management systems can really help businesses looking to fast- track efficiency and supercharge customer care become more and more complicated and with the current crisis we face things are most certainly not going to get easier. We need to maximize the time we have in a day and TechMan gives you that edge. Communication is key in business and not using a paperless system seriously restricts your ability to communicate.” On business analysis, Mick said: “TechMan has certainly highlighted areas of the business that are performing well and those that are not. It is very easy to fall into the trap of just looking at the overall picture and not at how you got there. “Post COVID-19, it is going to be so important to focus on areas of your business that are failing and ultimately affecting you bottom line. And that all goes back to communication and where you are wasting time. The reality is that it is all about selling hours. That’s what we need to do to stay in business. We also have to look at the cost of resource to give us profit though, and without TechMan we would struggle to do that.” Moving to TechMan was the first time the business has used paperless jobsheets and VHCs via tablet for techs and Mick said these be their key to success in 2020 and beyond: “Without these features it would be impossible for us to be as efficient as Above: ECP integration screen on TechMan