The first hot Saturday
For months, nobody mentions air conditioning. Then there is a hot weekend, and on Monday the phone rings all morning with customers whose air con is blowing warm. You have one air conditioning machine and two technicians trained to use it, one of whom is on holiday.
By Wednesday the air con bookings run two weeks out. Customers go elsewhere. Then the weather turns, and half the bookings cancel. Two months later the machine sits idle again.
Demand follows the weather, not your diary
Customers only think about air conditioning when they need it, which is when everyone else needs it too. Nothing prompts them earlier, even though many would happily have it checked in spring if someone asked.
Air conditioning work also has its own constraints. It needs the right machine for the car's refrigerant type, a technician with the right training, and refrigerant in stock. A general workshop diary that does not know about those constraints overbooks the machine on the busy days.
Refrigerant supply adds a further wrinkle. Different cars use different refrigerants, and the newer type is noticeably more expensive, so holding too much stock ties up money while holding too little means turning jobs away in the peak. Knowing roughly how many of each type you will see, from last year's jobs, makes the ordering easier.
What the rush costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Demand concentrated in a few weeks | Work turned away in the peak |
| Quiet months for the machine | Equipment sits idle most of the year |
| Diary does not know machine limits | Overbooking and delays on hot days |
| Refrigerant use not tracked per job | Stock surprises and records incomplete |
| No list of past air con customers | No way to invite them in early |
How we spread air conditioning work
- We build a list of customers who have had air conditioning work before, or whose cars you know have it, from your garage management system's history.
- Ahead of the season, at a time you choose, they receive a message inviting them to book a check or regas, with a link to book online.
- Online booking for air conditioning jobs checks the machine for the right refrigerant type and a trained technician before offering a slot.
- Bookings for air con jobs are spread across the weeks you choose, with limits per day so the rest of the workshop is not squeezed.
- The technician records refrigerant recovered and charged on the job screen, by type, so stock and job records are kept together.
- When the first hot week comes, customers who ring are offered the next real slot, and can join a short cancellation list.
We do not decide how often a car's air conditioning should be serviced, or what records you are required to keep on refrigerant. We build the reminders and records to match what you and your advisers decide.
A spring that takes the pressure off summer
In spring, past air con customers get their invitation, and a steady trickle of bookings fills quiet afternoons. When the first hot week arrives, a good share of regular customers have already been done, and the remaining rush is manageable.
The diary never books the machine twice in the same hour, and each job has its refrigerant figures recorded.
- Past air con customers invited before the peak
- Bookings checked against machine and technician
- Daily limits that protect the rest of the workshop
- Refrigerant recorded per job, by type
Refrigerant stock becomes easier to judge as well. With a list of which types were used last season and how many invitations went out, the order placed in spring is based on something better than a guess, and the machine is less likely to run dry in the one week it is needed most.
Does the first heatwave swamp you?
- Air conditioning demand arrives all at once.
- Your air con machine sits idle most of the year.
- The diary overbooks the machine or the trained technician.
- Refrigerant use is not recorded per job.
- You have no list of past air con customers to contact.