Six price enquiries before ten o'clock
A message on Facebook asks how much for front pads and discs on a Corsa. An email asks for a timing belt price on a car the sender describes as "the 1.6 diesel". Two phone calls ask about clutches. A web form asks for a service price with no registration. Someone rings to ask if you can "do a price match" on a quote from another garage.
Each one takes the advisor several minutes: find the exact vehicle, look up the labour time, ring or log in for parts prices, add VAT and the extras, and write it back. Most of those customers are ringing round several garages, and the first clear answer often wins.
Every quote is built from scratch
The ingredients are always the same: the exact vehicle, the labour time from your guide, parts prices from your factors, your labour rate and your margin rules, plus the extras you always add. But they sit in different places, so each quote is assembled by hand.
Enquiries also come through too many channels. The advisor handles the phone, while the website form and Facebook messages wait in inboxes that nobody watches closely, and some are answered the next day, by which time the customer has booked elsewhere.
What slow or inconsistent quotes cost
| Symptom | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Quotes take several minutes each | Advisor time taken from customers in front of them |
| Different advisors, different prices | Customers confused when they ring back |
| Extras forgotten | Final bill higher than quoted, and an unhappy customer |
| Social and web enquiries answered late | The customer has already booked elsewhere |
| No record of quotes given | No follow-up and no idea how many turn into jobs |
How we build a quoting screen for common jobs
- Enquiries from your web form, email and social media messages are collected into one list, alongside a quick entry for phone enquiries.
- The registration is looked up to identify the exact vehicle and engine. Where it is missing, the customer is sent a short request for it.
- For common jobs, the labour time comes from your labour data source and parts prices from your factors where they offer a trade link.
- Your labour rate, margin rules and standard extras are applied the same way every time, so any advisor gets the same price.
- The customer receives a written quote by text, email or a reply in the same channel, with what is included, a validity period you set, and a link to book.
- Quotes are kept, and you choose whether to send one follow-up. You can see how many quotes turn into bookings, by job type.
Complex or unusual jobs are still quoted by a person. The screen simply makes the common ones quick and consistent, and gives the advisor the ingredients for the rest.
Ten o'clock, and the enquiries are answered
The Corsa pads and discs, the two clutches and the service are quoted in a few minutes between them, each with the same labour rate and extras applied. The timing belt request is missing a registration, so the customer gets an automatic reply asking for it. The price match request goes to the owner.
By lunch two of the quotes have been booked from the link. At month end, you can see which jobs you win on price and which you rarely do.
- Enquiries from every channel in one list
- Consistent prices across advisors
- Extras always included
- Quotes that customers can book from
Are price enquiries swamping the counter?
- Each quote is worked out by hand.
- Different advisors give different prices for the same job.
- Web form and Facebook enquiries wait hours for a reply.
- Final bills sometimes differ from the quote because extras were missed.
- You do not know how many quotes become bookings.