A car you tested last year, tested down the road
Last spring you tested a customer's hatchback. It passed. This spring, the customer saw a sign outside a fast-fit chain offering MOTs, remembered theirs was due, and booked there. They did not dislike your centre. You just were not the one who reminded them.
Your records show hundreds of vehicles you tested a year ago. Some will come back without prompting. Many will not, and the only thing standing between them and another centre is a timely message.
Why reminders fail even when they exist
Many centres rely on the customer to remember, or on a free government reminder that points them to no particular centre. Others have a reminder feature in their system but set it up once, years ago, and never checked whether messages arrive.
Timing matters. A reminder that arrives in the last few days before expiry competes with every other centre and gives the customer no choice of slot. One that arrives a few weeks earlier, with a booking link, lets them book the time they want. Contact details matter too. Mobile numbers change, and a reminder sent to a dead number is the same as none.
The list itself decays. A centre that has tested for years holds records for cars that were scrapped, sold or moved away, and for customers whose mobile numbers changed long ago. A reminder system is only as good as the contact details behind it, and nobody has time to check them one by one at the desk.
What missed reminders cost
| Problem | What happens |
|---|---|
| No reminder at all | Customer books wherever they see an offer first |
| Reminder too late | Your slots are full, so they go elsewhere |
| Dead number or email | Reminder sent, never received |
| No booking link | Customer means to ring, then forgets |
| Sold vehicles still reminded | Messages to the wrong person |
Repeat MOT customers also bring servicing, tyres and repairs if you offer them. Losing the MOT often means losing the rest.
How we build MOT reminders that get booked
- We read your past tests from your centre's records: registration, test date, result and the customer's contact details.
- Each vehicle's expiry date is worked out, and where appropriate checked against the public MOT history data so a vehicle tested elsewhere since is not reminded.
- A first reminder goes out a few weeks before expiry, at a time you choose, by text and email, with a link to book a real slot in your diary.
- A second, shorter reminder goes to anyone who has not booked, closer to the date.
- Replies such as "sold" or "tested elsewhere" update the record, and bounced messages flag the contact details for the desk to check at the next visit.
- A monthly view shows how many vehicles are due, how many reminded, and how many booked, so you can plan tester shifts.
Who you may contact and how is set by the permissions customers gave you and your own policy. The reminders follow those. We do not decide them.
A spring diary that fills from your own customers
A few weeks before last year's hatchback is due, the customer gets a short text with your centre's name, the expiry date and a booking link. They pick Saturday morning. The chain's sign never gets a chance.
You can see next month's due list in advance. If there is a heavy week, you know to roster another tester.
- Reminders timed ahead of each expiry date
- Booking links into your real diary
- Sold and tested-elsewhere vehicles dropped
- A forecast of how many tests are due each month
Are your past customers testing elsewhere?
- You send no MOT reminders, or rely on the customer to remember.
- Reminders go out in the last few days before expiry.
- Many messages bounce or go to old numbers.
- Reminders do not include a way to book.
- You cannot say how many of last year's customers came back.