Doris answers the call to help one garage increase profit



Slow quote production was pulling down profit

Fergies reported that they were losing business because they weren’t able to issue quotes quick enough. Quoting at the beginning of the day, ideally when the vehicle is still on the ramp, allows Fergies to improve productivity and revenue. The constant interruptions on the front desk was slowing down the production of quotes. Profit was being impacted.

Call Doris takes the strain

Call Doris answers the phone and takes bookings during the busy morning period allowing Fergies to concentrate on quote production.

£150+ incremental profit per vehicle

Quote production is now taking place whilst the car is still on the lift, more business is being converted and workshop productivity has improved. The impact? Over £150 incremental profit per vehicle.

Fergies increases average profit per vehicle by £150+ by using Call Doris

Fergies, a family business based in Thatcham was established in 2019 and has been growing rapidly since. Like a lot of new garages, Fergies found themselves in the ‘catch 22’ position of needing to grow profit to allow further investment in staff to achieve their targets.

With Shaun, the garage owner performing the role of technician, workshop manager and front of house manager there was always a juggle over what to prioritise. The outcome? Profit was not increasing at the levels Shaun needed.

A conversation with John Batten at AutoIQ (www.autoiq.co.uk) helped to identify that the main barrier to growth was the way Fergies front of house was resourced. The challenge Shaun faced was how to provide additional front of house coverage without his new business having to bear the cost of an additional member of staff. That’s where Call Doris came in.

The Call Doris team immediately sprang into action. Over the next 48 hours Fergies briefed the Call Doris team on their business, who they are and how they wanted their customers to be treated. The Fergies’ phone was set to call forward to Call Doris after 8 seconds and the phone greeting and email to receive messages were all agreed.

On the morning of going live Fergies focused on preparing and issuing quotes, without interruption – allowing the phone to transfer to Call Doris for answering. The hardest part was remembering not to pick up the phone! The calls, in the meantime, were being expertly picked up by Doris, detailed messages were being taken, including name, contact details, registration number and detail on the customer’s reason for calling. These were immediately emailed through to Fergies.

Once Fergies had completed their quotes, they immediately jumped straight on to their Doris messages. The categorisation of the calls made it very simple for Fergies to identify and prioritise the most important calls – focusing on bookings and quotes.

The garage was calmer, the production of quotes more efficient and workshop productivity all felt as though they were improving. However, the acid test came when a review of the key performance indicators happened at the end of the first week. More calls were answered, more quotes had been produced and won and workshop efficiency had improved. The most telling metric however, was the profit – incremental profit per car invoice had increased by over £150!  The incremental profit from one car paid for the monthly cost of the Call Doris service.

Fergies have now been using Call Doris for over 6 months. Since going live Fergies’ Doris has started to doing a lot more than just answer the phone – she now books work directly in to Shaun’s garage management system, further enhancing productivity and profit.

Doris has become a very valuable member of the team.


Back to reviews

Shaun Miller
Shaun MillerFergies Read More
We were struggling to issue quotes in a timely manner due to the constant phone interruptions – this was impacting our profit. Call Doris takes care of this. She takes bookings and speaks to our customers, allowing us to focus on getting the quotes out and increasing sales. She’s a great addition to our front of house team!
Rick Jobbins
Rick JobbinsLinks Automotive Read More
Honestly, Doris is saving the day at the moment.
Simon Williamson
Simon WilliamsonMarc’s Garage Read More
Running a garage is always a juggle – the constant telephone interruptions can make this even more of a challenge, particularly when front of house staff are on holiday or off sick. Doris takes the strain – she speaks to our customers which allows me to focus on fixing cars. The result? A calmer garage and an increase in sales
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