Gaining new customers as well as keeping existing ones are essential for your business to grow. We thought then to share with you a few simple steps we personally found useful in achieving those goals.

1. Appearance matters - make sure both your workshop front and website look clean and professional.
2. Send booking reminders.
3. Professional Invoice Templates always help.
4. Detailed descriptions of jobs done and parts used are a must.
5. Send notifications when jobs are done; Follow ups, Service Reminders.
6. Leverage next service notes to better plan with your customer.

Step 1: Dress for the occasion

First impressions matter; ensuring a clean house front and a professional environment is essential. Having customers know who the employees are and ensuring that your workshop is organised will give them confidence in your business. This doesn't just apply to your physical workshop - don't forget about your website! The same applies here: make your site as presentable as if the customer was walking into your workshop, make it easy to navigate and have your contact details present.

Step 2: Mark the date

Does your customer want to book in for a service in a weeks time? Instead of creating a new Job, make it a Booking! Creating a new booking will enable MechanicDesk to send that customer a reminder the day before they are scheduled to come in. Keeping a customer informed about their current reservations will help them remember to turn up, plus you'll have a better idea of what is coming up in your schedule for the next couple of days.

Step 3: Invoice in style

No one likes getting invoices, but making your invoices look professional is an excellent way to stand out to your customers. Using a professional invoice templates will ensure that your customers know who to pay and what they are paying for. To this end, MechanicDesk has a range of invoice templates for you to choose from to best suit your style.

Step 4: Details create the big picture

Details are important. Hence, it is essential that everything done on a job should be recorded on the Job Card. This is not just important for the workshop but it's also important for the customer to see all the work done and what they are getting billed for. Having all the work noted on a Job will give you clear indications of what you should be charging to your client and giving them peace of mind knowing what was done.

Step 5: Be connected

Communication is key. Ensuring that your client is in the loop will inspire confidence in your customers. How? Pretend that your customer has dropped their vehicle off at the workshop for a service. Once the service is done, send them a Jobs done message letting them know that their vehicle is ready to be picked up, simple as that!

So the customer has collected their vehicle but what can do we do keep them coming back? Set up a date for their next service in MechanicDesk. Adding a subsequent service date to a client's finished Job card will set them up in MechanicDesk to notify you to remind your customers about their upcoming service in a specified amount of time. Reminders are a great way to ensure you are pursuing continued business with your clients and it also shows your customers that you haven't forgotten about them.

Step 6: Remember for next time

Along with your next service reminders, Service Notes are a great way to ensure your Mechanics know what to do and check for the next time your client comes in. You will also be able to let the customer know what will be done ahead of time so they can plan ahead in case the service takes several days to complete.