What Are The Benefits Of Offering Vehicle Health Checks?

Aside from using comprehensive garage software to manage your workshop and streamline operations, garages and service centres that are looking to increase customer loyalty while maximising profits should also consider offering complimentary vehicle health checks each time a vehicle arrives onsite, as both your business and your customers can benefit from the extra service.

A vehicle health check, more commonly referred to as a VHC, offers technicians the chance to review the overall condition of a car and identify any faults before informing the customer, who can then make a decision on whether they go ahead and have the work completed, or rebook to have it addressed at a later date. In some cases, the problems flagged can even be fixed by the garage on the same day, which is a great convenience for customers!

For workshops, a vehicle health check provides you with the chance to upsell your products and services on every job. If a customer has booked their car in simply for an MOT and your free VHC reveals underlying issues with the car, then you have created the opportunity to turn this into another job item or booking that keeps money coming into the business.

From a customer’s point of view, vehicle health checks offer peace of mind, reassuring them that their vehicle is safe and roadworthy. Whilst VHC’s may uncover issues that require attention, many customers would appreciate the chance to address problems early, often saving money in the long run and also avoiding unexpected breakdowns or further expense where issues could have been prevented from becoming worse.

Dragon2000’s Workshop App lets technicians carry out vehicle health checks from their tablet or mobile device, ensuring the VHC can be completed efficiently as you work your way around the car, with the results fed back into your garage software.

Vehicle components can be recorded as either red, amber or green in the VHC to mark the severity of their condition, creating a simple traffic light report that highlights which areas of the car need work and producing an easy-to-read list for both your business and your customers to review.

Images and text can be attached to each issue to provide further clarity and offer customers clear evidence of the defect, allowing them to make an informed decision on how to proceed with the next steps.

Technicians can even record videos and send them to customers from within the Workshop App, which might help your staff to explain any complex problems easier. Providing your own commentary as you make your way around the vehicle and pointing the camera at any defects will not only increase the customer’s understanding of the issues, but it will also build trust with your garage as you’re going the extra mile to ensure your customer is satisfied with the vehicle health check results.

If you operate within a garage that specialises in a specific vehicle make and model, then our VHC templates will allow you to speed up your checks by creating a set list of all the necessary items to assess, allowing you to completely avoid any irrelevant vehicle parts.

Once your customer has approved any work to be completed on the car following the vehicle health check, this can then easily be transferred onto the job card ready for a technician to complete. Any issues that the customer chooses not to have fixed can instead be added to the invoice as an advisory and followed up by your team in the future.

The Workshop App is fully integrated with the DragonDMS dealer management system and has been created to revolutionise the way garages and workshops perform their daily tasks. If you’re interested in improving your team’s efficiencies with our garage software and mobile apps, speak to our sales team on 01327 222 333 or email sales@dragon2000.co.uk for more information.

Dragon2000 have been helping car dealers and garages drive their businesses forward for three decades with our dealer management system, car dealer websites and mobile apps. Contact our sales team today to find out how we can help your business increase profits and reduce costs.