Every service writer knows there aren’t enough hours in the day. Your boss keeps adding things to the checklist, parts are always across the country, and customers never call back when you need them to.
But here’s the thing: most of that wasted time is preventable.
The shops that run smoothly aren’t working harder—they’re eliminating the friction that slows everyone down. Here’s how.
Get Everything Upfront
The biggest time killer in any shop? Chasing customers for approvals.
Before that car hits the bay, you need:
Every phone number — Cell, work, home. If you can only reach them at one number and they’re not there, you’ve lost hours.
Text preferences — Some people carry a separate phone for texts. Ask.
Email — “But they don’t want to give it to me.” Stop. Explain it like this: “We’re going to open your car up like surgery. Do you want us to put it back together and take it apart again because we couldn’t reach you? Your email is one more way to get your car back to you faster.”
Their schedule — A teacher in class all day? Know their lunch period. A construction worker who can’t answer before 3pm? Note it. This one detail can save you a full day of phone tag.
Wheel lock keys — Before they leave. Tag it with the RO number. Put it in the packet with the paperwork. The one time you forget is the one time you need it at 4:30 on a Friday.
Pull TSBs Before the Tech Sees the Car
When a customer calls with a driveability problem, you know the year, make, model, and symptoms. That’s enough to pull Technical Service Bulletins before the car even arrives.
Takes 30 seconds. Saves the tech a full diagnostic step. Reduces comebacks. And your tech will love you for it—you just showed him you’re trying to set him up for success.
Kill Tunnel Vision
Picture a waitress walking across a restaurant with a coffee pot in one hand and nothing in the other. She fills one cup, asks if anyone needs anything, gets one request, walks back to the kitchen. Still carrying nothing in that empty hand.
That’s tunnel vision. And it destroys productivity.
When you walk to the back to talk to a tech:
- Make eye contact with every tech on the way
- “Hey, you good? Parts come in? Need anything?”
- Grab those cores sitting on the toolbox
- Check the status of two other jobs while you’re there
One trip. Multiple purposes. Every time.
The Real Secret
Every minute you save by getting information upfront, every trip you optimize, every callback you avoid—that’s money. For you, for your techs, for the shop.
The wrenches need to keep turning. When they’re not, nobody’s making money.
Set yourself up for success before the car hits the bay, and watch how much faster your day moves.
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Shop4D is built to eliminate exactly this kind of friction. See how it works →