Dan Maher from L&M is a bit of a digital demon. Apart from a very strong and distinctive presence on social media he employs every digital aid he can think of to run the business efficiently.
irstly, he uses iBodyshop for online estimating and automated quality customer surveys. All staff have the iBodyshop app on a smartphone for quote information availability and image taking ability for job progress and they clock on and off their jobs so that Maher can keep an eagle eye on productivity. L&M also use the digital workshop scheduler within iBodyshop.
Naturally, when it comes to parts ordering and invoicing this is carried out digitally via PartsCheck.
Over in the paintshop is a digital paint shop colour system via Valspar and there’s also digital paint consumables liquids measuring and recording with Octoral software to help keep wastage to a minimum.
There’s a contactless quote portal from smart devices which Maher says has been invaluable since the pandemic hit. The website has recently been refreshed and audited to ensure maximum visibility with key words and all of the features that search engines like.
Social media is Maher’s ‘thing’ and it’s been extremely effective at bringing work in, especially as he isn't associated with a particular insurance company. They’re not what you would call corporate posts and they often have the odd blue word in there but Maher’s posts on Facebook and Instagram certainly get across a passion for cars and safe repairs (he also describes himself as a meme God). He has over 2000 followers on Facebook, which is a lot for a repair shop and over 600 followers on Instagram. When he launched his wheel repair service, posts on social media brought in the work.
The business has also been undertaking restorations to keep the techs busy during the quieter times that have popped up thanks to lockdowns, and again social media has been a great avenue to advertise these services. He even has a TikTok account to display some restoration and customer work – how many of you are on TikTok?
Maher is also active on Google My Business which is another big tick for the mysterious search engine bots.
When it comes to interacting with customers they are spoiled for choice. There’s phone, email, messenger and WhatsApp available. Social media has also proven to be a cost effective way to recruit new staff for L&M.
“I can’t even remember how much harder and paper-filled life was before all of these digital tools came on line – we’ve embraced each and every one of them. To the clever folk that create them, thank you and keep ‘em coming,” Maher says.