Customers: enquiries, reminders, campaigns
Enquiries from walk-ins, calls and your website
Note every call, walk-in, WhatsApp message and website request about a vehicle as an enquiry, before anything is booked. Each one has an owner who follows it up, and moves through New, Contacted, Quoted, Booked and Lost. It becomes an appointment or a job card in one click.
PlansFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- A caller asks for a brake job quote, the advisor writes it on a pad, and nobody calls back.
- Website requests sit in an inbox nobody owns.
- You cannot say how many enquiries you lose, or why: price, no slot, or no answer.
How it works
- 01
Open Garage > Customers > Enquiries and click New, or tap New enquiry in the app. Write what they want, for example "Brake noise".
- 02
Choose the customer, or type a new person's name and mobile. Choose the vehicle, or type its plate, model and year.
- 03
Pick the source, the date they want it and the expected value. Check the Owner: the advisor who follows it up is told at once. Star it as Hot if it is urgent.
- 04
Move it through the stages as you go. Book Appointment makes an appointment; Open Job Card starts a job card if the car is here. The customer is found by mobile or created; the vehicle by plate or created.
- 05
If it goes nowhere, click Lost and choose the reason.
- 06
Visitors to your website can fill in the "Ask us" page; it arrives as an enquiry with the source Website Form.
Everything it does
The enquiry
- Number, title, contact or new contact (name, mobile, email), vehicle or new vehicle (plate, model, year)
- Source: Walk-in, Phone (the default), Website Form, WhatsApp, Referral, Campaign, Service Reminder, Other
- Wanted On, Expected Value, services wanted, details in the customer's words
- Owner: the advisor who made it, to start with
- Priority: Normal or Hot
Stages and reasons
- Stages to start with: New, Contacted, Quoted, Booked and Lost; rename or add your own
- Lost reasons to start with: Price too high, Went to another garage, No answer, Not needed now, No slot when wanted, Vehicle sold
- Reopen brings a closed enquiry back
- The Appointment and Job Card buttons open what it led to
The website form
- Your web address followed by /garage/enquiry: name, mobile, email, number plate, vehicle and what they need
- Name and mobile are needed; a known customer is found by mobile
- A hidden trap field turns away simple robots
From other systems
- With Enterprise, a connected system can create enquiries for the branches it is allowed (see Connections)
Report
- Enquiries by source and by lost reason, with the filters Open, Won and Lost (Garage > Reports > Customers)
Who uses it
Where you use it
- Web: Garage > Customers > Enquiries; Garage > Configuration > Customers > Enquiry Stages and Lost Reasons
- Website: the Ask us page at /garage/enquiry
- The SmartMy Garage app: Customers > Enquiries with Mine, All open, Due soon and Closed. New enquiry, Book, Open job card, Lost and Reopen. Kept on the phone without signal and sent later. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet.
What you control
Settings
- Enquiry stages and lost reasons: the lists above to start with
- Source: Phone to start with on a new enquiry
Messages and alerts
- Enquiry Assigned: to the owner when an enquiry is made or handed over; by push where the app is signed in, in the app and by email. It is a transactional message: a person can switch off a channel, not the message
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Do we need a customer record before noting an enquiry?
No. Type the person's name and mobile and the vehicle's plate. The customer and the vehicle are made when the enquiry is booked, or found if they are already known.
Can enquiries come from our website?
Yes. The Ask us page on your SmartMy Garage address takes name, mobile, email, plate, vehicle and what they need. It makes an enquiry with the source Website Form. With Enterprise, your own website can also send enquiries through a connection.
How do we know why we lose enquiries?
Each lost enquiry needs a reason. The Enquiries report shows them by source and by lost reason.
Is this a full sales pipeline?
No. It is a light list made for vehicle enquiries: stages, an owner, a source and a lost reason. Each one turns into an appointment or a job card.
Related
Related features.
Appointments on a bay calendar with daily capacityFrom Growth
Book visits by customer, vehicle, services, time and bay. The booking warns when the bay is taken, the branch is closed or the day is full. The customer is reminded, the arrival opens the job card, and no-shows are counted.
Customer retention and enquiry source reportsFrom Growth
Three reports tell a workshop manager whether customers come back. Customer Retention sorts each car and customer into Active, At Risk or Lapsed. Due vs Came Back shows who returned for the service that was due. Enquiries shows where enquiries come from and why some are lost.
Campaigns to a segment of your customersFrom Growth
Send one message to a chosen group of customers, such as diesel cars over 80,000 km or customers not seen in a year. Send now or schedule it, and every message carries an unsubscribe link. The campaign counts how many were sent, clicked the link and booked a visit.
Service reminders by date and by kmFrom Growth
Each delivered job card plans the next service of the car. It falls due by date or on the day the car is expected to reach the next km, whichever comes first. That day is worked out from the car's own readings. The customer is reminded before it is due with a link to book, and the reminder closes when they come back.
Connections to your website and other systemsEnterprise only
Connect your website, a fleet customer's portal or another tool to SmartMy Garage. Each connection has its own key, its branches and what it may do: read job cards, vehicles, customers and invoices, create appointments and enquiries. Job card events are sent to it as signed messages, with retries.
Online booking from the job page and a public page per branchFrom Growth
Customers you know ask for their next visit from their job page or My vehicles. New customers use your branch's public booking page. They sign in or sign up, pick a day and time when you are open, and tick services. An advisor confirms each request.
Want to see it on your own job cards? Book a demo and we walk you through it with your workshop's work.