Estimate, approval and work
Standing approval for work found: ask each time, up to an amount, or fix everything
At check-in, ask the customer what to do when your technicians find more work. Ask each time, go ahead up to an amount, or fix everything. Work found then waits for them or is approved at once, and each line says how.
PlansEvery plan
The problem it solves
- A car sits on the lift for hours while the advisor tries to reach the owner about a small bulb.
- Fleet and busy customers say "just do what it needs" at the desk, and nothing records that they said it.
- An advisor goes ahead on a verbal yes and the customer disputes it at delivery.
- Different advisors handle found work differently for the same customer.
How it works
- 01
At check-in, ask the customer and choose Work Found: Ask for Each Item, Approved Up To an Amount (fill in Up To), or Fix Everything. They sign the check-in with it.
- 02
When a technician finds more work, they add the line with the origin Found During Work. With Growth, an inspection item marked attention or fail becomes such a line in one click.
- 03
Ask for Each Item: the line waits for the customer, who gets the Extra Work Found message with the link to approve it.
- 04
Approved Up To an Amount: the line is approved at once while the total of work approved this way stays within the amount. A line that would go over waits for the customer.
- 05
Fix Everything: the line is approved at once. Each line approved this way shows How: Standing Approval, with the time.
Everything it does
The three choices
- Ask for Each Item: the default for every new job card
- Approved Up To an Amount: the total, taxes included, of work found and approved this way stays within Up To
- Fix Everything: every line of work found is approved
What it covers
- Lines with the origin Found During Work, including work recommended from an inspection (Growth)
- Not the first estimate, and not work the customer asks for later (origin Added by Customer): those are decided by the customer
- Also respected on the customer's job page
What happens next
- Approved services become tasks at once
- New approved work on a job card in quality check or ready sends it back to In Progress
- Each line records How: Standing Approval and the time it was approved
- The choice and the amount are on the job card, and changes to them are logged with who and when
Who uses it
Where you use it
- Web: the check-in screen (The Visit) and the job card
- The SmartMy Garage app: the Details step of check-in, "Work found during the job" (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Customer page: lines waiting under Ask for Each Item, or over the amount, are approved there
What you control
Settings
- Per job card, at check-in: Ask for Each Item to start with
Approvals
- No approval chain: the standing instruction is the customer's own decision, given at check-in
Messages and alerts
- Extra Work Found: to the customer when work found waits for them, once the estimate has gone out. Not for work approved by the standing instruction; it goes at once by WhatsApp, else SMS, else email
- Customer Decided Online: to the advisor when the customer then decides on the job page
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is "up to an amount" per line or for the whole visit?
For the whole visit: the total of all work found that was approved this way, taxes included, stays within the amount you typed.
Does Fix Everything include the first estimate?
No. The estimate agreed at check-in is decided by the customer as usual. The standing instruction is only for work found during the job.
Can the customer change their mind during the visit?
Yes. Change the choice or the amount on the job card. The change is logged with who made it and when.
How does the customer know what was done under it?
Each line shows How: Standing Approval and when, on the job card. Work that still waits for them is on their job page to approve.
Which plan has it?
Every plan, from Starter.
Related
Related features.
Estimates approved or declined line by lineEvery plan
Build the estimate from your services and parts, priced and taxed. The customer approves or declines each line in person, by phone, by message, or on their job page with a typed signature. Each line keeps how it was decided, when, and who recorded it.
Check-in with odometer, fuel or battery, photos, belongings, consent and signatureEvery plan
Record how each car arrived before anyone touches it. Take the odometer, the fuel or battery level, a dashboard photo and the walk-around photos your branch asks for. Note what was left inside, test drive consent and what to do about work found, and get the customer's signature.
Digital vehicle inspections with pass, attention and failFrom Growth
Technicians go through a checklist on the phone or web, marking each item pass, attention or fail, with measurements and photos. Items that need work become recommended work in one click. The customer sees the lights, notes and photos on their job page.
Send back from quality check, and more work on the same job cardEvery plan
When quality check finds a fault, send the job card back with the task to redo and what is wrong. The task reopens for its technician and the send-back is counted. When more work comes up, it goes on the same job card and the car goes back to work.
The customer's job page by a private link, no loginEvery plan
Every job card has its own page for the customer, opened from a link in their messages with no password. They see the status, the estimate, the photos, the damage, the readings and their invoices. It comes with every plan.
Want to see it on your own job cards? Book a demo and we walk you through it with your workshop's work.