An answering service for a repair shop should book the drop-off, not just take a message
You are under a car, the counter is busy, and the phone is ringing. Here is what a missed call costs a repair shop, and what each way of answering it does with “my check engine light is on, can you look at it today?”
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The problem
A caller with a warning light wants the shop that picks up. If it rings out, they call the next one on the map, and many won’t leave a voicemail. The calls come when everyone is busy: mid-morning when the bays are full, at lunch, and after you close.
These are the calls a repair shop misses.
The calls you’re missing
- “My check engine light is on. Can you look at it today?”
- “How much is a diagnostic, and does it come off the repair bill?”
- “Do you work on Subarus?” at 7pm.
- “It’s making a grinding noise when I brake. Can I drop it off tomorrow?”
- “I’m broken down on the highway. Can you help?”
What a missed call may cost
About $2,002 a month in missed revenue
An estimate, using the missed-call calculator’s sum with example numbers: 5 missed calls a week, 80% who never call back, 33% of them who would have booked, 350 dollars for the average repair job, times 52 weeks, divided by 12 months.
An average repair or diagnostic visit of $350 is the calculator’s auto-repair example. Use your own average ticket. These are not your numbers and not a promise of what any service wins back. GotItDesk is $99 a month ($79 for our first 100 customers): at that average, 1 booking a month brings in revenue equal to the subscription price, before your own costs.
Your four options, side by side
| Voicemail | Answering service | GotItDesk | Front-desk hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Answers when you can’t | Records only | Depends on the plan | Yes, 24/7 | Counter hours |
| Knows your diagnostic fee | No | If it’s in the script | From the prices you set | Yes |
| Books the drop-off | No | Some do | Yes: its own calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook | Yes |
| Breakdown calls | Waits in a mailbox | Passes it on, if scripted | Put through to the numbers you chose, or a message | Yes, in hours |
| Typical cost | Free | Per call or per minute: ask each provider | $99 a month, 1,000 minutes | Wages |
Answering-service prices vary a lot by provider and plan; check each one.
When another option is the better pick
- Voicemail is fine if almost all your calls come in hours and your counter picks up.
- An answering service is the better pick if you want a person on every call and mostly need messages taken.
- A front-desk hire is the better pick if customers walk in all day and the desk is busy even when the phone is quiet.
How GotItDesk handles the call
- Greets the callersays it’s the shop’s virtual assistant
- What the car is doingyear, make and model, and the light, noise or problem
- Listens for trouble“broken down”, “accident”, “won’t start” go to your team
- Quotes your feethe diagnostic and any price on your list
- Finds a drop-off timea column per bay or technician
- Books itspells the name back and emails you the booking
Listen to the sample call: a recorded, scripted ceramic-coating call in the live voice. Your own business is one click away, below.
What’s particular to this trade
- It asks what the car is doing. The booking tells your tech what to expect: the vehicle and the symptom, in the caller’s words.
- Your fees, not guesses. It quotes the diagnostic and the prices you set. A repair it has no price for becomes a message for your team, not a made-up number.
- Stranded callers first. “Broken down”, “accident” and “won’t start” are put through to the numbers you chose, or taken as a message if nobody picks up. It doesn’t send a tow.
- Your policies in your words. Courtesy cars, waiting while it’s done, warranty on the work: it repeats what you wrote and takes a message for the rest.
Set up in about ten minutes, and the price
Paste your website and it suggests your hours, services and prices. You choose a voice, call your new GotItDesk number to hear it answer, and only then dial one code to forward the calls you miss. It says it’s a virtual assistant in its first sentence.
The free trial is your first 10 bookings, up to 14 days or 59 minutes, no card. Then $99 a month with 1,000 minutes ($79 for our first 100 customers). No overage bills. See pricing.
What it doesn’t do yet
Connections to shop-management software, estimates by text, and approval of repairs by text are not live. Bookings go to GotItDesk’s own calendar or your Google Calendar or Outlook, and every booking and message is emailed to you. We’d rather you know now.