As a top automotive repair shop owner, you are familiar with your topline metrics like Average Repair Order (ARO), weekly revenue, and profit. These metrics provide a snapshot of your shop's performance, but they don't tell the whole story. This blog will explore influential key performance indicators (KPIs) that move the needle on revenue. 

Influential Auto Repair Shop Metrics to Track

Average Recommended Jobs per Inspection 

This metric measures how effectively your technicians identify potential areas of concern during vehicle inspections. It is helpful to compare this metric to the amount of mileage on the vehicle to ensure that technicians are not over or under-recommending services. For instance, if the average age of vehicles in your shop is over 100,000 miles, technicians should be recommending more jobs per inspection than if the average age of your vehicle is under 50,000. Tracking this metric can help you understand the thoroughness of your inspections and the potential revenue opportunities you might be missing. 

Average Declined Jobs per Repair Order 

Averaged declined jobs per repair order measures the effectiveness of your service advisors at presenting your technician’s recommendations to the customer. A high number of declined jobs might indicate a disconnect between your advisors and customers. Enhance this metric by providing your service advisor with the training and tools, like digital vehicle inspections, needed to better explain important jobs. 

Billed Hours Sold per Day by Service Advisor 

This measures the effectiveness of your service advisor in selling necessary work to the customer. It reflects their ability to convert recommended jobs into billed hours. Monitoring this KPI allows you to identify top-performing advisors and replicate their strategies across your team. It also highlights areas where additional training or support might be needed.

First Time Customer Return Rate 

The first-time customer return rate measures the effectiveness of your shop’s customer retention marketing efforts. High return rates suggest that your  marketing strategies and customer service bring customers back. Retaining customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones so consider investing in  customer retention management. 

Exit Scheduling Rate  

Exit scheduling is a great way to increase your first-time customer return rate and ensure your customer’s vehicles are routinely serviced. This measures how many appointments your service advisors schedule at vehicle pick-up. A high exit scheduling rate indicates that your advisors are effectively encouraging customers to book their next service appointment before they leave the shop. Make exit scheduling simple with  scheduling software to help maintain a steady workflow in your shop.

Pictures per Inspection 

If your shop is performing digital vehicle inspections, you should include a minimum of 10 pictures on every inspection. Pictures provide visual evidence of the issues identified, making it easier for customers to understand and approve necessary repairs. Track the number of pictures per inspection to ensure that your technicians are consistently providing visual documentation. 

Customer Research Time 

For shops that utilize digital vehicle inspections, like AutoVitals DVI, customer research time measures how long your customers view their digital inspection results. There is a direct correlation between increased customer research time and increased ARO. The more time customers spend reviewing their inspection reports, the more likely they are to approve recommended services.

Conclusion 

Tracking these influential metrics will provide insights into your shop’s performance, uncover areas for improvement, and identify growth opportunities. However, manually tracking and analyzing these KPIs is time-consuming and prone to errors. AutoVitals automates the tracking of these and over 50 other critical auto repair shop KPIs, providing you with real-time data and actionable insights. With AutoVitals, you can focus on what you do best—providing top-notch automotive repair services—while confidently making data-driven decisions to drive your business forward. Invest in AutoVitals to use these metrics effectively and drive sustainable success in your auto repair shop.