Customizing Shop-Ware with extra categories

Austin customizes Shop-Ware by creating specific categories to drive AZ Euros to new heights. For example, he and his staff create post-service inspection reports for any vehicle for sale on the lot. That way, potential buyers get a full report of any work already done and still needed – with estimates. One buyer used this data to increase his car loan to include the upgrades he wanted to make to the SUV he coveted.

“We’re an open book,” Austin says. “It’s a good return on investment for us since it helps us sell the cars then customers who buy from us come back on the service side.”

“The category aspect is so helpful,” Austin notes. “It allows me to get information with a point and click. I have great conversations with the owners when we come up with new ideas, knowing that Shop-Ware can make them happen.”

In particular, he has customized Shop-Ware to:

• Track upsells

• Add services, like carbon cleaning, that are not in the standard manual

• Run promotions and see who closes those deals

• Monitor and report costs and commissions related to each import transaction

• Calculate commissions based on gross profit within minutes rather than days

• Figure out each tech’s efficiency based on ROs and shop hours

• Manage the hours committed to odd jobs via an account created with a fictitious car

Showing the best side of the auto repair industry

Austin and his colleagues take their message of transparency one step further.

Three to four times a year, they open up the shop on weekends and host car clubs, careers days and Dyno Days, with sponsors and car-related vendors, such as artists. The dyno tests are particularly popular for car owners who want to measure the torque and calculate the horsepower of their motors.

“We have a beautiful shop so I like opening it up to the public,” Austin says. “It’s like how Shop-Ware is open to show you what’s wrong with your car. That transparency goes a long way with customers.”

The business also hosts Tech Days to show how aftermarket shops find solutions to keep cars running longer. The shop also served as a dropoff spot and a stop for the Let’s Cruise for BFF! event in April 2021 for the Bridging Forever Families pet foster program.

As for the staff, the owners bring in breakfast every Monday and lunch every Wednesday to to boost morale. They also saw the movie Ford v Ferrari together and go go-karting together once a year with their spouses.

“If we have the right equipment, the right skill set, and the right guys, you don’t have to go anywhere else,” he adds. “Shop-Ware has helped us hugely. I have nothing but good things to say.”