Setting up a car repair garage of your own is a common move for mechanics who want to go into self employment and work for themselves. Going from employment to running your own business comes with its own learning curve whatever your sector or space. Going from doing the job to being the person responsible for driving new business, still doing the job, managing other people doing the job, getting payments in for the jobs and handling customer service is a steep step.
But when you go into the luxury end of any sector specifically, there’s an added requirement to go over and above the norms. If people are paying for a luxury service, there’s an expectation there that what you offer will be different to the budget end of the market.
So if you’re setting up a garage repairing luxury, high end cars, just how can you set yourself apart? Let’s take a look at some ideas!
Staff Training
When you’re running a successful and busy garage, making time for additional training might seem tricky. But getting your staff up to speed is vital for improved customer service and therefore customer retention.
Car technology constantly evolves. Indeed, the digital technology used by individual car manufacturers can differ from one brand to the next too and things are progressing quickly.
At the luxury end of the car market in particular, high end tech is often standard.
Keep your staff educated regarding all up-and-coming developments in the automotive industry. For example, they should be prepared to deal with more electric, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles as time moves on. 23% of all cars sold in February 2023 were fitted with a plug, showing that this change is no longer a distant prospect — it’s something that’s happening now.
Luxury car brands are embracing the electric future. Mercedes-Benz has stated that each of its models will have an all-electric alternative by 2025.
And don’t limit their training just to the technology. Any of your staff who’ll be dealing with their clients directly should also have customer service centric training.
Make Sure You’ve got the Right Equipment
Investing in the right equipment is absolutely vital. With luxury end vehicles, minor body repairs are a common thing. And if someone is investing heavily in their car, they want it to look its best.
If you don’t already offer this, you may find it useful to learn how to carry out SMART (Small to Medium Area Technology) repairs for minor car body repairs. These are great for scratches, dents and bumper repairs, among other things. For a SMART repair, a Paintless Dent Removal system is a useful way to help you fix minor dents without creating a need for fillers of paintwork. Use a spectrophotometer to create a colour-matching paint formula. This will help you reapply the paintwork without having to respray the whole car.
Cheaper than traditional car repair methods, the demand for these is likely to grow. Equip your staff with the tools they need to carry out SMART repairs and don’t forget to find the right type of motor trade insurance to cover this.
You will need to keep your workshop supplied with specialised tools and equipment to repair the features found in newer models. And when it comes to luxury cars, their technology is typically cutting-edge.
Digitised car parts are not as simple to replace, so you must be prepared. For example, you may be accustomed to window wiper replacement being a simple remove-and-refit task. But when it comes to a luxury car, you may need to reprogramme new window wipers with a new diagnostic tool first.
There are other repair jobs that you may find are also more complex than they used to be. Take vehicles fitted with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) for example. Rather than the simple windscreen replacement process you might be familiar with, these vehicles often require a static or dynamic calibration before you fit the new windscreen.
With technological advancements constantly transforming the luxury car market, it’s crucial you equip your workshop team to carry out highly specialised repairs. With the correct training and tools, this is more than possible.
Customer Service and Communication
Clear communication and courteous customer service should be standard. But at the premium end of the market, people expect a pleasant experience dropping off and picking up their vehicle.
Make sure you’ve got the systems in place to accurately schedule work, to keep customers up to date if things change and ensure staff put customers first.
If a customer is waiting in the garage, do you have somewhere pleasant for them to wait? Can you offer drinks?
It’s all part of the experience to take into account.
Get it right though…
…and you’ve find yourself booked up in no time with loyal, returning customers who trust nobody but you with their prized vehicles. Good luck.
