Guide
How to manage a busy garage
Your diary's full, the phone keeps ringing and there are three cars waiting for parts. Here's how to keep a busy UK garage running smoothly.
Use time slots, not just days
Booking jobs by day leads to overbooking. Allocate specific time slots to technicians and bays. A digital diary with drag-and-drop makes this fast. You can see at a glance who's free and when.
Build in buffer time
Every job takes longer than quoted sometimes. Build 15–30 minutes of buffer per technician per day. It's better to finish early and pull forward the next job than to run late and cascade delays.
Let customers book themselves
If you're answering the phone while trying to manage the workshop, an online booking system helps. Customers book at their convenience (24/7, including evenings and weekends) and the booking appears in your diary automatically.
Handle walk-ins without chaos
Have a policy: quick jobs (bulb, wiper blade), fit them in. Bigger work, book them into the next available slot. Show them the diary on screen so they can see you're not just fobbing them off.
Keep customers informed
The biggest cause of customer frustration isn't delays; it's not knowing about them. Send an SMS when the job starts, when you find additional work, and when the car is ready. Automated SMS does this without you thinking about it.
Delegate admin
If you're the owner, you shouldn't be doing invoicing, chasing payments and ordering parts at the same time as running the workshop. Garage software that connects job cards to invoicing and parts ordering reduces admin time significantly.
Track work in progress
Use job card statuses: booked, in progress, awaiting parts, ready for collection, collected. At any point you should be able to tell a customer the status of their car without walking to the bay.
Too busy for the phone?
Let customers book online. See how Garegi handles diary, job cards and SMS automatically.