Dave's Blog

First Impressions Can Last A Lifetime

autowatch — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:43:07 +0000

The other day I had received a phone call from a local Financial Advisor who began running through his questions and information on his services in an attempt to peak my interest. After a few moments on the phone with him I informed him that I was extremely busy at the time and I probably wouldn’t be interested in his services. I did this as a courtesy to him in an attempt to not waste his time, but I asked for his contact information to think it over more and give him a shout back if I was interested. I told him I had another call coming in and needed the information to contact him and then responded to me saying “OH another call coming in huh?” and just laughed and hung up on me. I thought to myself “This was his First Impression and he wanted me to use his services?”

What I encourage you and others is to be mindful of your first impressions you make towards your customers. Sometimes when we have been doing the same thing for a long time, it’s easy to forget what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that first impression. My challenge to you is to objectively view your business as if you were a first time customer. What does your entrance/parking lot/waiting area say about your company? What does your website say about your business? And what impression would one have after talking to your receptionist?

2,000,000 vehicles!

autowatch — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:37:41 +0000

Wow, last month we hit our 2,000,000^th vehicle on the AutoWatch system! Hard to believe this all started with a simple idea as I sat eating my lunch on a milk crate as a body tech about 10 years ago.

Thanks so much to all of our customers and partners that made this milestone possible!

Firsthand AutoWatch Experience

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:51:18 +0000

Well after 10 years with AutoWatch I was finally a customer who used the system with my own car. I hit something in the road on the expressway one early morning and did about $3,500 damage to the front lower section of my vehicle. So of course I took it to an AutoWatch shop so I could monitor the repairs on line. I used the email notification, text message alerts, and the Facebook integration. I now understand why customers go “WOW!” when they use the system.

Before I dropped the car off for repairs, I used the shop’s eEstimate system and sent them photos of the damage. When I arrived to drop off my car, they had a preliminary estimate waiting for me from the photos of the damage. They explained they would disassemble the vehicle and would communicate with the insurance company, and I left in a matter of minutes with an estimate in hand.

Each day I received notices by email and text message with the status of the vehicle and a notice that there were new photos ready to view with a link directly to the photos.

I also went to the shop web site and linked the photos to my wife’s Facebook account. She uses Facebook daily and has many friends linked to her account. Well when I took a look at the shop data on the clicks on my car, there were over 100 views in one week! That is the power of AutoWatch – what a great marketing machine.

AutoWatch really makes the communication very easy, and now I know firsthand.

Want to see my car? See Dave’s Car

What business are you in?

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 23:58:16 +0000

When you meet someone for the first time and they ask you what business you are in, how do you answer? “I’m in the body shop business?” If that’s your answer (or something similar), you need to consider changing your mindset. For a business to be successful over the long haul, you must be focused on marketing your business. You need to consider your company to be in the marketing business (that just happens to also fix cars). This simple shift in thinking can have a huge impact on what you do and on the success of your business. From now on, you are in the marketing business.

Do you know any shops that do lousy work, but great marketing? Guess what, they’re bringing in new business! Every business needs a steady flow of new customers in order to build a long-term, growing, sustainable and profitable business. And yours is no different.

More thoughts on body shop marketing coming soon…

Do body shop customers prefer texts over phone calls?

autowatch — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:52:42 +0000

A recent study has revealed that teens in the United States use texting as their most frequently form of communication. According to a study just released by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, texting is the primary way that teens reach their friends, surpassing face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging and voice calling.

So what does this mean for the body shop operator that’s concerned about keeping their customers informed? Well, today’s teens are not your customers yet, but they soon will be. And almost half of consumers in the 28-39 age range use text messaging on their mobile phones as well. The use of text messaging in customer service applications is clearly on the rise, and will continue to grow in demand. In order to exceed your customers’ expectations for service, you’ll need to address these trends.

We recently released a new enhancement to the AutoWatch® consumer portal (the web site that vehicle owners visit to view the status of their repairs), that allows them to sign up to receive automated updates through mobile phone text messages. So as you send us photo updates, you can simultaneously keep your customers updated by web, email, Facebook® and SMS text messaging. We’ve covered every digital communication method that your customers could want. Are you ready for Generation TEXT?

Read more about the Pew Research study here.

Reach more potential customers with social media

autowatch — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:28:45 +0000

There’s huge potential to reach potential body shop customers through social media sites like Facebook^®. We’ve just launched our new customer portal which is the site that body shop customers visit to view their collision repair photos and receive status on their claim. With the new portal we’ve added the ability for vehicle owners to link their vehicle photos to a Facebook account. Here’s a copy of our press release announcing the new feature:

AutoWatch^® Releases New Social Media Integration Features

AutoWatch has released a significant enhancement to their online portal for vehicle repair status allowing vehicle owners to link repair progress photos directly to their Facebook account. The automated feed works with a shop’s existing photo taking process and provides a mechanism for shops to capitalize on the marketing value of social media.

BRIGHTON, Mich., February 1, 2010 – AutoWatch has announced the release of a significant new design of their online portal that allows vehicle owners to see digital images of the progress of collision repairs.

The enhanced portal boasts several enhancements over the previous version including the ability to allow vehicle owners to link their repair photos to a Facebook account, to be seen by their network of family and friends.

“We have found significant interest in our new capability to link AutoWatch on Facebook. Shops tell us that they’re looking for ways to capitalize on the tremendous growth and power of social media, but simply don’t have the expertise or time to make it happen,” commented Dave Henderson, CEO for AutoWatch. “With this new capability, we take care of that for shops, automatically.”

The AutoWatch posts to Facebook allow vehicle owner’s friends to see the latest repair photo, and click to view more details. Once they’ve clicked to view more detail, a page is displayed providing information about the collision center performing the vehicle repairs.
According to statistics from Facebook, there are more than 350 million active users, spending an average of 55 minutes per day on the social network. The average Facebook user has 130 friends on the site.

“We believe social media presents a valuable new opportunity for shops to market themselves. With this new feature, we’ve made it very easy for a shop. We’re not simply asking the friends and family of a vehicle owner to come to the body shop web site, we’re bringing the shop to them,” commented Gordon Henderson, President of AutoWatch.

About AutoWatch
The AutoWatch system is a unique customer service and marketing tool for the collision repair industry. The system allows vehicle owners to view digital photos of their vehicle via the Internet throughout the repair process through a fully customized and unique Body Shop web site. The latest vehicle repair status from the shop is displayed along with the estimated delivery date and a convenient email link to the assigned service advisor.

About See Progress
See Progress, Inc. is a recognized pioneer of Internet based, patented visual monitoring systems and is based in Brighton, Michigan. Additional information can be found at www.AutoWatch.com.

AutoWatch® is a registered trademarks of See Progress, Inc.
Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.

Contact:
Gordon Henderson, President
See Progress, Inc.
877-977-6473
http://www.autowatch.com

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We're expanding our global presence

autowatch — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:51:36 +0000

Here’s a copy of our press release announcing our efforts to reach the Canadian market:

AUTOWATCH AND CLAIMSCORP INC. ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE LONG-TERM INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

BRIGHTON, MICHIGAN, USA & HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA: AutoWatch, the industry’s premier provider of repair process monitoring software services, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance with ClaimsCorp Inc., based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a leading provider of performance management tools for the collision repair industry and its value chain.

The agreement appoints ClaimsCorp Inc. as AutoWatch’s exclusive Master Distributor for Canada and will mark AutoWatch’s first venture outside the United States.

“We at AutoWatch have been interested in international expansion for some time”, said Dave Henderson, Founder & CEO of AutoWatch. “An alignment with ClaimsCorp, given its experience in the North American collision repair industry and capacity for developing multi-level distribution, was the clear choice.“

“The addition of AutoWatch to our robust suite of repair process tools and applications provides ClaimsCorp an ability to enhance both our repair shop and insurer service offerings,” said Sam Malatesta, CEO & Co-founder of ClaimsCorp Inc. “AutoWatch’s superior repair process monitoring capabilities are in perfect alignment with our best-in-class data monitoring tools employed by repair facilities for the benefit of insurers and consumers alike.”

“Clearly, the customer service and performance management features offered through our AutoWatch product portfolio are applicable to quality repair facilities and insurers on a global basis,” said Gordon Henderson, newly appointed President of AutoWatch. “It’s always a question of finding the right partner”.

ClaimsCorp Inc. has been providing North American collision repairers and their value chain partners with performance management tools and services since 2004.

“The values and vision of AutoWatch and ClaimsCorp are in extraordinary strategic alignment,” said Tim Wilder, President & Co-founder of ClaimsCorp Inc. “Both organizations are driven to provide the highest level of service in the Auto Claims Economy and that commitment will ensure ongoing success in this venture and in others to come.”

ABOUT AUTOWATCH

AutoWatch is provided by See Progress, Inc., a pioneer of online customer vehicle tracking. Its product, AutoWatch, is a unique customer service and marketing tool for the collision repair industry. Additional information can be found at: www.AutoWatch.com.

ABOUT CLAIMSCORP

ClaimsCorp Inc. is a privately held company doing business throughout North America with a focus on providing solutions to collision repairers and key industry stakeholders which will collaboratively improve the economics and operational efficiencies of the Auto Claims Economy.

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Internet night owls

autowatch — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:25:10 +0000

A recent study of the web surfing habits of Americans has shown a shift in the Internet usage patterns from the ones that researchers have been seeing for the past several years. Research conducted by Arbor Networks has shown that the peak hour for Internet usage in the US is at 11:00 PM. It seems that once the kids have their nighttime story and are tucked in bed, folks hit the web.

The results of the study underscores the need for businesses, including body shops, to provide a meaningful presence to their customers and prospects outside of normal collision center business hours. With the American lifestyle becoming increasingly more busy with less and less time available, it’s clear why we’re hitting the web later at night. It’s the only time we have left! A body shop that can provide meaningful information and interaction with their customers during the non-business hours will certainly have an advantage over their competition. And consumers are beginning to expect it.

At AutoWatch we collect a ton of web site traffic data. Our data shows that about 30% of the traffic to a body shop web site will occur outside of normal business hours. Having updated repair status information and especially photos of the vehicle repairs make the after-hours web site visits a meaningful connection with the customer. Are you attracting the Internet night owls?

Insurers looking to beef up customer service

autowatch — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:54:25 +0000

A recent survey of property and casualty claims officers reveals a very strong commitment to increase their spending on the customer experience. 92% of the claims officers surveyed indicated that they plan to invest in technology over the next two years with the primary focus aimed at improving customer satisfaction.

The survey was conducted by Towers Perrin, and more information on the survey can be found at this link.

The investments are to be aimed at improving the customer experience, improving cycle times, and improving management systems and reporting capabilities. At AutoWatch, we’ve found that the results of this survey are directly in line with the goals and experience of many of our insurance clients as well.

AutoWatch, when used by insurance clients has demonstrated a significant increase in the customer experience, especially as it relates to being kept informed during the collision repair process and to the delivery of their completed vehicle. When insurers have implemented the Virtual Inspection Program (VIP) in AutoWatch, we’ve seen a clear reduction in cycle time (up to 3 days for some), and a significant decrease in the costs associated with managing claims (Loss Adjustment Expense or LAE).

Learn more at http://www.autowatch.com or call 877-977-6473 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 877-977-6473 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Does Grandma use the Internet?

autowatch — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:33:25 +0000

I often hear from collision center operators that, “our customers are older, and they don’t use the Internet.” While that may have been true five or six years ago, a check of the latest Internet usage statistics shows otherwise. Data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that the fastest growing population online is the 70 to 75 year old age group. As of December 2008, 45% of 70 to 75 year olds were online and approximately 60% of 60 to 70 year olds are as well. So does Grandma use the Internet? The answer is, “yes, it’s very likely.” Business owners and body shops that ignore this group may do so at their own peril.

Certainly the older generations behavior online differs from the younger generations. 74% of Internet users age 64 and older use email. You won’t find many of them playing games online, however. The younger generations use email of course, but also engage very heavily in social media and instant messaging which is not as prevalent for older Internet users.

It may be time for collision center operators and body shop managers to check some of their assumptions on the Internet behaviors of their customers, especially the older boomers and beyond. Body shop customers are using the Internet more and more, and yes, even Grandma.