Time to face your digital fears

Jan. 1, 2020
Shops need to embrace new technology to reach out to customers and improve their service.
Sramcik ABRN digital technology

A friend of mine who runs a sports bar likes to tell the following story.

Several years ago, some of his patrons started bringing in their laptop computers to lookup and share fantasy sports information, e-mail friends or post their thoughts on message boards while following games. During the college basketball championship series, one regular customer would stop in several times a week, plant himself on a stool and type on his laptop for the remainder of the evening.

This eventually caught the attention of another customer, a salesman, who asked the wait staff what the guy was doing (after all, there were no wires or cables connecting his laptop to anything). A server explained that he had a wireless connection and could reach the Internet pretty much from anywhere.

The salesman paused for a moment, suddenly became indignant and erupted, "You mean to tell me that right now there are waves coming down from space, passing through this building and into this guy's computer? That's completely unacceptable!"

Yes, unfortunately, that is a true story.

I don't think any of us share this degree of paranoia over technology, but a little skepticism about technology, especially the promises of what it can deliver, always is good.

I say this from experience, having spent nearly a decade toiling away in software research and development. There's an immense difference between what a tech company says its products will do and how they actually perform. Most of you remember the Internet boom of the late 1990s and how quickly that boom turned to bust with Web-based startup companies closing their suddenly bankrupt, virtual doors often within months of opening them.

Even looking at these factors, I think our industry would benefit by being far more open to the technology being made available to us. Sure, there's no silver bullet out there – no tool, service or piece of equipment – that by itself will "save" shops, but there are plenty of options to help shops perform better in some key operational areas.

This month we're focusing on just such digital shop solutions with plenty of exclusive online content along with this month's feature, John Yoswick's article "The Digital Shop". Yoswick examines some very affordable and effective pieces of technology that can cut expenses, significantly streamline work processes and provide inexpensive, popular customer service options, such as electronic repair updates that allow you to connect customers via text messages or broadcast repair progress on the Web.

Not sold on the value of these updates? You might want to talk to Mark Garrett, senior research manager for J.D. Power, insurance practices, who recently spoke at the I-CAR Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. Garrett pointed to surveys showing that repair customers want to be updated more often. Most notably, they want updates via e-mail and text messaging, especially younger customers who are more likely to use these technologies as part of their daily routines.

If you're balking at the value of the Internet and putting up a Web site, keep in mind that your next generation of customers, many of whom might be your customers today, use the Internet to guide their selection of purchases and services.

If you have any lingering doubts about entering the digital world, consider how hard insurers are working to leverage technology to further control claims and repair processes. Nationwide already has an iPhone application that lets policyholders contact a towing company, exchange accident information, take photos and begin the claim. You better believe insurers (and others) are looking at similar services to get work into the shops of their choice to do work their way.

The scary part about technology isn't that electronic "waves" are coming down from space and into your PC. It's suffering the consequences of not preparing to plug into the digital future and present.

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