Introduction
An auto repair shop, like the services it offers, should run like a well-oiled machine to provide the best services to its customers. A tool that would help such a business in this quest is an automotive scheduling software or an auto repair scheduling software.
With the help of automotive scheduling software businesses can provide easy scheduling options to their customers along with the delivery of automated appointment reminders, or payment reminders. Let’s have a look at the top 5 automotive scheduling software and the essential features and benefits of such a scheduling software.
Top 5 Automotive Scheduling Software: A Quick Comparison
- Emitrr
- Setmore
- Square
- Autoleap
- Acuity Scheduling
| Software | Features | Customer Support | Value for money | Ease of Use |
| Emitrr | 4.8/5 | 5/5 | 4.9/5 | 4.8/5 |
| Setmore | 4.3/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.6/5 |
| Square | 4.2/5 | 4.3/5 | 4.3/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Autoleap | 4.8/5 | 4.9/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.7/5 |
| Acuity Scheduling | 4.7/5 | 4.7/5.0 | 4.7/5.0 | 4.7/5.0 |
Key Highlights:
- Emitrr and AutoLeap score the highest in features with a 4.8/5 rating.
- Emitrr scores the highest in Customer Support rating with 5/5.
- Emitrr scores the highest in Value for Money with a 4.9/5 rating.
- Emitrr also scores highest in Ease of use with a 4.8/5 rating.
Essential Features of Automotive Scheduling Software
Self Bookings
Automotive scheduling software allows customers to schedule their own bookings with the help of scheduling links placed on the business website. These scheduling links are further categorized based on the type of appointment the customer is looking for for eg, fuel pump replacement or Breaks Inspection.
Automated Reminder
This feature sends reminders to the customers about upcoming appointments. A reminder cadence can be set leading up to the day of the appointment. This means you can send reminders 1 week, 2 days, 1 day, 1 hour, etc before the appointment.
Manage multiple location accounts
You can manage multiple location accounts through automotive scheduling software. Each location can be managed under the umbrella of the main organization. You can easily switch locations within the account to manage a specific location.
Staff Scheduling
Apart from allowing customer scheduling, the automotive scheduling software can also allow you to manage the scheduling of your entire staff. You can allow your mechanics to log in with their individual log-ins and view and manage their calendars themselves. Assign different sets of permissions to different roles in your business.)
Calendar integration
With the help of an Automotive scheduling app, you should be able to integrate your DMS and your Google calendar so that all appointments appear on one single unified calendar. This will help you keep track of your schedule and manage appointments seamlessly.
Real-time reports
The reports feature can help you track the number of appointment bookings over a period of time, the number of no-shows, no. of appointments based on various filters such as mechanic name, type of appointment, etc.
DMS Integrations
DMS or Dealer Management Software is a tool that enables a car repair dealership to perform all the day-to-day functions their dealership encounters from sales operations, financing operations, service operations, and more; it is important that all these functions of a dealership work together.
The integration of the automotive scheduling software with the DMS is important to ensure that all essential customer information is synced between the two. Some popular DMSs include Reynolds and Reynolds, CDK Global, DealTracker, Automate, AutoSoft, DealerCenter, PBS systems, and more.
SMS Campaigns
SMS is a great way to engage with customers as over 95% of text messages are opened. You can use SMS to send appointment reminders, promotional offers, payment links, and much more.
Schedule based texting
Schedule-based texting is a useful feature that lets you schedule your text based on various factors. Suppose you have appointments scheduled for the following day, but your shop needs to be shut down due to some emergency. You can use the schedule-based texting feature to filter all contacts due for appointment on the day and schedule messages to be sent informing of the emergency. Similarly, if a certain mechanic is not available for the day you can filter out his/her clients and inform them of the mechanic’s unavailability.
Benefits of automotive scheduling software
Allow customers easy access to book appointments
Ease of booking appointments makes customers more likely to do so. When a task is easy to do people tend not to procrastinate and get done with it. Customers can book appointments at their convenience through easy scheduling options on the shops’ website. This contributes to enhanced customer experience.
Reduce no shows
Through the use of appointment reminders, especially text appointment reminders you can ensure that customers remember their appointments and turn up for them. Reminders also allow customers to cancel or reschedule appointments in case they are not able to make it. This makes it easier for your business to open up that slot for other customers, thus effectively mitigating potential loss in revenue.
Streamline operations
Most automotive scheduling software comes with integration with various DMSs. This allows you to automatically sync appointment status with the DMS. These integrations are usually two-way thus allowing the automotive scheduling software to extract essential information such as customer name, date of last appointment, type of appointment, payment status, etc. This information can then be used to send personalized messages to each customer.
You can also utilize the internal team communication features such as group texting to convey the day’s tasks to your team members.
Avoid Double bookings through real-time booking calendar
The scheduling feature of the automotive scheduling software shows real-time slots available. If a particular slot has been booked by a customer that same slot will not show up for another customer browsing through available slots at the same time. The integration with DMS also means that any appointment that had been already booked manually and noted on the DMS will also not be available to customers. This way double booking can easily be avoided.
Enhanced customer engagement
Starting from when the customer books an appointment to receiving reminders about the appointment to sending post-appointment updates or care instructions everything can be achieved with the help of automotive scheduling software. These easily accessible touchpoints help improve customer engagement.
Reduce Staff Workload
By giving the onus to the customers for appointment scheduling and automating the process of sending appointment reminders you are significantly reducing the workload for your staff. Integration with the DMS and the appointment scheduling software means that the staff does not need to manually enter information into the system.
Top 5 Automotive Scheduling Software: Detailed Analysis
Emitrr
Emitrr is an automotive scheduling software that offers features aimed at the entire customer journey along with its easy scheduling features. With Emitrr you can create your appointment types, set up availability for your mechanics, send reminders and much more.
Emitrr Features
- Appointment scheduling
- Appointment reminders
- Set up appointment types
- Availability Management
- Calendar management and calendar sync
- Personalizations
- Review Requests
- Automated recall
- Real-time Scheduling
- Reporting
- SMS Messaging
- 2 way communication
Emitrr Support
- Emitrr has a stellar support rating of 5/5 on Capterra.
- Emitrr offers the following support channels: Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support, 24/7 (Live rep), Chat
Emitrr Reviews
Here is what Emitrr customers have to say about the product:
Emitrr Pricing
Starts at $149
Emitrr Integrations
Over 1000+ native integrations.
Setmore
Setmore offers a free, online scheduling platform for you to connect with your customers. It allows you to manage all appointments through one simple, sleek calendar system.
Setmore Features
- Appointment Scheduling
- Appointment Management
- Availability Management
- Calendar Management and Calendar Sync
- Ratings/Reviews
- Confirmations/Reminders
- Email Marketing
Setmore Support
- Setmore has a customer service rating of 4.7/5 on Capterra.
- Setmore offers support in the following formats: Knowledge Base, FAQs/Forum, 24/7 (Live rep), Email/Help Desk, Chat, Phone Support
Setmore Reviews
Here is what customers have to say about Setmore:
Setmore Pricing
Setmore offers a free pricing plan along with 3 priced tiers. The free plan only allows 200 bookings in a month and allows up to 4 users. Only higher-tiered plans offer features such as sms reminders, 2-way integrations, and calendar sync, to name a few. Pro and Team are priced at $5 per user per month and Enterprise price is available on quote.
Setmore Integrations
- Stripe
- Zoom
- Google Calendar
- WordPress
Square
Square is a scheduling app that offers appointment booking options for the automotive industry. It allows you to manage bookings, payments, and more all in one place.
Square Features
- Appointment Scheduling
- Appointment Management
- Availability Management
- Calendar Management and Calendar Sync
- SMS Reminders
- Confirmations/Reminders
- Email Marketing
Square Support
- Square has a customer support rating of 4.3/5 on Capterra.
- It provides support in the following formats: Phone Support, Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Chat
Square Reviews
Here is what customers have to say about Square:
Square Pricing
Square offers a free plan, a premium plan priced at $29 and a plus plan priced at $69.
Square Integrations
- Google Calendar
- ActiveCampaign
- Wix
AutoLeap
AutoLeap is a cloud-based shop management software. It is used by auto repair and tire shops across the US and Canada.
AutoLeap Features
- Appointment Management
- Appointment Scheduling
- Employee Scheduling
- Multi-Location
- Reminders
AutoLeap Support
- AutoLeap has a customer service rating of 4.9/5 on Capterra.
- AutoLeap offers support in the following formats: FAQs/Forum, Phone Support, Email/Help Desk, Chat, Knowledge Base, 24/7 (Live rep)
AutoLeap Reviews
Here is what customers have to say about AutoLeap:
AutoLeap Pricing
Pricing not available
AutoLeap Integrations
- Quickbooks
- PartsTech
- Global Payments Integrated
AcuityScheduling
Acuity Scheduling is a popular scheduling software used across various industries. It allows you to offer appointment bookings directly through your website.
Acuity Scheduling Features
- Appointment scheduling
- Appointment reminders
- Digital Forms
- Calendar management and calendar sync
- Personalizations
- Review Requests
- Real-time Scheduling
- Reporting
Acuity Scheduling Support
- Acuity Scheduling has a customer support rating of 4.7/5 on Capterra.
- It offers the following support channels: Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Chat
Acuity Scheduling Reviews
Here is what Acuity Scheduling customers have to say about the
Product:
Acuity Scheduling Pricing
Acuity Scheduling pricing plan starts at $16 per month per user.
Acuity Scheduling Integrations
- Zoho
- Zapier
- Salesforce
- Gmeet
Why choose Emitrr as your Automotive Scheduling Software?
Affordable
Emitrr offers Scheduling services along with features that complement the entire length of the customer journey. Emitrr offers all these services at a super affordable rate and you only pay for the features you use.
Offers varied features
Emitrr’s features are not limited to scheduling. Emitrr offers features that complement the entire length of the customer journey starting from appointment scheduling to bringing customers back for hygiene checks. Some of these features include:
- Sending appointment reminders (Automated or Manual)
- Updating the status of appointments in the DMS
- Requesting Reviews once the appointment is completed
- Getting customers back for an appointment for a hygiene check-up when due.
Additionally, you can view and send appointments based on different filter criteria right from your calendar itself. Filter criteria include:
- Appointment based on mechanic
- Appointment based on visit type
- Appointment based on the customer
- Appointment based on date range
Features for customer communication and team collaboration
Emitrr comes with omnichannel communication features. You can receive messages across various platforms such as Google, Facebook, text, and email all under one dashboard. This makes handling communication much easier.
Emitrr also offers conversation management features such as conversation assignment, dispositions, notes, folders, etc making customer communication simple.
Emitrr also offers team collaboration features such as group texting which you can utilise to communicate with your team members.
Multi-location management
With Emitrr you can use one account to manage multiple locations of your business. You can navigate to the top left corner and choose the dropdown menu under locations. You can easily switch to the location of your choice by selecting one from the menu like so:
View bookings based on mechanic, appointment type
With this feature, you can view bookings based on the type of appointment, date of appointment, or based on the mechanic. This filtering of appointments based on specific categories allows you to manage bookings and conversations more effectively.
One-click booking
One-click booking is a feature that makes appointment booking easy for returning customers. Information about the customer would be pre-filled on the booking page and thus all they would need to do would be to select the date and time of the appointment. This reduction in steps while appointment booking will contribute to an enhanced patient experience.
Seamless integrations with calendars and DMS
Emitrr offers integrations with various DMS and third-party calendars so that all your appointments are visible on your main calendar application.
FAQs
Commonly used scheduling software for the automotive industry include Emitrr, Calendly, Acuity Scheduling etc.
An automotive scheduler is a software that allows auto repair businesses to allow appointment booking and scheduling through their website. It allows businesses to streamline scheduling and other operations.
Along with Dealer Management Software, automotive scheduling software is also used in the automotive industry. Both these software together help auto businesses to streamline their operations and communicate effectively with their customers.
Conclusion
An automotive scheduling software is a great asset to auto repair businesses as it eases the process of appointment scheduling by allowing customers to book appointments at their convenience. It allows businesses to add appointment types, manage availability, send automated reminders, and reduce no shows. If you are looking for a top-rated automotive scheduling software then look no further than Emitrr. Schedule a demo with Emitrr today!
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