The situation
Aurora Auto Care runs a high-volume repair shop on the city's east side. The front desk was spending more time playing phone tag with customers than scheduling work, and the owner was the de facto dispatcher three days a week. Their website listed services but offered no way to actually book one.
What we changed
We added online booking that maps to the shop's existing service categories — oil change, brakes, diagnostics, tire rotation — and confirms a slot in the same flow. The site now sends the customer an SMS confirmation, drops the appointment on the shop's calendar, and prompts a service reminder two weeks before the next visit. A missed-call text-back catches the people who called and hung up before the desk picked up.
The result
In the first month, confirmed online appointments were 2.4x the prior month's phone-booked appointments. The front desk reclaimed roughly four hours a day, which translated directly into advisory conversations with walk-ins and faster turnaround on the floor.
What we learned
- Online booking is not a Millennial feature. The shop's average customer age is 47. They book online because it's faster than the phone, not because they're tech-savvy.
- The missed-call text-back converted more opportunities than the new booking button did. Phones still ring first.
- A service reminder two weeks out fills the slow weeks more reliably than any promo.