GMS Case Study: PW Auto Repairs

PW Auto Repairs was founded in 2015 by Paul Whetton, who has 23 years of industry experience and has always wanted to be a technician. Diana Whetton joined and, as she said in her own words, “came as temporary help but never left!” They found and started using Garage Hive in 2020. The business now has seven staff members, including Paul and Diana.

A brief history of your business

Where did you start and how has it been so far?

“Paul started his own garage in 2015 and quickly needed a bigger premises and staff.  Last year we moved premises, and look forward to continuing to grow and develop our team and customer base.”

Experience before Garage Hive

How were things different day to day before you had Garage Hive? What made you think about switching?

“Paul started the business on his own and I had a career in a completely different industry.   Business was always busy, but chaotic! In 2019, we were still inundated with work but not making profits and couldn’t understand how to fix it.  Having worked in different industries, I was used to organisation, event management and accounts. I looked for a solution online but didn’t know where to start.  Having never been involved in the industry before, I didn’t know anyone or where to start for guidance.”

How did you first come across Garage Hive?

“The local garages are either rather traditional or franchises. In desperation one day, I asked a college assessor, “how on earth do other garages manage?” He told me that Lindleys have an amazing system to manage their diary and parts.  I called the Arnold branch and got a call back from Dawn.  It was an instant relief to talk to someone who understood the challenges and exactly what we were going through.  I also spoke Alex and Rhys, who helped me immensely to get back on track.”

What are the biggest changes you’ve noticed since joining?

“We joined in April 2020 (just at the start of the pandemic!).  Our business has completely transformed since joining Garage Hive.  There is no way we would have been able to manage the business and progress without the Garage Hive system.”

Experience with Garage Hive

From when you first signed up to now, please share how the last four years have been and the feelings you had while transitioning to Garage Hive.

“We’ve been with Garage Hive for 4 years now.  We have loved being on the journey with so many other garages to continually improve.  Taking inspiration from others, picking up new ideas, best practices and rolling them out through Garage Hive is awesome.”

How do you find the training and support before/ during, and after you went live?

“We joined during the start of the first Covid lockdown.  We had remote training with Tom to get us started.  As soon as we could have face-to-face training, Tom came in to train the technicians, new starters and to develop the operations and administration side of things.  Tom helped us put vital processes in place.  We’ve since had refresher training and continue to keep up to date with new developments.”

What would you say is your biggest challenge when learning Garage Hive?

“Trying to get the whole team to see the “why” of introducing the changes we make has always been a point we need to remember.  Paul and I spend a great deal of time thinking about our business and learning new things.  We have to make sure our staff understand why we want to make changes, how this will improve things for the team and customers.”

Now you’ve got used to using Garage Hive day to day, how have you found it changed things for you and your staff?

“When I look back at how the business started to where we are now, it’s amazing, and we know we still have so much to learn.  I know we can utilise so much more of the system to make tweaks and improvements to make our services better.”

Garage Hive bits and pieces

What would you say your favourite features, are in Garage Hive? How have they helped you resolve any problems you had before or introduced a new way of working?

“There are too many amazing features to pick just one!  We’re always trying to keep up with the numerous continual improvements and new features. When I look back at how we started out with a paper diary and a cloud accounting system, I cannot believe we managed to function at all, and it explains why we were always busy but in constant chaos.  I like to see the notes and status of each job.  I know what parts are ordered, what the Tech needs and what has happened so far.  I love being able to look up prior history – not just of the vehicle, but the customer and customer comments.  Customer Online authorisation is amazing, and we know the customers love it.  The integrations with AutoData and Micheldever save us time and improve accuracy.”

How have you found being part of the Facebook community? What do you like about it?

“One of my favourite things about Garage Hive is the community!  Joining Garage Hive going into the pandemic, we were so lucky to be in a community of amazing people who strived to help each other get through it.  We would have felt so alone if it wasn’t for the community.  I know I can ask a question, and get thoughtful and supportive answers.  If needed, I can pick up the phone and call members of the community from all over the country and get sound help and advice.  The wider community of service providers and recommendations of suppliers and equipment has also been a great source of recommended help.”

Results

Tell us what you have noticed has improved the numbers in your garage since joining. Give some examples of the biggest changes.

 

“We have seen a 228% increase in turnover since joining Garage Hive 4 years ago. It’s been a rough few years with changes in staff and moving premises last year – but we are hopeful that this year we will settle a bit and get on top of the workload. “

Finishing up

Tell us the best of your experience with us and your general thoughts. Would you recommend Garage Hive to other garage owners, why?

“They always say, “you don’t know what you don’t know” hey?  Well that’s how I felt coming into this industry.  I was standing in a garage with passionate technicians and plenty of customers, but it wasn’t making money and keeping on top of the daily influx of bookings, parts and general chaos left no time for figuring out what was going on.  I didn’t know what to charge for and how to sell it.  We didn’t know how much harder we needed to work to make it better. Garage Hive and the extended community has helped us completely transform our business – and we still have scope to go much further!”

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