This isn’t a people problem. It’s a physics problem. Phone calls require two people to be available at the exact same moment. Text messages don’t.
That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
Everything else in this guide is just the obvious next steps once you accept that your customers check their phones 205 times per day but let your calls go to voicemail for six hours.
So it’s time to make SMS the default communication mode your service advisors use with customers. Here’s the playbook they should use.
Before we dive in, we need to cover one thing real quick (one minute, then we’re done i promise).
In the United States of America, you need permission to text customers. The law is called TCPA. Fines are $500 to $1,500 per message if you screw it up.
Add this to every repair order:
“I agree to receive text messages from [Dealership Name] about my vehicle service.”
You also need an automatic opt-out. Customer texts “STOP,” they’re out.
That’s the whole compliance story. Get consent. Honor opt-outs. Done.
There are six text messages that actually matter when it’s time to communicate with customers.
“Hi John, this is Mike at Downtown Honda. We’re set for you and your Accord tomorrow at 9 AM.”
Send this automatically 24 hours before the appointment. It cuts no-shows by half.
Why it works: People forget appointments. This reminds them. Revolutionary stuff.
This is your money play.
“Found worn brake pads. Here’s the video: [link]. $340 to fix. Reply YES to approve.”
Your tech films a 15-second video in the bay showing the problem. Customer sees it, approves it, done.
Phone calls close at 40%. Video texts close at 70%. Same recommendation, different proof. The video transfers certainty.
If you present ten $300 recommendations per day, that 30-point jump is worth $900 daily. Per advisor. That’s $234,000 a year.
The best part: customers stop thinking you’re upselling them. They saw the worn pads. They made the call.
“Parts arrived. Still good for 4 PM pickup. I’ll text when it’s ready.”
This eliminates the “Is my car done yet?” calls. Customers call because you haven’t told them anything. Tell them something.
Pre-build this as a one-click template. Takes two seconds to send. Saves a three-minute phone call. Do that math across 20 customers a day.
“Your Accord is ready. Pay here: [link]. Speeds up pickup.”
About 30% of customers will pay from their phone before they arrive. That’s 30% of your checkout line that just disappeared.
Your service lane stops backing up. Your cashier focuses on people who need help, not processing routine payments.
“We recommended tires in June. Buy 3 get 1 free this month. Want to book? Reply TIRE.”
This one runs on autopilot. The system reads declined services from your DMS, waits 90 days, sends the message automatically.
Customers decline work for two reasons: wrong timing or no money. Three months later, both problems often fix themselves.
Conversion rate: 15-20%. If you decline $50,000 in services monthly, you’re recovering $7,500 to $10,000 every 90 days later. Zero effort from your team.
This is different from the automatic follow-up. This is you deciding to fill slow weeks, or push a specific service.
“Winter’s coming. We’re doing free brake inspections this week. Takes 20 minutes. Want to book? Reply BRAKE.”
While follow-ups target individual customer needs based on their history. Campaigns target your business needs based on your schedule.
Slow Tuesday? Send a campaign to 200 customers offering express oil changes. Winter tire season? Hit everyone who bought tires 3 years ago. Recall notice? Mass text everyone affected instead of calling 500 people.
The key is to make your marketing campaign relevant.
“20% off everything” is spam. “Your vehicle is due for its 30K service” is useful.
Most campaigns get 10-15% response rates. That’s 20-30 appointments from 200 texts. Try getting that from a mailer.
Your DMS probably has texting now. It’s also probably making your life harder.
The problem: messages live in one system, customer records live in another. Your advisors check two places to understand what’s happening. When they get an approval, they copy it from the texting tool into the DMS notes.
That’s the same work with an extra step.
Real integration combines everything in one place:
This is what Kimoby does. It connects directly to your DMS and logs everything automatically. No copying. No double-entry. Just faster work.
[See how Kimoby works with your DMS]
Most advisors save 45-60 minutes daily once this is running.
That’s not theoretical. It’s the actual time difference between playing phone tag with 20 customers versus texting them.
They can spend that hour closing more ROs and selling more jobs.
Your technician efficiency goes up because they’re not waiting 50 minutes for approvals. They’re waiting less than 10 minutes.
The math is simple:
Faster approvals mean more completed ROs. More completed ROs mean more revenue per bay. More revenue per bay means better margins.
The technology part is easy. The behavior change takes longer but isn’t complicated.
Week one: Add the consent checkbox to your RO intake. Train advisors to mention it: “We’ll text you updates, most people prefer it.”
Week two: Connect the platform to your DMS. Build the six message templates. Test with a couple advisors.
Week three: Roll out to the full team. Track approval rates and time savings.
Your competition will do this eventually. The only question is whether you do it first and capture the advantage, or do it later because you have to.
Text messages get opened in three minutes. Calls get ignored for three hours.
That gap is costing you money right now.
Close it.