So, hey everybody, Chris Cotton with AutoFix Auto Shop Coaching here.

So, I wanted to talk about DVIs today.

So, first of all, we’re going to go out with the old and in with the new. So, no more paper inspections. We’re going to go all digital. So, it’s time to get right with the world and advance your technology.

And why do we want to do that? Well, because on average, your shop’s average repair order will increase by about $210 if you have a DVI format and a process to go along with it, versus an old paper inspection that you’re probably not doing or have no process around.

So, I’m going to give you seven steps to make a great DVI process and increase your business.

Do you want to do that?

Would you rather spend more money on marketing and doing all that when you haven’t maximized your ARO yet?

Or would you like to maximize your ARO and then figure out how many more cars you need?

I think you’d rather do number 2.

So, okay, what’s the process?

#1. You have to assign the proper technician to the right job. I think that pretty much goes without saying. You don’t want to give a timing belt to your tire guy. You don’t want to give a tire to your timing belt guy. So, make sure you assign the proper technician to the right job.

#2. The technician does a quick. And by quick, I mean less than 20-minute inspection of the vehicle. I’m not going to go into it too much right now, but there’s a term we call “inspecting the inspector” where we go through a process and set up a process for all your technicians to be on the same page and make sure they’re all looking at the same things in the same order. We want to streamline that process.

#3. The technician documents any action or any adjectives, with pictures or video, on the vehicle. And so what are those types of words? What are actions and adjectives? So, those are all drips, leaks, grinding, broken, squeaking, things like that. Things that are visual. Things that need follow up. And we’re going to do the numbers and pictures for those. You also need to have a set standard for how many pictures and/or videos you want to see with the vehicle. It can be five or it can be 15; your shop has to decide and set the standard. And also, we don’t always want to share the bad. If somebody has brand-new tires that they just got last time, take a picture of it and say, “Hey, great tires!” We don’t always want to be the downers. Also,

#4, we want to set a shop standard for the number of DVIs completed. Is your standard 75? Is it 95? The more the better, because the more consistent and the more of these we look at, the better we’ll be. I say the higher is better. But set a standard and hold everybody accountable to it.

#5. We want to make sure that the service advisor, when they get this information back, estimates everything the technician found, including any deferred maintenance from the customer’s history and any mileage-based maintenance, along with any preventative maintenance that the technician might’ve missed. This also includes any “wraparound items,” is what we call them. If it needs plugs and plug wires, does it have a fuel induction system service with it? If it’s a water pump, does it have a thermostat, hoses, cooling system service? Things like that. The wraparound requests. Let’s make sure we do a good job. You can also call it a “system service.” Things like that.

#6. Make sure the service advisor presents the complete estimate without bias. We should have gotten beforehand what the customer plans to do with the vehicle, et cetera, what their buying personalities and types are, and things like that.

And finally, the accountability piece. You, as the owner, have to hold all of your people accountable to the steps in the process, and make sure that they know that you’re watching. If they’re not doing their job, don’t let it slide. Make sure and pull them aside. The last thing you want to have happen is something for us to not do for the customer that loses trust or loses the feeling of value for what we do. Okay.

So, those are the seven things.

To close, I want to tell you, DVIs are the Google Translate for your business. You take what the car tells you, and you use the DVI to help interpret that information to the customer because the customer and the car can’t speak. They don’t have the same language.

So, I really, really hope you got something out of this. And for crying out loud, if you’re still doing paper inspections, stop! Switch to a DVI format. It’ll be one of the best things you do for your business. Have a great day, everybody.