Van BorgAgency

Garages

An AI receptionist for garages and MOT centres

In a garage the phone sits next to the bench and nobody answers with oily hands. An AI receptionist does: it books the MOT or the service, reports whether a car is ready, and calls the customer whose MOT expires in a month. That last one is not service but revenue: an MOT reminder not sent is a car that goes to the garage round the corner.

The figures

In the Netherlands
±6,000 BOVAG members, ±5,000 MOT-approved
Source: BOVAG, Autodealers en onafhankelijke autobedrijven in cijfers
What this work costs today
€2,000 to €3,000 a month in lost workshop hours
Source: BOVAG, Autodealers en onafhankelijke autobedrijven in cijfers
Missed calls at Dutch SMEs
23% of all incoming calls
Source: Voxori, onderzoek gemiste oproepen MKB

The phone and the bench get in each other's way

A three or four-man garage has no counter and no receptionist: whoever is nearest the phone picks up, or nobody does. Every answered call also costs time twice, because afterwards the mechanic has to glove back up and pick the job back up. The result is familiar: the peak between half seven and nine gets answered, the rest of the day voicemail fills up, and some of those callers have an appointment elsewhere by the afternoon. At an average hourly rate that adds up to a few thousand euros a month of work that was there.

MOT reminders are the easiest revenue on the table

Every car in your file needs an MOT once a year, and the date is fixed. Yet in many garages that list is worked by hand or not at all. The Reminder agent works it weekly: it approaches whoever is due in four weeks, offers two or three slots that are genuinely free in your schedule, and books the reply straight in. Anyone who does not respond gets one follow-up, and that is it. What you see is a workshop schedule filled three to four weeks out instead of two days.

"Is my car ready?" is a third of call volume

Status questions are the dullest and the largest share of incoming traffic, and they land exactly when you cannot pick up. With a connection to your workshop schedule the agent can answer them itself: ready, still in progress, or waiting on a part with the expected day attached. Better still is to prevent the question: as soon as a car is signed off, the agent sends a message that it is ready, amount included. Then nobody rings to ask.

What an AI employee takes over here

Where we would start

AI receptionist

“Phone, website and WhatsApp in one”

The entire front of your business in one rental: the phone is answered 24/7, the chat on your website answers questions and on WhatsApp the same agent picks up the conversation. It knows your rates and service area, records every enquiry's name, number and question, books appointments straight into your calendar and transfers urgent calls immediately. Miss a call yourself and the caller gets a message within a minute.

€495/mo+ €795 setup

incl. 400 call minutes per month, then €0.39/min

Questions from this industry

Can it give a price indication?

For fixed items, yes: MOT, minor and major service, tyre changes, air-con service. We put those rates in the knowledge base and it quotes them exactly as they appear on your site. For repairs that need a look first, no: it says a diagnosis is needed and books a slot for it. An invented figure on the phone costs you more than a missed job.

What if someone calls broken down at the roadside?

That is urgent, and urgent transfers. During setup we agree which words and situations make the agent connect straight through to whoever is on duty rather than trying to book an appointment first. If the transfer fails you get the notification with the number and transcript within a minute.

Sources

Other industries

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