Getting a car back for its next service twelve months later

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

Introduction

A garage completes a service, invoices it, and the customer drives away. Twelve months later that customer needs the same work, and where they take it depends on whether anybody contacted them and who contacted them first. A year is long enough to move house, change job, receive three reminders from a franchise dealer and forget the name of the garage entirely.

The information needed to prevent all of that is already in the system. The service date, the mileage, the MOT expiry and the advisories are all recorded. What is usually missing is anybody acting on them.

A garage with a working reminder system has a forward order book. One without has a diary that starts empty every Monday. The difference is administration rather than marketing.

1. Getting a car back for its next service means booking it before they collect

The strongest single measure available.

Offer the next date at collection

Twelve months ahead, or at the mileage interval. Some customers will take it and those who do are secured. Offer it as a matter of routine.

Put the date somewhere they will see it

A sticker in the windscreen corner or the service book. A physical reminder outlives any message. Include the mileage as well as the date.

2. Own the MOT as well as the service

The MOT is the appointment nobody forgets.

Combine them where the dates allow

One visit, one price, one piece of admin. Convenience is worth more to most customers than a small saving. Say how long the car will be with you.

Contact before the statutory reminder arrives

The garage that asks first gets the booking. Six weeks and then two. Run the report in advance, not on the day.

3. Use the advisories as a reason to make contact

Every advisory is a future job with a date.

Record every declined item with the date

Then contact them about that specific finding rather than sending a general reminder. Keep the list structured, not on paper.

Refer to their own car

Mentioning the tyre you measured or the disc you noted converts far better than a service due message. Include the photograph if you took one.

4. Make the reminder system reliable

Most garages have one and few work it properly.

Use more than one channel

Text, email, then a call for the ones who have not responded. A single message catches a fraction. Space them a week apart.

Check the data is current

Wrong numbers and old addresses quietly remove customers from the list. Confirm details at every visit. Ask rather than assuming they are unchanged.

5. Sell service plans where they fit

A plan removes the annual decision entirely.

Offer monthly payment toward servicing

It smooths the customer's cost and your workload, and it guarantees the return visit. Price it against a year of servicing honestly.

Use it to fill the quiet months

Plan customers can be scheduled rather than waiting to be reminded, which lets you flatten January. Book plan customers into the troughs.

Conclusion

A year is long enough for a customer to forget your name and receive three reminders from somebody else, so book the next visit at collection and put the date in the windscreen where they will see it.

Own the MOT alongside the service, combine them where dates allow, and contact people six weeks and then two weeks before — the garage that asks first gets the booking. Record every advisory with a date and refer to the customer's own car rather than sending a general reminder, because a specific finding converts far better. Run reminders across text, email and then a call, confirm contact details at every visit, and offer service plans where they fit, since a plan removes the annual decision and lets you schedule quiet months.