Retention
Service reminders by SMS and email
The cheapest customer to win is the one who already trusts you. Mech Central works out when each car is due from the last service and the interval on the menu, then sends the reminder for you — by text, by email, or both — with the car's rego in it so the owner knows exactly which car you mean.
1 month free · no credit card · $49.99/month flat after, cancel any time
The problem
A car you serviced in March is due in September. Nobody in the shop has a list of Septembers.
The dealer sends a letter. You send nothing. The car goes to the dealer.
When you do remember, it is a phone call in the middle of a job, and the customer does not pick up.
How it works
01
Set it once
In Settings, choose the reminder interval (six months by default), how many days ahead to send, and a cool-off so nobody is texted twice in a month.
02
Invoice as normal
Every service you invoice from the Service Menu sets the next one — the 10,000 km service books the 20,000 km one for six months' time, automatically.
03
Reminders go out
A nightly run sends what is due: SMS to customers with a valid Australian mobile who have not opted out, email to everyone else. The message uses your template and your sender name.
04
They reply, you book
'Reply STOP to opt out' is on every text and honoured across every contact holding that number. Everyone else replies 'book me in', and the car is back.
The details
Interval in months and kilometres per service on the menu, so a tyre rotation and a major service remind on their own schedules.
Live preview of the SMS shows the exact message and how many segments it bills as, before you turn it on.
Send one manually from a vehicle's Up Next list when a customer rings and asks 'when am I due?'
Duplicate reminders are prevented — a car can only have one scheduled reminder per service.
Email reminders carry your logo and colours; text reminders carry your sender name or your number so the customer can reply.
Questions
Do I have to text? Can I keep it to email?
Yes. SMS is off until you tick it on in Settings. Until then every reminder goes by email exactly as it always has.
What about customers who don't want texts?
Every reminder ends with 'Reply STOP to opt out'. A STOP reply opts that number out on every contact record that holds it, and they are never texted again.
What does an SMS cost?
SMS reminders are sent through an Australian carrier account connected to your workshop; the live preview shows how many segments each message uses so there are no surprises.
Free for a month
Put one real car through it.
Set-up takes about two minutes. Book a car, quote it, photograph it, invoice it and let the reminder bring it back. The first month is free, so it costs nothing to find out.
1 month free · No credit card · $49.99/month after · Cancel any time
What's in the box
- Bookings and today's board
- Vehicles, rego search and history
- Service reminders by SMS and email
- Quotes approved online, invoices with photos
- Inspection reports
- Unlimited team logins