It’s noon, and your auto shop waiting room is at max capacity with professionals and families. Everyone appears disengaged and annoyed. As for their waiting-room experience? Not so positive. They’re ready for their car—and some lunch.
A report from Forrester tells us that 66% of customers claim that the best way a company can deliver a positive customer experience is by valuing the customer’s time.
Making your waiting room engaging and entertaining is only part of the equation. Knowing which auto shop waiting room ideas to use so that you can deliver the best customer experience possible is another story.
The importance of the auto shop waiting room
Your waiting room is the epicenter of the customer experience, and it’s one of the most powerful marketing opportunities for your auto repair shop—driving sales and increasing customer loyalty.
Improves the customer experience
For some customers, it doesn’t make sense to drop off their car for an unknown period and Uber around town running errands. Spending time in your waiting room is the simplest solution, especially if unexpected car issues arise.
Since most patrons will stay in your auto shop waiting room, their time there can take a toll on customer satisfaction. Although a positive customer experience can mean something different to everyone, there are simple steps you can take to heighten their experience.
Let’s boil down what your waiting room should be in three words: inviting, comfortable and engaging.
Provides helpful information to visitors
Last year’s celebrity gossip magazines or an anxiety-inducing news channel blaring from your TV aren’t going to please, much less entertain, your patrons. Instead, populate your waiting room with helpful information to make their visit as smooth as possible.
The question is, what might your customers find beneficial to know in the waiting room? Consider incorporating these additions into your auto shop waiting room:
- A digital display showing current and average wait times
- An updated pricing list of all products and services
- Details about your auto shop loyalty program and referral rewards
- Easily digestible tutorials and clips on basic car repair and maintenance
Offers opportunities to engage and upsell
Your auto shop waiting room doesn’t need to just be for waiting. With digital signage and other solutions, you have the chance to connect with your customers on a deeper level. This can mean educational content, interactive quizzes, entertainment and more.
Plus, why not take this opportunity to promote other products and services they can add to their regular car maintenance that day? Upselling through your physical space relieves that task from your staff and is a non-invasive way to increase revenue per visit.
Auto shop waiting room ideas you should be using
Your auto shop layout will say a lot about your business, and that starts with your waiting room. Before we dive in, ask yourself this question: what type of waiting room would my customers like to see?
Ensure the waiting room is comfortable
No doubt, on any given day, you’re back in the admin offices, behind the counter or seeking updates from the repair bays. How much time have you spent sitting in the customer waiting room? Is there ample space for everyone? Is the seating comfortable, especially if they spend hours there?
To transform your waiting room into a comfortable space, consider adding these additions:
- Choose cushioned seating and family-friendly sofas
- Create a refreshment station with a variety of snacks and beverages
- Make WiFi free for customers who need to work while they wait
- Incorporate plants and neutral colors to make the space inviting
- Use music and digital displays to complement a comforting experience
Make full use of your digital signage
To give your customers the best customer experience possible, you’ll need to call for reinforcements—UPshow CONNECT. It’s the leading on-premise performance marketing cloud, designed to transform your auto shop’s digital screens into a positive, engaging customer platform.
To make full use of your digital screens, consider first what you hope your customers will take away from spending time in your waiting room. For instance, do you want them to brush up on basic, seasonal car care? How about displaying a video tutorial or infographic on how to spot wear on their tires—or even how to change a tire? The possibilities are endless.
Other ways you can use the digital signage in your auto shop waiting room include:
- Displaying exclusive discounts and offers
- Play short videos on how to spot common safety issues
- Create and display auto-related trivia geared toward common car safety and maintenance facts all drivers should know
- Use your screens to upsell products and services
- Roll out your new loyalty or referral program
Create an audio-visual experience
Topping the list of auto shop waiting room ideas is creating an inviting audio-visual experience for your customers. With UPshow CONNECT’s Canva integration, you’ll have access to thousands of royalty-free pictures and videos to make the educational and marketing content you generate, really stand out.
Take advantage of UPshow Premium’s 50+ ad-free audio channels to play anxiety-reducing music or background tunes for customers who need to work while they’re there.
Offer educational or entertainment opportunities
Did you know that 35.3% of US drivers ignore tires that are out of alignment, while another 26.4% will keep driving with their check engine light illuminated? Educating today’s drivers in automotive basics is necessary for their safety. Your auto shop waiting room isn’t simply a holding cell for drivers. Instead, think of it as an institute of car maintenance education.
Start by keeping short video tutorials or demos about safety and mechanical issues on your digital screens to show them how to spot minor or serious mechanical issues.
And if keeping your customers entertained is your priority, UPshow CONNECT comes with 500+ entertainment channels, including hyperlocal and live stream content.
Provide QR code discounts on services
Instead of your customers flipping through a paper catalog of your products and services, link them to your virtual storefront via UPshow’s QR code campaign creator. While you display other engaging content, your customers can scan the QR code on the screen with their devices and access your products, list of services, exclusive discounts and more.
UPshow: Your auto shop waiting room solution!
Think of your waiting room as a place where you can connect with your customers with the goal of winning their loyalty. Not all of these auto shop waiting room ideas will work for your business, but most of them will, especially with the leading digital signage solution by your side.
With UPshow CONNECT, you can take the reigns in developing and steering the ultimate customer experience in your auto shop waiting room.
Schedule a custom demo of UPshow and give your auto-shop customers the ultimate in-shop customer experience.
