How one shop gained 300+ customers while cutting costs

Overview

Pro Transmissions & Automotive of Athens is a family-owned repair shop in Athens, Georgia, led by owner Daniel Paniccia. Daniel began working on cars at 14 and went on to manage corporate locations like Firestone and NTB before buying the shop in 2023. Built on honesty, transparency, and hard-earned trust, the shop quickly became a go-to for college students, local families, and fleet customers.

But with that growth came longer days, more moving parts, and growing pressure to keep every promise. The systems that once worked started to strain, making it harder to stay organized, stay responsive, and deliver the same personal service customers had come to expect.

The Challenge

Growth Without Systems

Before implementing Shopmonkey and CRM Essentials, much of the shop’s operations relied on QuickBooks, Gmail, paper tickets, and manual processes. Customer phone numbers were sometimes written incorrectly. Follow-ups were inconsistent. Deferred services were nearly impossible to track. Scheduling was done on a physical desk calendar, which led to overlaps and inefficiencies.

On top of that, marketing efforts were expensive and unreliable. The shop was spending:

• $5,000–$7,500 per direct mail campaign

• $189/month on third-party scheduling tools

• Additional costs for outsourced review management

Yet the results were inconsistent. Mailers yielded minimal returns, and review requests relied on manually reminding customers.

“There was no rhyme or rhythm to anything. We were busy, but we weren’t organized.”

The Solution

One System Instead of Four

When Daniel learned about Shopmonkey CRM Essentials, he immediately recognized the opportunity to centralize everything. As an early adopter of CRM Essentials since 2023, he integrated:

• Automated Review Requests
  Every customer now receives a follow-up prompting a Google review, eliminating manual reminders.

• Deferred Service Reminders
  Customers who decline services automatically receive follow-ups, bringing them back weeks or months later

• Appointment Scheduler
  Integrated online booking with Google Business Profile, website, and other platforms.

• Campaign Messaging
  Seasonal promotions, maintenance reminders, and service campaigns are sent digitally instead of expensive mailers.

The system replaced multiple subscriptions, eliminated paper tracking, and automated tasks that once relied on memory. For years, the shop relied on disconnected tools. Scheduling lived in one system, reviews in another, and follow-ups somewhere else. CRM Essentials brought customer communication, reminders, and visibility into Shopmonkey with no extra logins or duct-taped integrations. For Daniel, that meant fewer moving parts, less stress, and more consistent service, without losing the personal touch his shop is known for.

“It was a no-brainer. Everything was in one place. No more jumping between platforms.”