Discover how this family-owned and operated shop has kept customers coming back for decades with a high-quality customer experience.
Boosted Efficiency after Shop Expansion
Enhanced Customer Experience
Improved Internal Communications
When it comes to your vehicle, finding someone you trust is paramount to good auto care. Mechanics are staples of their communities alongside mail carriers, doctors, and small business owners. For local shop owners, reputation and word of mouth are everything.
That's why Superior Auto Clinic has become a mainstay in North Hollywood, California. Its owner, Paul Kirokian, has been working in auto repair in the area for over 40 years. He's built strong relationships and cared for his client's vehicles as if they were his own.
"Having a good mechanic is an essential part of life," said Ralph Lippman, a customer of Superior Auto Clinic.
"It's like having a good doctor," chimed in his wife, Linda Lippman.
"Paul does that for us," said Ralph.
Superior is moving into a new phase of the business, with Paul's sons Aram and Berj taking on leadership roles. They needed modern systems to keep up with the area's dealerships and other bigger shops. Superior sought out software that supported its core value – transparency. They had built decades-long relationships and aimed to continue to carry on the legacy established by their father.
As Superior has expanded from a four-bay shop to seven bays, they've used Shopmonkey to increase and improve communication within their shop and with its customers. They moved away from outdated systems and are now better able to handle larger volumes of work.
"All of our bases are covered when it comes to using Shopmonkey," said Berj.
Outdated Systems | Building Customer Trust | Handling Larger Volume
A major challenge auto shops face is communicating with their clients in a way they understand and giving real-time updates on the status of their vehicles. Despite Paul's knack for customer service, Superior still needed to work on establishing transparent communication with its customers. "The hard part is not everyone's a mechanic, you know what I mean?" Berj said. "The car world is a completely different language. It's hard for people to visualize what is going on just by communicating in phone calls."
Before choosing Shopmonkey, Superior's messaging came entirely on the phone with Paul. While this helped him build a relationship with his community, it wasn't always the easiest or most efficient way to communicate something to a customer. As the shop expanded, they needed an easier and more sustainable way to maintain the transparent communication their customers had learned to expect at Superior while handling the influx of work they dealt with each day.
On top of that, the shop was using "ancient" software to track payments, invoices, and vehicle history. As Berj and Aram joined their father’s business, they knew they needed to modernize their systems to keep up with their competitors and deliver the high-quality experience their customers expect.
"People would come to our shop because of my dad," Aram said. "If they wanted to go for the system, they went to the dealer or one of those big corporate shops. We were trying to mix the personal relationship with a leading system."
With the expansion, they also looked to hire more technicians. But keeping track of so many techs as well as keeping internal communications clear and consistent was difficult for a family-owned shop with a lot on its plate. They needed to provide their technicians with the right tools to succeed while they focused on managing the growing business.
Transparent Communication | A Consolidated Modern System | Modern Digital Tools
With Shopmonkey, the Kirokians have successfully blended their personal touch with an automated system that promotes customer communication.
"With Shopmonkey, everything is recorded, everything is labeled, everything is stated simply," Aram said. "It's all written in stone practically. It saves not only the time you're going to put into communicating with the customer but also saves your backend as a business owner or an employee."
Instead of communicating the status of a vehicle over the phone, Superior could send a digital vehicle inspection that includes videos and photos of the work, with simple descriptions that break down the barriers of mechanic speak. Now their customers had the trust of working with the family and the transparency provided via Shopmonkey.
It helped the efficiency of the shop as well. With invoices, estimates, and work orders all in one place, the owners can check the system rather than running around the shop all day to figure out the status of a job.
"I come from the school of automating and streamlining everything," Berj said. "Everyone is using the software so efficiently. We're delighted with those results so far."
"I come from the school of automating and streamlining everything," Berj said. "Everyone is using the software so efficiently. We're delighted with those results so far."
The Kirokians said the easy-to-use platform has been great for their customers, service writers, and technicians learning the new system. They compared it to switching from Android to Apple with the platform's ease of use and uniformity — this has been key in helping their techs increase productivity.
"Our productivity has gotten much better due to Shopmonkey," Aram said. "Now we can track our technicians' efficiency, which gives us a great glimpse into what's taking place on a day-to-day basis."
Not only can the Karokians keep tabs on the work that's getting done, but their technicians can send updates to customers from their phones, allowing them to get through their work quicker. They can also use the tools in the Shopmonkey app to see what aspects of their work can be streamlined and done more efficiently.
These technical solutions only aid the personal touch that Paul has used over his long career.
"I like to think it's my mom's car, my sister's car, or my daughter's car," Paul said. "That's how I treat every car that comes in."
As the business continues expanding, Shopmonkey will allow them to do more work while maintaining the connection they've developed within their community.
"We're going to need Shopmonkey even more," Berj said. "We use it religiously now, but it's going to be used at a much higher level when more expansion comes."
Check out this video to learn more about how Superior Auto Clinic has become a staple of the LA community:
The shop went from four bays to seven and had more business because of it. Shopmonkey has helped them keep their records in one place and allowed them to quickly process work orders to get more jobs done even with an expanded workload.
Before Shopmonkey, all communications were done over the phone. Now customers are texted and emailed transparent reports with photos and videos showing the work that’s been done, plus up-to-date information on the status of their vehicle.
With Shopmonkey, the Karokians can easily track each technician’s workflow, and find places where efficiency can be improved. It also streamlined internal communications between techs and front-of-house staff, making the shop experience great for everyone and driving retention.
Superior Auto Clinic is a full-service preventive maintenance and auto repairs center in the North Hollywood, CA area, specializing in smog check, Tesla body and detailing, tires and brakes, 4x4 services, AC repair, alignment, auto body and refinishing services, auto detailing, brakes, and car & truck care since 1992.
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