7 Ways to Streamline Workflow in Your RV Repair Shop

Have you ever heard people talk about “anxious outdoorsmen” or “neurotic wilderness enthusiasts?” Of course not—but we’re willing to bet you’ve come across the phrase “happy campers.” Sure, camping isn’t always a stress-free time, but there’s no denying that traveling in an RV can be a uniquely laid-back experience.

Unfortunately, that feeling of relaxation doesn’t apply to the people tasked with working on these vehicles. If you’re in charge of an RV repair shop, you’re responsible for fixing complicated systems while meeting tight deadlines and keeping customers happy. That’s far more stressful than sitting around a campfire singing, “This Land Is Your Land” and “The Ants Go Marching.”

Anyway, one of the most significant sources of chaos in the average RV repair shop is disorganization. But even though organizational issues can cost you in terms of time, money, and customer respect, they aren’t entirely out of your hands, either. When you make a meaningful effort to streamline repair shop workflow, you’ll be able to fight back and get things under control at your shop.

Problem Areas & Their Impact

No matter how well-run your RV repair shop is, you and your techs could end up dealing with:

• Inventory problems. No shop wants to run out of parts or lose track of where they are, but this is unavoidable for businesses without a rock-solid inventory management system.
• Communication issues. Even if you take customer satisfaction seriously, it can be difficult for techs to keep customers informed while they’re busy working on vehicles.
• Staff scheduling conflicts. One important element of running an efficient shop is ensuring the right techs are in the right place at the right time—but that process can be more complicated than you might think.
• Trouble making informed decisions. Without powerful reporting features, you’ll be left in the dark when it’s time to make big choices about your shop’s future.
• Breakdowns you didn’t anticipate. Though routine maintenance can reduce your customers’ risk of breakdowns, keeping up with RV service needs isn’t an easy task.
• Rabbits hiding under the hood of a customer’s vehicle. It’s happened before!

If left unchecked, these problems could easily result in lost time and money, frazzled employees, and unhappy customers. Because of that, you’ll want to have a solid strategy for maximizing efficiency around your RV repair shop.

7 Transformation Tips

Now that you have a better understanding of the problems your shop could face (and one it probably won’t), let’s shift gears and talk about solutions. When you’re trying to streamline repair shop workflow, you’ll want to:

1. Ditch the Paperwork

If you’ve ever dealt with a paper cut, you know how painful paper can be. But did you know this material can also hurt your business? “Traditional” documents can get misplaced or destroyed; even if they don’t, they can seriously reduce your shop’s efficiency.

Instead, consider moving to a paperless workflow powered by digital service orders, electronic signatures, and mobile access. By making this switch, you’ll be able to get orders approved faster than ever before while keeping incredibly accurate records of everything that happens around your shop. Furthermore, you’ll have zero risk of misfiling digital documents.

2. Centralize Your Inventory Management

Fullbay has a ton of blogs about inventory management, and there’s a good reason for that: any successful RV repair shop needs to keep track of its inventory. If you don’t already know how many RV-specific parts you have in stock or where these parts are, you could end up wasting time looking for components (or being forced to put repair jobs on hold due to stock issues).

Though it’s technically possible to manage your shop’s inventory by hand, this approach requires a massive amount of time and effort from you and your employees. Instead, try making use of centralized inventory management software. With one of these programs, your techs can always get at-a-glance updates on your shop’s part levels and locations. Better yet, they’ll be able to focus on the work you actually hired them for in the first place.

3. Adopt a Proactive Maintenance Mindset

Few buzzwords sound more impressive than “proactive” (though “synergy” and “ecosystem” come close). 

And this word doesn’t just sound cool—it IS cool. Adopting a proactive mindset toward maintenance work can be a big help at repair shops like yours. By making an effort to take care of RV maintenance before it’s needed, you could seriously reduce your customers’ risk of encountering unexpected breakdowns.

Given the number of vehicles the average repair shop works on, you shouldn’t attempt to take a more active approach to maintenance by yourself. Instead, use software that can help you automate service scheduling based on mileage and usage. With the help of these programs, your shop won’t just have a chance to improve on its core competencies—it can enhance the customer journey by addressing a common pain point. That probably meant something!

4. Optimize Technician Scheduling

Even if you put a ton of thought and effort you put into improving other elements of your business, no RV repair shop can be successful without skilled technicians. Because of that, you’ll want to do everything you can to improve the efficiency of your employees—and taking scheduling seriously can help.

Some repair shop programs can help you visualize tech availability and simplify the process of matching your service orders to your techs’ skills. You’ll also be able to avoid scheduling conflicts and overbooking, boosting billable hours in the process.

5. Streamline Customer Communication

So get this: the customer… well, it turns out they’re always right. Wild, huh? 

Since that’s the case, you definitely want to make sure your customers are satisfied—and keeping them in the loop is a huge part of that.

One excellent way to keep your customers informed is to send them text/email updates about their repair work (complete with photos and videos illustrating your processes). This can help you build trust with your clients while cutting down on unnecessary inbound phone calls. And when you’re actively communicating with your customers, you shouldn’t have to wait too long for work approvals.

6. Harness the Power of Data

Here at Fullbay, we have a saying: “You can’t spell ‘data’ without ‘at,’ because dATa tells you where your shop should be AT.” 

(Actually, we have a lot of terrible slogans, like “you can’t spell ‘Full bay’ without ‘Fullbay,’ because FULLBAY keeps your BAYs FULL.” You get the idea.)

The point is, if you’re running an RV repair shop, you should keep a close eye on your business’ data. When you use the right repair shop software, you’ll be able to generate reports on everything from tech productivity and parts usage to recurring issues your business faces. That information can help you make informed decisions related to staffing, ordering parts, and solving problems around your shop.

7. Leverage Specialized Software

These days, there are all sorts of programs designed to help with auto shop management. But if you’re reading this article, you probably aren’t running an auto shop. Instead, you’d be much better off using software designed to meet the needs of RV repair shops and other heavy-duty vehicles. 

Ideally, your software should come with features such as integration with companies specific to this industry. That way, it will be capable of helping you deal with the challenges your shop actually faces.

Fullbay Was Made For You And Me

Unfortunately, working on RVs will almost always be more stressful than driving them. Still, you can simplify this process with the help of the right software—i.e., Fullbay. Our program’s features help the people working at your RV repair shop overcome any challenge they run into. (Except maybe the rabbit thing). 

With Fullbay’s industry-leading software, you’ll have an opportunity to streamline repair shop workflow by eliminating paperwork, taking control of inventory management, and analyzing in-depth reports (just to name a few benefits). Take the first step by scheduling a free demo today!