Quality Diesel Repair, LLC

ABOUT QUALITY DIESEL REPAIR, LLC

Quality Diesel Repair, LLC, is a one-man shop that has operated from Denver, Colorado, since 2013. Run by Felipe Gonzalez II, Quality Diesel Repair, LLC, is 100% mobile; he handles emergency and scheduled work, and specializes in engines. Felipe ended up leaving a steady repair job to strike out on his own, and vividly recalls driving around with his tools in bags in the back of his Honda.

Thanks to customers who gave him a chance, he quickly hit the big time and bought a proper service truck. Today, Felipe drives out to meet clients wherever they are (or, on occasion, they come to his shop space, which he shares with another company). His customers love the convenience he provides, and he loves being able to get to them wherever they are.

WHAT DID QUALITY DIESEL REPAIR, LLC, NEED?

Felipe had three major problems he wanted to solve: how to deal with missing parts (preferably not have any go missing at all); get all customers billed in a timely fashion; and, most important of all, he wanted to look more professional.

CHALLENGE #1: LOOKS ARE EVERYTHING

“You’d be surprised what image does for your company,” Felipe remarks. Initially, he used QuickBooks to handle invoices. He liked the software, and it got the job done, but it didn’t produce invoices that resembled the invoices his customers were used to. They wanted invoices broken down in a certain way; QuickBooks, unfortunately, could not meet those needs. Some fleet managers even thought his invoices were fraudulent.

“People won’t look at you if you show up with a raggedy truck and a raggedy program,” Felipe says. “This field is very looks-driven.”

“There is a function in Fullbay that allows you to do pre-inspections. That feature alone has made a lot of money for me as well.”

CHALLENGE #2: PARTS & BILLING

In addition to the invoicing problem, Felipe could not keep track of all the parts he used and what job they were used for. When ordering and using parts, he “wrote it down here and there” on bits of paper and a notepad. He often forgot to factor in taxes when he ordered them, or forgot to add an ordered part to a bill. Then, at the end of the month, “I would get hit with a $30,000 parts bill and have no idea how to reconcile those parts.”

It wasn’t just parts that caused him grief, either. If you’re not using shop management software to keep everything in order, you’re likely just sending off invoices when you can. Busy shops often invoice days or weeks after the fact – when they remember to do so. That’s exactly what happened to Felipe, who would put off his invoicing until he had time to do it. Despite making a mental note to add this charge or that to his invoice, after days or weeks he simply forgot. Felipe recounts forgetting to bill a customer for “a $2,000 part” and realizing something needed to change.

“Before Fullbay, I would forget to invoice customers at least three times per month.”

ENTER FULLBAY

There was plenty of shop software out there, but he had some pretty important requirements to meet. He needed to be able to use it anywhere, and whatever he used needed to not let him forget to bill anything.

Like many of us, he took to the internet to find the answer. Fullbay was one of the first suggestions to pop up when he started looking for “diesel repair shop software,” and as he researched, he realized it could be exactly what he needed. “Fullbay was the only one doing [everything] online,” Felipe recalls. After demo-ing the software, he decided to buy it.

PROFESSIONALISM IS KEY

“If you want to work with the big dogs,” Felipe says, “you gotta swim like a shark, not a little fish.” Fullbay has helped Felipe become a shark, making his invoices look slick and professional – exactly what the big fleets he’s courting are looking for. Fullbay “has helped me with parts breakdown, charges for parts, shop supply charges, invoices, PO numbers, unit numbers, VIN info, mileage, out of service criteria…” The list goes on. His shop looks slick and ready to rumble!

“Because of Fullbay, I have customers that have no idea I am a one-man band.”

PARTS ARE PLENTIFUL

Notepad begone! Fullbay lets Felipe fill out his order for parts as he’s working. His vendor receives the order, they fill out the prices, and it automatically adds the parts markup to the prices in the service order. “Each work order is 20-30% greater because now I am charging for parts and marking them up,” Felipe enthuses.

It’s even given him another avenue to drive revenue. “There is a function in Fullbay that allows you to do pre-inspections. That feature alone has made a lot of money for me as well. I don’t charge customers for it, but it opened my eyes to do inspections … [they] contribute massively to relationships!”

“Customers think, ‘That guy is watching my back!’ [Inspections] help you gain trust with your customers.”

INVOICING IS EASY

Felipe can use Fullbay from anywhere – the side of the road, a parking lot, even his kitchen if he’s catching up on work. He likes that he can build the work order as he’s working. He can bill the customer on the spot, as soon as he finishes. “With Fullbay, a lot of times I get paid the same day because they already received the invoice.”

He shares his new routine: “Anytime I show up, before I work on a truck, I take pictures of it and input all of the information, open a work order, and start repairing the truck. Then I circle back, close the invoice and bill customers. That routine alone has saved me a lot of money. I don’t have to remember, it’s just there. That’s a big deal.”

“I have 10x the business since I started Fullbay. You are part of my business.”

UP, UP AND AWAY

Quality Diesel Repair, LLC, has grown leaps and bounds since adopting Fullbay. It solved Felipe’s problems and even introduced him to new ways of generating revenue. Fullbay, he says, “makes me better manage my company, so I can take better care of my customers.”

We’re so happy that Quality Diesel Repair, LLC, is doing so well. We’re looking forward to helping Felipe grow even more!