InMOTION Auto Care was formed at the intersection of preparation and opportunity.
Sherri Stock’s love affair with cars began with a blue 1971 Chevy Nova Super Sport. She was the second woman to graduate from the automotive technology program at Southeast Community College (Milford, Neb.) and later worked for a Chrysler dealership for 25 years. The 2008 recession closed the business, and, after functioning for a few more years as a used Chrysler dealership, that business went under, too.
“It was a high-priced corner, and we had to close,” she says. She was the service, parts, and body shop director. “I figured I’d just buy the equipment and build a shop. So that’s what I did!”
InMOTION Auto Care opened in 2012. Today, inMOTION is thriving and Stock is one of the most well-known names in auto repair. She even serves as an advisory board member for MWACA, the Midwest Auto Care Alliance, helping to craft a prosperous future for shop owners and technicians alike.
Stock runs a busy shop; she estimates they service 30–40 vehicles per day. To keep up with demand and continue growing (inMOTION’s annual revenue is about $2.5 million), she uses KUKUI.
Streamline Appointments, Reviews & More
Stock feels that KUKUI has helped InMOTION survive the tumultuous repair industry and thrive through an ever-changing market.
“We’re just going to start becoming a ‘yes’ company—we’re going to say ‘yes’ to everyone who needs automotive help. We have the processes in place; we can handle more customers on a more timely basis,” she says.
She cites KUKUI as a major tool empowering her operations, technicians, and revenue. KUKUI helps shop owners everywhere:
-
See a bird’s-eye view of their business through the dashboard. Yes.
-
Capture specific point-of-contact data with every phone call and online interaction. Yes.
-
Schedule appointments without the use of a counter and service advisor through instant, online, mobile-friendly software. Yes.
-
Garner, post and respond to reviews instantly. Yes.
-
Update the website without waiting for technical help or approval. Yes.
“We’re busy enough,” Stock says, “and KUKUI allows our advisors to focus on the cars in front of them—they’re not stopping every five minutes for an oil change appointment (we run 15 or 16 a day). It empowers the customer and frees up time to do estimates.”
InMOTION has been with KUKUI for three years, and Stock can’t imagine working with any other company for her shop’s crucial data tracking, client capture and more.
“The All-in-One platform is amazing,” she says, “you can’t beat it anywhere.”
She also raves about the personalized client care KUKUI provides; her representative, Dii, is available at a moment’s notice and eager to help whenever Stock has a question or comment.
Stock and her team review the KUKUI dashboard daily. They ensure email addresses are being captured and keep track of customer conversion over every phone call. One of Stock’s favorite aspects of the software is the reviews module.
“The reviews program is hands-off,” she says. “All you have to do is reply to the comment that is made. Messages go straight to my phone/email and I can answer the review. You’re not waiting months to get back to customers.”
Stock was recently on vacation and was able to check her reviews and respond to all clients poolside. Using KUKUI, Stock has the ability to add the best reviews instantly to her website—the review ticker is one of the first things you see when navigating to inmotionautocare.com (as well as a beautiful overhead photo of the shop).
“The reviews keep you up to date on what your customers are thinking,” she says.
The other tool she constantly refers to is the online appointments module.
“It’s convenient for the customer; they can look at your specials, and we automatically credit $5 for an online appointment,” Stock says. “It conveniences the customer and drastically cuts down incoming phone calls, freeing up our staff to focus on what’s important.”
Previously, inMOTION employed a receptionist to handle their growing business. After some time with KUKUI, they were able to eliminate that position due to the streamlined transparency that KUKUI's online appointment tool offers.
“We didn’t have to replace her,” Stock says.
To Stock, a tool such as KUKUI gives her an edge, clears up her staff to do the work they want to do (not have to do) and empowers her customers to dictate auto repair a little more readily on their own terms, building trust and fostering a relationship with inMOTION.
“I recommend KUKUI to everybody,” Stock says, “to everyone in our MWACA group and to everyone else.. There are so many cars out there to work on—I don’t feel that offering another shop owner the same product is a bad thing. We need to work more as a community to help each other out.
“It was just the right decision to go to KUKUI,” she says.
Yes.
