The "is my car ready?" call
Somebody dropped their car off at eight, has no transport, and wants to know whether to arrange a lift home or wait. It is a completely reasonable question, it arrives ten times a day, and answering it means walking into the workshop and interrupting the person whose time you are billing.
Why it costs more than the two minutes
The interruption does not cost two minutes; it costs the thread. A technician stopped mid-diagnosis loses the sequence they were working through and picks it up imperfectly, which is how things get missed. Ten of those a day across three bays is a real amount of productive time, and none of it appears on any job sheet — it simply shows up as the workshop running slower than it should.
They are usually asking something more specific
They are arranging their evening, not auditing your workshop.
The anxious version of the question, and the one that needs careful handling rather than a quick yes or no.
Frequently the real question, asked obliquely because nobody enjoys asking about money.
Sometimes they are chasing an authorisation they were promised and did not get.
The call that prevents the call
Ringing customers when something changes — not when it does not — removes most of this volume. A customer told at eleven that their car needs a part arriving tomorrow does not ring at two, at three and at four. Garages that make one proactive call per job consistently report the status calls dropping away, because the anxiety driving them has been dealt with.
What the phone can and cannot tell them
Taking the call, identifying the vehicle and the customer, and getting an accurate message to the right person is straightforward and takes the interruption off the workshop floor. Reading back a live job status is a different matter — it requires a connection into your job management system, and without one an assistant should say plainly that it will find out rather than guess. Telling somebody their car is ready when it is not produces a wasted journey and a complaint.
Frequently asked
The interruption costs the thread, not the two minutes. A technician stopped mid-diagnosis picks it up imperfectly, and none of that lost time appears on a job sheet.
Usually whether they can collect today, whether it has turned out worse than expected, or — obliquely — whether it will cost more than the estimate.
One proactive call per job when something changes. A customer told at eleven that a part arrives tomorrow does not ring at two, three and four.
Only with a connection into your job management system. Without one it should say it will find out rather than guess — telling somebody their car is ready when it is not produces a wasted journey and a complaint.