Auto body shops are the last thing most people imagine having to deal with on a day to day basis, but it does happen and the last thing you want to deal with in most cases. A auto body shop in Montgomery, New York was looking to make the sting of having to deal with an Auto Body shop less painful. We knew creating a brand culture first would help to shape the brand itself and serve its customers with transparency and honesty.
Simplify or over simplify wherever possible. Our goal for the website is to create a fully automated website that can have our customers check-in on their car while it is in the shop which means we need to connect to a third party application to achieve this integration. Our customers need to be able to sign off on any updates that may happen throughout the process of fixing their vehicle and pay without leaving the website to go to a third party application.
The website will go through a overall of their current user experience and navigation to simplify the current website and clean out the junk that has accumulated over the last 7 years. The imagery on the website will be updated by having a professional photography come in and take all new images of the updated facilities and employees. We will go through a interview process of the current customers, and employees to find where improvements can take place before we start to assume changes.
62% of customers view a auto body shop when they are in an accident and not before.
Majority of customers prefer to call to discuss their car issues because they feel as though they can not explain it in writing.
Car owners admit to not knowing how much things cost when dealing with their cars, so they feel more confident when fixes are explained in simple terms.
54% of competitors in the upstate New York area do not have the ability to let customers pay online.
17% of competitors have updated information about their operations or customers.
There are 10 auto body shops within a 15 mile radius of CIC Auto Body giving a vast amount of choices for their customers.
Only 23% of their competition give any pricing on their site.
Officer Manager
To easy be able to get in contact with the auto body shop at anytime of the day.
Understand what his vehicle needs and how much it will cost without having the run around.
To feel as though he is being taken care of from the moment he calls to report his issue.
Not to feel demoralized in the process.
Create a simple mobile experience that has a chat option and phone access during shop hours.
A simple guide to frequent problems that can be solved by the customer to save money.
A protocol for the employee answering the phone on how to greet, explain complex problems and feel welcoming.
42 years old
$64,000/year
Saratoga Springs
Office Manager
Bachelor of Science
Relaxed casual attire with a nice pair of boots and a plain shirt.
Our customer is nervous after having an issue with his car and is in need of someone to empathize with him and make him feel as though this is a big issue, but a solvable issue if he can work with the shop. He needs a simple solution to a problem that was not in his plans that day. He needs to be calmed down and listened to most importantly.
Now that we understand the user in more depth we can start thinking about the problems they might be trying to solve. Taking the insights and needs from the empathy map, we can start digging deeper to better understand. We create point of view statements & how might we questions that will help drive the brainstorming process.
Our customers trust what they hear from the reviews on Google and Yelp
Our customers are still majority convinced through word-of-mouth recommendation.
Our customer needs to see at least 8 positive reviews with 1 of those being a 3 to make sure its real.
They only need to hear one quality recommendation from a friend or family member to become a fan.
Christian is looking through reviews for about 2 minutes before he makes his first call to the shop
Christian makes his first view of the website as he is speaking to his friend or family member.
How might we get to the top of Google or Yelp to intrigue Christian to call?
How might we help motivate our current customers to recommend their friends and family to be customers?
Now we create the best experience and work with the best ideas and opinions. In this stage we role through every possible idea with no interruptions in order to give the room a sense of inspiration and excitement.
Focusing on the prioritized solutions, I created a site map to help define the overall structure of the content on CICs’ website in a way that would be logically and easily accessible to its users. We need to focus on how our experience would give time back to our clients during their busy schedules.
After understanding the problem, creating the user we can now begin to design the brand how that user will perceive it.
One of the most important things to consider about branding is that it’s usually the first thing people see when they come across your business. Very much like when you first meet a person. The first impression is what often shapes their identity. Even subtle details on a subconscious level can make the difference in whether you feel a connection to that brand or person, or not.
Hence, every touchpoint that connects you with potential clients should voice your brand. The more they know and experience about who you are, the more trust and connection they’ll feel for what you offer. No matter if you offer a product or a service.
As the branding process is taking place we start to develop out the bare bones of the website with simple frameworks to understand the user flow of the product. Creating prototypes gives the client a true understanding of the product.
Once the prototype and branding has been completed it is time to let the product out into the environment. This is where we launch the brand for everyone to view and use. We always stay with our clients after this stage because branding is about always improving throughout the life of your company.
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