Should a body shop answer calls after hours and on weekends?
By the Margin Media team · Updated
Yes, a body shop should have its calls answered after hours and on weekends, because that is when drivers deal with a damaged car: after work, or the morning after a collision. The shop does not need staff on site. It needs the call picked up, the details taken, and an estimate appointment offered.
What does a driver want from that first call?
They want to know what happens next. Can the shop look at the car, when, and what should they bring. A driver who has just been hit is rattled and may be calling several shops in one sitting. The shop that gives a clear next step is the one they stop at.
They don't expect a repair price over the phone at nine at night. They expect a person or something capable to take the details and put a time on the calendar.
What can a body shop offer without opening on Saturday?
A body shop can offer an answer, a booked estimate time and a short list of what to bring, all without anyone standing in the building.
- A greeting that says the shop is closed and that the call is still being handled.
- The details taken once: name, number, vehicle, what happened, whether the car drives.
- An estimate appointment in the next open slot.
- A text confirming the time and the address.
- A note waiting for the estimator on Monday morning.
What should wait for a person?
Anything that needs judgment about the car or the claim should wait for a person. Whether a car is safe to drive, what an insurer will cover, how long parts will take: none of that should be guessed by whoever, or whatever, answers at night. Say plainly that the estimator will go through it.
How does Margin answer a body shop's after-hours calls?
Mia, Margin's AI receptionist, answers day, night and weekends, or only when your office doesn't pick up. She takes the details, books an estimate time onto the portal calendar, and your office is told. If the caller asks for a person, she tells your team and steps aside.
She does not advise on insurance claims or say what a repair will cost. Anything urgent is passed straight to your team. A confirming text needs your texting number approved by phone carriers first, which takes days to a couple of weeks.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
- Booking onto your calendar
- Missed calls texted back within a minute
- Your portal: every call, text and booking
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
How Margin works for auto shopsSee the portal with a sample business
Related questions
Do body shops need a live person answering at night?
Not necessarily. What a body shop needs at night is the call picked up and an estimate time offered. A person, an answering service or an AI receptionist can each do that. An unanswered phone cannot.
What should a body shop's voicemail say after hours?
If voicemail is all a body shop has, the greeting should give the hours, say when calls are returned, and offer another way to reach you, such as a text number or a booking page. Then return every message first thing.
Can a body shop book estimates without talking to the customer first?
Yes. An estimate is a look at the car, so a body shop can book it from a few facts: who, which vehicle, what happened, and whether it drives. The conversation about the repair happens at the estimate.