An auto repair shop CRM for the work between the phone and the service bay.

In short: an auto repair shop CRM should handle the customer side of the job while your shop management system handles the repair order. GPT Business is a CRM with an AI Manager that answers the phone and texts, books drop-offs, sends estimates for written approval, updates customers when the car is ready, follows up on unpaid balances and reminds past customers when their next service is due. It is AI for auto repair shops that never diagnoses a car, never quotes a repair you have not priced and drafts customer messages for your approval at the start.

Why service writers are always on the phone.

A busy independent shop gets the same calls all day: can you look at my car today, is it ready yet, how much for brakes, did you get my approval. Each one pulls a service writer away from the customer at the counter or the technician who needs an answer. The calls that go to voicemail are often new customers, and new customers do not leave messages; they call the next shop.

GPT Business keeps one record per customer and per vehicle: make, model, year, mileage if relevant, prior work and the symptoms as the customer describes them, including warning lights and when the problem started. It also records who is authorized to approve work on the vehicle and how it is getting to you: drop-off, wait or tow. The pipeline starts with New, Contacted, Quoted, Booked, Done and Lost, which you can rename.

From the first call to pick-up.

A typical repair runs like this:

1. Request. A customer calls about a grinding noise when braking. The Manager records the vehicle, the noise in their words, when it started and whether the brake warning light is on.
2. Safety check. If they report a brake failure, smoke or a fuel smell, the Manager tells them not to drive the car and to seek qualified emergency help or a tow, under the rules you set.
3. Booking. It offers drop-off slots from your connected calendar and records whether they will wait or need a ride.
4. Estimate approval. After your technician inspects the car and your service writer prices the work, the Manager sends the estimate for the customer to approve and sign online. The approval is on record before work starts.
5. Additional work. When the tech finds a leaking caliper too, the added work goes to the customer as a revised estimate for a fresh approval, never as a surprise on the final bill.
6. Ready for pick-up. Once your shop marks the job done, the Manager drafts the pick-up notice with your hours, and the customer can pay by card through your connected Stripe account.
7. Next visit. It drafts a review request after you confirm a good visit, and a reminder when the next service you recommended comes due.

Routing auto repair calls by urgency and job type.

Estimate approvals in writing.

Verbal approvals over the phone are a common source of disputes at pick-up. Quotes and signed agreements are available now in GPT Business: the customer opens the estimate on their phone, approves or declines each line you chose to offer, signs, and both sides get a sealed copy. Declined work is saved on the record, so the Manager can draft a reminder later if you choose to follow up on it. Your service writer still decides what goes on the estimate and at what price.

Bringing customers back: maintenance reminders and quiet customers.

Repeat visits are where an independent shop builds its business:

• Service due reminders based on the next service your shop recommended and recorded, sent only to customers who agreed to hear from you.
• Declined work follow-ups for items the customer chose to postpone, in your words.
• Seasonal offers such as tire changeovers or pre-winter checks, if you sell them.
• Quiet customers who have not been in for a long time, with a drafted check-in for the ones you pick.

Appointment reminders and confirmations, review requests and overdue invoice follow-up are all in pilot, switched on business by business. Until they are on for you, the Manager drafts each message for you to send.

AI for an auto repair shop that sells on the phone.

Once your phone number is connected, the agent can sell on the call: listen to the problem, explain why your shop is worth the visit, handle "the dealer quoted me less" in your approved words and close on a booked drop-off. Prospects get sold; existing customers get care. It never guesses what is wrong with a car or promises a completion time you have not set. Missed-call text back is in pilot. Outbound speed-to-lead calls are in pilot and run only with consent, and every call and text passes consent, do-not-call and opt-out checks first.

What GPT Business does not replace.

Keep your shop management system. GPT Business does not write repair orders, does not do digital vehicle inspections, parts ordering, labor time lookups, VIN decoding, tire or parts inventory, technician time tracking or payroll, and it does not connect to your shop management software today. It is the front office and follow-up CRM around it. You can import customers and vehicles from a spreadsheet export during setup. If your shop already answers quickly, gets approvals in writing and runs service reminders well from its current system, you may not need it.

Set up by chat.

Tell your AI Manager how your shop runs: the work you do and the work you send out, your hours and drop-off rules, your diagnostic fee and the prices you are willing to give on the phone, whether you accept tows, and who approves estimates. It builds the intake, stages and follow-ups from that, with customer messages in approval mode at the start. Try the free live demo with a made-up check engine light call. For call handling, read AI receptionist for auto repair shops, and for the wider picture see the AI workforce for auto repair shops. Plans are on the pricing page.

Other industries: Insurance agencies, Real estate, Moving companies, HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical contractors, Roofing, Landscaping and lawn care, Cleaning services, Salons and barbershops. See them all on the industries page.