The problem in restoration and detailing
Shops in this industry usually have great relationships and poor records. The owner knows every regular by name and car, but the system behind it is a phone full of texts. That creates specific leaks:
- Detailing appointments that don't show. A paint correction or coating job blocks a bay for a day or more. A no-show without a deposit is a day of lost revenue with no way to fill it.
- Coating and film customers drift away. Ceramic coatings and PPF come with maintenance washes and inspections. If nobody reminds the customer, they go elsewhere or skip it, and the next big job goes with them.
- Restoration inquiries go cold. A serious build inquiry needs a consult, an estimate and often a spot on a waitlist. Months can pass between first call and start date, and without follow-up the owner signs with someone else.
- Seasonal rhythm gets missed. In New England, cars come out of storage in spring and go away in fall. Both are natural moments for a detail or protection package, but only if someone reaches out.
- Show leads disappear. Conversations at a car show are some of your warmest leads, and most of them never make it into any system.
What we build for restoration and detailing shops
- Vehicle-linked customer records. Custom fields for each car: year, make, model, color, coating or film installed with date and package, and service history, all under the owner's record.
- A detailing booking pipeline. Inquiry, Quoted, Booked, Deposit Paid, In Bay, Complete, Review Requested. Booking calendars by service length so a full correction doesn't get squeezed into a two-hour slot.
- A restoration sales pipeline. Inquiry, Consultation, Estimate Sent, Deposit Received, Waitlisted, In Shop, Delivered. Once a car is in the shop, the record can hand off to a dedicated build tracker if you use one.
- Deposits and reminders. Deposit requests on high-value bookings, plus confirmation and reminder texts and easy rescheduling, so bay time stays booked.
- Coating and PPF maintenance reminders. Automated messages timed off the install date for maintenance washes, inspections or top-ups, based on your own aftercare schedule.
- Seasonal campaigns. Spring "out of storage" and fall "before storage" offers sent to customers based on the vehicles they own.
- Show lead capture and one team inbox. QR-code forms tagged by event, and every call, text, form and Instagram message in one shared inbox.
How it works
- Map your process. We document how inquiries become booked details and how builds go from first call to delivery, including where things currently slip.
- Build the pipeline. We configure stages, fields, calendars, deposits and automations around your real process.
- Migrate and train. We import your existing customers and vehicles, clean up duplicates, and train your front desk and techs on the screens they'll use.
- Manage month to month. If you want ongoing management, we keep the data clean and adjust campaigns and stages as your services change.
What to look for (even if you don't hire us)
Whatever system you choose, check:
- Can one customer have several vehicles with separate histories? If not, maintenance reminders will be guesswork.
- Does booking respect service length? A coating day and a quick interior detail shouldn't look the same on the calendar.
- Can it collect deposits? And does the payment show up on the customer record?
- Does Instagram messaging land in the same inbox? Enthusiasts often reach out there first.
- Can you build a waitlist with expected dates? Restoration demand is often months ahead of capacity.
- Is the data exportable? Your customer and vehicle list is the business.
Keep every car and owner on file
RGS builds and manages CRMs for shops like yours through CRM Build & Management. See our broader work for auto restoration and detailing shops, and read our guide to reducing no-shows with appointment reminders before your next busy season.
