Who it is for / Mechanics and garages

An AI receptionist for mechanics and garages.

Under a car, you cannot take a call. While You Work answers the calls you miss in your business name, finds out what the problem is, where the car is and how urgent it is, and sends you the details a minute later.

Get the founding offer, Pro for £49 a month Read an example call

The first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 a month plus VAT for their first 12 months, then £69. Plans start at £39. Your line switches on as soon as you finish the set-up form, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Mechanic working on a car in a garage
60%
of tradespeople struggle to answer the phone at work
Fix Radio, 2022
34%
believe they have lost work by missing a call
Fix Radio, 2022
24/7
missed calls answered in your business name, day and night
£39
a month + VAT on Starter, no contract

On every call

What your receptionist asks

  • What is wrong with the car, in the caller’s own words
  • Where the car is, at least the postcode or area
  • How urgent it is
  • The best number to ring back, read back to check it
  • Your labour or diagnostic rate, only if you have set one and they ask

Urgent jobs

Breakdowns go to the top

  • A car that has broken down
  • A caller who needs the car for a journey that cannot wait

On Pro and Business, urgent calls are texted to you straight away, and every call is emailed to you.

An example week

A week of calls to a garage

A garage phone rings all day and most of it is short: a booking, a symptom, a question about a car already on the ramp. The receptionist handles the routine so the workshop keeps moving.

The maths

What a missed call costs mechanics

Say you miss 5 calls a week and two in five of those callers would have booked a service or repair worth about £250.

5 calls × 40% × £250 = £500 a week. × 52 weeks ÷ 12 = £2,167 a month of work going to someone else. An example: put your own numbers into the missed-call calculator.

A driver with a warning light rings until someone answers. The garage that picks up gets the car and, usually, the next MOT too.

Timing

When a garage's phone rings

First thing in the morning, lunchtime, and the end of the month when MOTs fall due. The busiest half hours are the ones when both technicians are under a car.

What callers hear

An example call, word for word

The receptionist asks one thing at a time, checks the number back and never makes up a price. The details reach you by email a minute after the call, and by text straight away when it is urgent.

Emailed to you a minute later

Leanne, 07700 900508, LE4 Leicester. Grinding noise when braking, needs the car for work, as soon as possible.

Receptionist: Hi, you’re through to Parkway Motors. Jas is out on a job, so I’m the automated assistant taking the details for a call back. Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed. What’s your name?

Caller: Hi, it’s Leanne. My car’s making a grinding noise when I brake.

Receptionist: Thanks, Leanne. When would you like someone to look at it?

Caller: As soon as possible, I need it for work.

Receptionist: I’ll mark that as needed soon. What’s your postcode?

Caller: LE4, in Leicester.

Receptionist: And what’s the best number for Jas to ring you on?

Caller: 07700 900 508.

Receptionist: So that’s 07700 900 508. Is that right?

Caller: Yes, that’s right.

Receptionist: Thanks, Leanne. Jas will ring you back to book it in, and I’m sending you a text now to confirm.

Set up

Three steps, and you keep your number

  1. Tell us about your business

    A short form made for mechanics:

    • Your business name and first name
    • Working hours and the area you cover
    • What you do, in plain words
    • Your call-out fee, only if you want callers told
    • Whether you take emergencies out of hours
    • Anything else callers should know
    • Makes you specialise in, if any
    • MOT, servicing, diagnostics, tyres: what you offer
    • Whether you collect and deliver

  2. Switch on divert

    One code on your mobile sends calls you do not answer within 20 seconds to your While You Work line. Turn it off whenever you like.

  3. Get the details in a minute

    Every caller is greeted in your business name. You get the details a minute later, and the caller gets a text saying you will ring back.

Questions

Questions from mechanics

Can it book MOTs and services?

Yes, on the Business plan. You set job types such as an MOT or a full service, and it books them into your real free times. On Pro it can text the caller your booking link instead, and on Starter it takes the details and tells the caller you will ring back.

How much does it cost?

Starter is £39, Pro £69 and Business £129 a month + VAT, for 50, 150 or 400 calls a month. The first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 a month + VAT for their first 12 months. There is no contract, and if you cancel within 14 days of your line going live you get a full refund.

Can it take an MOT booking?

It takes the registration, the work needed and the preferred day, and you confirm the slot when you ring back. On the Business plan it books straight into your diary.

What if a customer rings to ask whether their car is ready?

It takes the name and registration as a message and marks the call as an existing customer, so you know it is a quick ring back rather than a new job.

More detail: what a missed call costs, UK call answering prices and how we compare.

Source: Fix Radio survey of more than 220 UK tradespeople, reported by PHAM News, October 2022.

From £39 a month, priced per call, not per minute

Starter £39, Pro £69 and Business £129 a month, plus VAT. The first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 plus VAT for their first 12 months. No contract, and cancel within 14 days of your line going live for a full refund.

Get the founding offerSee full pricing

Also set up for plumbers and heating engineers, electricians, builders, roofers, locksmiths, carpenters and joiners, and for every other kind of business.