Planning for the seasonal tyre rush at your car service

Open seasonal appointments before the first frost

Open your seasonal appointments before the first frost so customers can choose a visit instead of joining an uncertain queue. Start with the customers who already use your shop, then make the booking route easy to find wherever you publish your opening hours. In Georgia, ask whether customers mainly drive in city traffic or also travel on mountain roads. That helps you understand their timing concerns without promising that one tyre choice suits every route or weather condition.

Publish only the appointments you are prepared to deliver, rather than filling every possible gap from the first day. A driver booking a straightforward tyre change may arrive with a damaged wheel or an unfamiliar locking wheel bolt. Ask customers to describe the requested work and anything that could affect it. The common mistake is treating an early booking as a complete job assessment; it is a useful starting point, but the car still needs an arrival check.

Set online arrivals from real bay capacity

Set online arrivals according to your staffed, equipped bays and the work already committed to them. Instant online booking lets customers pick free slots; shops set how many cars online bookings may bring at once. Use that limit to protect the workshop from several customers arriving together when only one mechanic can receive them. In Junto, keep bookings and the calendar together, and review the resulting workload before opening more availability. A booking still needs the shop's confirmation.

Base your appointment allowance on your own completed jobs, including reception, inspection, work and handover, rather than copying another shop's schedule. A bay occupied by a car awaiting approval is not available just because the mechanic has stepped away. Leave room for problems you regularly encounter, such as missing wheel keys or a customer requesting an additional inspection. If you cannot explain who will handle the next arrival and where the car will go, reduce the availability.

Use reminders to prepare customers, not just fill slots

Use reminders to help customers arrive prepared and keep the next day's workload realistic. Junto sends the day-before reminder from 18:00 Tbilisi time: by push to the car owner's Junto app, and by SMS only if the shop switches SMS reminders on (one reminder is at most 2 segments, 0.08 ₾). Decide whether you want SMS reminders enabled before the rush starts, and check your prepaid SMS balance if you use them. Do not assume that every reminder is an SMS.

Keep preparation instructions separate from assumptions about what the automatic reminder contains. At confirmation, tell customers what to bring, where to leave the car and how to contact you if their plans change. For example, ask them to bring the locking wheel key if their wheels use one. Tbilisi traffic can complicate arrival times, so give your reception team a clear way to handle late arrivals. Do not squeeze a delayed car into another customer's appointment without checking capacity.

Staff the whole visit, not only the tyre equipment

Staff the whole customer visit because reception, approvals and handover can slow the workshop even when the bays are ready. Assign responsibility for confirming bookings, checking cars in, answering calls and taking payment. Then decide who covers those tasks during breaks or an absence. A mechanic repeatedly leaving a bay to explain the queue can make an apparently full staffing plan unworkable. Match shifts to your confirmed workload, and preserve time for breaks rather than assuming everyone can work continuously.

Make each handover clear enough that another team member can pick up the job without asking the customer to repeat everything. Junto supports check-in with photos and a signature, work orders with labour and part lines, and a mechanic's view on a phone. If inspection reveals extra work, send it for customer approval by SMS link before proceeding. Explain how waiting for approval affects the completion estimate; do not promise that an unanswered request leaves the original finish time unchanged.

Run a short readiness check before opening more slots

Run a readiness check before releasing more appointments so additional bookings do not expose a problem you could have fixed earlier. Walk through the route from arrival to departure with the people who actually do the work. Look at the reception queue, tyre handling space, equipment readiness and where completed cars wait. A clear bay does not help if cars cannot move into it safely or customers are waiting for someone who is also answering every incoming call.

Use the checklist below at the start of the seasonal push and repeat it when workload or staffing changes. If a check fails, adjust availability before confirming more work. For example, an absent technician may mean fewer arrivals even though all the equipment is working. Avoid treating overtime as the automatic solution to an overloaded calendar. A realistic promise, a clear customer update and a controlled queue are more useful than accepting work your team cannot reasonably complete.

• Confirm which bays have both equipment and staff available.
• Check that online arrival limits match the day's actual capacity.
• Assign booking confirmations, reception, approvals and handovers.
• Review reminder settings and the SMS balance if SMS is enabled.
• Leave room for inspections, delays and work awaiting approval.
• Tell the team how to handle late arrivals and walk-ins.

Compare the season before changing the next plan

Compare the season's demand with your actual workflow before deciding what to change next time. Reports show bookings by source and services by count to compare seasons. Use those views to see where bookings came from and which services made up the workload. Keep separate notes on operational problems the reports do not explain, such as repeated reception delays or cars waiting for approval. A busy calendar alone does not tell you whether your arrival limits or staffing arrangements worked.

Turn your review into specific decisions: when to open the next seasonal calendar, which shifts need reception cover, and where extra time belongs between appointments. For example, if telephone enquiries repeatedly interrupted check-in, make the online booking route clearer and assign call cover. If additional inspections often extended visits, revise your intake questions and scheduling allowance. Avoid assuming that higher service counts automatically mean better results; review your own costs and completed work before deciding whether the season delivered the revenue you intended.

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