Customers trust mechanics to keep their vehicles and everything therein safe from vandalism, theft, and damage when they're in the shop. Of course, having work done often means leaving a car in your shop overnight or longer. You want to make sure you keep your customer's vehicles secure, but you can't be on-site at all hours. The following are a few steps you can take that will make your customers feel safe leaving their car in your hands.
Install commercial fencing
Keeping people off your shop's property after hours is the single most effective thing you can do to help guarantee the safety of your customers' cars. Commercial chain-link fencing is a secure and cost-effective way to approach this. Tall fencing with razor wire or a roll bar along the top prevents most would-be thieves from climbing over, but it doesn't impede visibility. This is important because not only do you want passersby to notice your business, but you also want the added security that comes from anyone meddling on your lot being readily visible to anyone passing by. Chain link is also durable and maintenance-free, so you won't need to worry about upkeep once it is installed.
Invest in a surveillance system
A security system does a lot to protect your actual shop, but you need to extend it so it also protects your customer's vehicles. The easiest way to do this is to have a monitored system installed that has cameras that cover the entire lot where you park customer vehicles. Combine these with bright, overhead lights to ensure every car can be fully monitored by your security service. You can also invest in a service that does periodic drive-bys of your business after hours if you would prefer a bit more security coverage of your business.
Use a key safe
You don't want customers to be afraid of their vehicle being stolen when they leave it with you. A key safe is one way to put this worry to rest. These key management systems require that each key is scanned in when a car is dropped off, generally via tags you attach to the keys. Employees can check the keys out of the safe when working on the vehicle, then check them back in afterward. This makes it easy to see if any keys are missing and then track them down to who had it last at the end of the day. Then, you can lock up the keys in the safe so that a thief won't have easy access to them if your business is broken into.
Taking a few security steps doesn't just protect your business and customers. It also provides peace of mind to customers so that they continue to bring you their business.
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