An hour-by-hour comparison of a typical garage owner’s day before and after SeSar — and the admin hours it hands back every week.
Most garage owners don’t lose money on the ramps. They lose it on the phone, on the notepad, and on the paperwork that waits until 6pm. Here’s an hour-by-hour look at a typical day before and after SeSar — and exactly where the hours come back.
07:30 — Opening Up
Before: You unlock, flick through a paper diary, and try to work out what’s actually booked. Two jobs are written in pencil, one has no phone number, and one customer “said they’d pop in”.
After: The live workshop diary is already on screen. Every job has a customer, vehicle, VRM lookup, estimated time, and technician assigned. Overnight online bookings dropped straight into the diary while you slept.
Time saved: 20 minutes.
08:30 — The Morning Phone Rush
Before: The phone starts and doesn’t stop. You take a booking while a customer stands at the counter, miss two calls, and scribble a name on the back of an invoice.
After: The AI receptionist answers every call — including the ones that come in while you’re under a bonnet. It takes the registration, the job type, and books directly into an available slot. Missed calls stop being lost revenue.
Time saved: 1 hour 15 minutes.
10:00 — Job Cards And Updates
Before: Technicians walk to the desk to report progress. You re-write notes onto a job sheet, then chase the customer about extra work found on the vehicle.
After: Mobile job cards capture time, parts, notes and photos at the ramp. Authorisation for extra work goes out by text and comes back approved in minutes.
Time saved: 45 minutes.
12:30 — Chasing Customers
Before: You ring five customers to say their car’s ready. Three don’t answer. You ring them again at 3pm.
After: Automated customer communications send booking confirmations, “work authorised”, and “your vehicle is ready” messages without anyone touching a keyboard.
Time saved: 40 minutes.
15:00 — Invoicing
Before: Invoices are typed up from job sheets, one at a time, with parts and labour re-keyed from memory.
After: Invoicing builds itself from the job card. Parts, labour and VAT are already there — you check it and send it.
Time saved: 50 minutes.
17:30 — MOT Reminders And Rebooks
Before: MOT due dates live in a spreadsheet someone updates when they remember. Reminders go out in bursts, if at all.
After: MOT reminders and rebook prompts fire automatically on schedule, and review requests go out the day after the job. Retention stops depending on your memory.
Time saved: 35 minutes.
18:30 — Closing Up
Before: You stay behind to catch up on paperwork, work out what today actually earned, and rewrite tomorrow’s diary.
After: The day is already recorded. Booked hours, invoice values and outstanding jobs are on the dashboard before you lock the door.
Time saved: 30 minutes.
The Weekly Total
Adding up a single day:
- Opening and diary prep — 20 minutes
- Phone handling — 1 hour 15 minutes
- Job card admin — 45 minutes
- Customer chasing — 40 minutes
- Invoicing — 50 minutes
- Reminders and rebooks — 35 minutes
- End-of-day paperwork — 30 minutes
That’s around 5 hours a day of admin in a typical independent garage. SeSar doesn’t remove all of it — but garages consistently report cutting it by roughly two thirds, which works out at 15 to 18 hours a week handed back across the business.
Put another way: that’s two full working days a week returned to billable work, or to going home on time.
Where Those Hours Actually Go
The hours don’t disappear into thin air — they turn into capacity:
- More jobs booked into the same ramps, because the diary is accurate
- Higher average invoice value, because extra work is authorised faster
- Better MOT retention, because reminders never get forgotten
- Fewer no-shows, because confirmations and reminders are automatic
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