BOOKINGS COORDINATOR
Job Title: Bookings Coordinator
Department: Service Centre / Workshop & Vehicle Sales
Reports To: Service Manager / General Manager
Location: Carite Service Centre
Employment Type: Full-Time
JOB PURPOSE
The Bookings Coordinator is responsible for managing and coordinating customer bookings across the service centre, MOT station, workshop, fast-fit services and vehicle sales operation.
The role is the first point of contact for many customers and plays a key part in ensuring bookings are accurately recorded, workshop capacity is managed effectively and customers receive a professional experience from initial enquiry through to completion.
The successful candidate will work closely with Service Advisors, Technicians, MOT Testers, Vehicle Sales staff and Management to ensure the diary is organised, productive and commercially effective.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Customer Bookings
- Answer incoming telephone calls, emails and online enquiries professionally.
- Deal with customers in a friendly, helpful and professional manner.
- Identify the customer's requirements and establish exactly what work is required.
- Book vehicles into the workshop for:
- Servicing
- MOTs
- Repairs
- Diagnostics
- Tyres
- Brakes
- Air conditioning
- Fast-fit work
- DPF cleaning
- Vehicle inspections
- Warranty work
- Other workshop services
- Take accurate customer, vehicle and contact information.
- Confirm customer availability and preferred booking dates.
- Ensure customers understand what is included within their booking.
- Provide estimated booking times where appropriate.
- Confirm appointments and send reminders where required.
- Deal with cancellations and rearrange appointments efficiently.
2. Workshop Diary Management
- Maintain an accurate and efficient workshop booking diary.
- Work with the Service Manager and Service Advisors to ensure the diary is being used effectively.
- Avoid overbooking or creating unnecessary gaps in technician schedules.
- Allocate bookings according to job type, estimated time and available workshop capacity.
- Consider technician skills, equipment requirements and MOT availability when scheduling work.
- Identify potential diary issues before they affect customers or workshop productivity.
- Monitor same-day availability and help fill cancelled appointments.
- Ensure urgent or priority work is communicated to the relevant team members.
3. MOT & Service Bookings
- Schedule MOT appointments in line with available testing capacity.
- Coordinate MOT and service bookings where customers require both.
- Identify opportunities to combine MOT, servicing and repairs where appropriate.
- Ensure customers are advised of any relevant preparation or requirements before their appointment.
- Manage MOT re-test bookings where required.
- Help maximise utilisation of the MOT lane and workshop.
4. Vehicle Sales Appointments
The Bookings Coordinator will also support the vehicle sales department by managing customer appointments and enquiries.
Responsibilities include:
- Record customer contact details and vehicle interests accurately.
- Confirm sales appointments.
- Support communication between customers and the sales team.
- Identify genuine sales opportunities and pass them to the appropriate member of the sales team.
5. Customer Communication
- Contact customers if appointments need to be changed.
- Communicate delays or changes in expected completion times when instructed by the Service Advisor or Service Manager.
- Follow up customers who have failed to attend appointments.
- Handle customer questions professionally and escalate complaints or concerns when required.
- Maintain a high standard of customer service at all times.
6. Booking Quality & Accuracy
Every booking should contain accurate and useful information.
The Bookings Coordinator should ensure the booking record includes, where applicable:
- Customer name
- Contact telephone number
- Email address
- Vehicle registration
- Vehicle make and model
- Customer's requested work
- MOT requirements
- Service requirements
- Customer concerns or reported faults
- Preferred appointment date
- Expected vehicle collection time
- Any additional information required by the workshop
The coordinator should ensure that technicians and service staff have enough information to understand the customer's requirements before the vehicle arrives.
UPSELLING & CUSTOMER OPPORTUNITIES
The Bookings Coordinator should be trained to identify appropriate additional opportunities without being pushy.
Examples may include:
- MOT with servicing
- Servicing with MOT
- Brake inspections
- Tyre checks
- Air conditioning regas
- Diagnostic checks
- Vehicle health checks
- Seasonal inspections
- Service plans
- Repair plans
- Other relevant workshop services
Where an opportunity is identified, the coordinator should either explain the service to the customer or pass the opportunity to a Service Advisor.
The focus should always be on helping the customer maintain their vehicle, rather than simply selling additional work.
CUSTOMER RETENTION & FOLLOW-UP
The Bookings Coordinator should contribute to customer retention by:
- Following up missed appointments.
- Contacting customers where appropriate regarding upcoming MOT or servicing requirements.
- Following up quotations where instructed.
- Encouraging customers to return to Carite Service Centre for future servicing and maintenance.
- Supporting customer feedback and review processes.
- Identifying customers who may require further assistance.
SYSTEM & ADMINISTRATION
- Accurately maintain the garage management system.
- Ensure bookings are entered correctly.
- Update customer and vehicle information where required.
- Record booking notes clearly.
- Maintain accurate diary information.
- Ensure cancelled bookings are correctly updated.
- Produce or assist with booking reports when required.
- Maintain customer confidentiality and follow company data protection procedures.
DAILY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Bookings Coordinator should:
Start of Day
- Review the day's workshop diary.
- Review MOT bookings.
- Check cancellations and outstanding enquiries.
During the Day
- Answer calls and enquiries promptly.
- Book and confirm appointments.
- Manage diary changes.
- Communicate with Service Advisors and Management.
- Monitor cancellations and available workshop capacity.
- Support customers arriving for appointments.
End of Day
- Review the following day's diary.
- Confirm outstanding appointments where required.
- Check for gaps that could be filled.
- Ensure all booking information is accurate.
- Communicate any issues to the Service Advisor or Service Manager.
- Additional service opportunities identified
- Service/MOT retention
- Sales appointment conversion
- Test-drive appointment conversion
- Outbound follow-up activity
- Customer review performance
SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
Essential
- Excellent customer service skills.
- Excellent telephone manner.
- Strong communication skills.
- Good organisational skills.
- Ability to multitask in a busy environment.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Good computer skills.
- Ability to work under pressure.
- Professional and positive attitude.
- Ability to work as part of a team.
Desirable
- Previous experience within a garage, workshop, dealership or automotive environment.
- Experience using a garage management system.
- Knowledge of MOTs and vehicle servicing.
- Knowledge of vehicle maintenance and repairs.
- Previous experience in a service advisor, receptionist, booking or customer service role.
- Experience within vehicle sales or dealership administration.
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
The successful candidate should be:
- Friendly and approachable.
- Professional.
- Organised.
- Reliable and punctual.
- Confident on the telephone.
- Customer-focused.
- Calm under pressure.
- A good team player.
- Proactive rather than reactive.
- Able to prioritise effectively.
- Comfortable dealing with difficult or demanding customers.
- Keen to learn and develop their automotive knowledge.
AUTHORITY & ESCALATION
The Bookings Coordinator is responsible for managing bookings and the customer journey but should escalate issues to the appropriate manager when required.
Issues that should be escalated may include:
- Customer complaints.
- Serious vehicle faults reported by customers.
- Requests for discounts or refunds outside agreed authority.
- Workshop capacity problems.
- Technician availability issues.
- Repeated customer complaints.
- Any situation involving a potential safety concern.
TEAMWORK
The Bookings Coordinator is expected to maintain effective communication with:
Service Manager – workshop capacity, productivity and operational issues.
Service Advisors – customer requirements, estimates, work authorisation and vehicle progress.
Vehicle Sales Team – customer enquiries
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
The company will support the employee in developing their knowledge and skills.
Training may include:
- Garage management system training.
- Customer service training.
- Automotive terminology.
- MOT process awareness.
- Vehicle servicing knowledge.
- Basic vehicle repair knowledge.
- Booking and diary management.
- Sales and customer conversion techniques.
- Data protection and confidentiality.
- Health & safety.
- Company policies and procedures.
- Customer complaint handling.
OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THE ROLE
The overall objective of the Bookings Coordinator is to keep the workshop and sales operation organised, productive and customer-focused.
The role should ensure that customers receive a professional experience from the first telephone call or enquiry, through to their workshop visit, vehicle collection and future return.
The Bookings Coordinator should help keep the workshop busy, keep customers informed, reduce missed opportunities and keep customers coming back to Carite Service Centre and Carite LTD
Pay: £27,000.00-£30,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company events
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
