the blue thing
Work Scan Compact: example report
De Wit Body Shop: damage photos on WhatsApp wait too long
- Company
- De Wit Body Shop (fictional)
- Sector
- Car body repair
- Size
- 6 employees: 4 in the workshop, 2 in planning and office
- Period
- August 2026
- Work problem
- Customers send damage photos via WhatsApp and email; replying and scheduling happens between jobs and sometimes takes a day.
This report is the outcome of a short questionnaire and one 90-minute conversation with the owner and the planner. It describes how the first customer reply runs today, what it costs, which three improvements deliver the most and what a logical first step would be. It is written so you can act on it yourself, with or without us.
1. How it runs today
About 35 requests with damage photos arrive each week, most via WhatsApp, the rest via email and the website form. The planner looks at the photos between jobs, asks for the registration number, the side of the car and the insurer, gives a first indication and calls or messages back to schedule.
Four in ten messages arrive in the evening or at the weekend and are picked up the next working day. The planner estimates that five requests a week never become an appointment, often because the customer found another shop in the meantime.
Where the hours go (per week, estimated in the conversation)
| Work | Who | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Reviewing photos and asking for missing details | Planner | 4 |
| First assessment and explanation to the customer | Planner, sometimes workshop lead | 2 |
| Scheduling and confirming the appointment | Planner | 2 |
| Calling back on missed messages | Planner | 1 |
About 9 hours a week in total, scattered across the day.
The hours are not the biggest problem; the response time is. Outside office hours a first reply takes up to 16 hours, and every request that drops off because of it is a repair that does not happen.
2. Three opportunities for improvement
For each opportunity: what AI does and does not do, what it is expected to deliver and what it needs. The order here is not the priority; that is in the action plan.
Opportunity A: a photo assistant for the first reply
As soon as a customer sends photos, the assistant confirms receipt immediately, assesses the photos (which part of the car, type of damage: dent, scratch, paint, glass), asks for missing photos or the registration number and explains the next step. At 10 pm on a Saturday too.
- What AI does
- Recognising what the photos show, organising the request, asking follow-up questions and reassuring the customer with a clear next step.
- What AI does not do
- Promising a price or repair time. When in doubt, or with an angry customer, the conversation goes straight to the planner.
- Expected return
- About 4 hours a week for the planner. The first reply arrives within a minute instead of within a day.
- What it needs
- A WhatsApp Business integration, thirty example photos labelled by the team, and fixed rules for when the assistant hands over.
- Condition
- The assistant always says the customer is talking to an assistant, and a person stays reachable within one working day.
Opportunity B: scheduling the appointment directly
After the first assessment the assistant offers free slots from the planning, confirms the appointment and sends a reminder the day before with what the customer should bring (registration, insurance details, key).
- What AI does
- Showing free slots, confirming, reminding and passing changes to the planning.
- What AI does not do
- Taking over the planning: the planner keeps buffers for urgent work and can move any appointment.
- Expected return
- About 2 hours a week, and fewer no-shows thanks to the reminder.
- What it needs
- An integration with the planning software or a shared calendar.
- Condition
- Only works well once opportunity A runs, because the appointment follows an assessed request.
Opportunity C: the file is ready for the estimate
Photos, registration, insurer and the damage description from the conversation are placed as a file in the workshop system, so the estimate starts from a complete file instead of searching through WhatsApp.
- What AI does
- Bundling details from the conversation, summarising the damage description and creating the file.
- What AI does not do
- Estimating or applying insurer rules.
- Expected return
- About 1.5 hours a week, and fewer retyping errors.
- What it needs
- An import or integration with the workshop system.
- Condition
- Requirements of individual insurers stay outside the first version.
3. Action plan with priority
The order is based on return, risk and how quickly it works.
First: opportunity A, the photo assistant
Solves the real problem: response time. No promises on price or schedule, so low risk. First version for the two most common damages (dents and paint damage on bumper or door).
Right after: opportunity B, scheduling
Logical continuation of the same conversation. Can be part of the first version if the planning has a calendar integration; otherwise the second step.
Later: opportunity C, preparing the file
Depends on the workshop system and the insurer agreements. First establish which details the estimator really needs.
What you can do yourself already, without us
- Collect thirty recent damage photos and note for each what it shows; that becomes the basis for recognition.
- Write down the standard replies the planner types again and again, in your own words.
- Decide which slots in the planning may be offered and which buffers are sacred.
4. Next step
If you want the first version (opportunity A, possibly with B) built, a separate fixed quote follows. It states exactly what will and will not be built, the schedule and what the result must meet. The amount of this Work Scan is deducted from it in full. You can also use this report to continue on your own or with another party.
- First version: photo assistant on WhatsApp with confirmation of receipt, photo assessment, follow-up questions for missing details and an appointment proposal.
- Outside the first version: price indications, insurer rules, integration with the workshop system (opportunity C).
- Ownership: the solution, the access and the documentation belong to De Wit Body Shop.
