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One page on a benchlight
Website brief · Free to use
Ask for what you need first.
A brief for repair and service businesses. Write down your services, what you need to know about each job, where and when you work, and how people can send things in. Use it to plan a new website, fix the one you have, or brief whoever builds it.
Five parts. No sign-up. Print it, or keep it open while you write.
01 · Your brief
Five parts. One clear page.
Fill in each part on paper or in a document. Leave out anything that doesn’t apply to your business. Your website only needs what customers actually use.
Printing keeps the five parts and the example, without the site menu.
Services
Name each service the way customers ask for it.
- Each service in plain words (“Amplifier repair”, not “Audio solutions”), so people can find it.
- What each one includes, and what costs extra.
- The brands, models or types you work on, and the ones you don’t.
- A typical turnaround, only if you can keep to it.
- Any prices you publish, and whether there is a fee to look at a job.
What to ask
List what you need to know before you can answer.
- The make, model and year of the vehicle or item.
- The part or unit involved, for example the amplifier, subwoofer, speaker or head unit.
- What happens, in their own words, when it happens and what they have tried so far.
- Their name, phone number or email, and the best time to reply.
- Whether they will drop it off, send it in or need you to come to them.
Put these questions next to your phone number and email address, so people include them the first time.
Address and hours
Say where to find you and when someone will answer.
- The address of each location, and where to park or drop off.
- Your opening hours, and drop-off or collection hours if not the same.
- The hours your phone is answered, if those differ too.
- Holiday closures, and where you will show them.
- The area you cover, if you work on site.
Photos you can use
Choose pictures you took or have permission to publish.
- Your own photos of your shop, your tools and your work.
- Customers’ vehicles or items only with permission from the owner.
- No license plates, VINs, addresses or faces unless the person has agreed.
- Stock or brand images only if your license covers a website.
- A note of where each photo came from.
Ship-in steps
If people can send things in, write the steps they will follow.
- What to send, and what to keep back.
- How to pack it, and whether to send it tracked and insured.
- A note for the box with a name, return address, phone or email, and what is wrong.
- Where to send it, and whether to contact you first.
- What happens when it arrives, including a quote before any work.
- How it comes back, and who pays to send it back.
02 · A worked example
A shop we made up, and its brief.
Bell Lane Car Audio is made up for this page. It is a fictional independent car-audio repair shop, not a Benchlight customer. Nothing here describes a real business, real repairs or results.
Fictional example
Bell Lane Car Audio
- Services
- Head unit repair, amplifier repair, speaker and subwoofer repair, and wiring or noise faults. Factory and aftermarket units. No new installs. Every repair is quoted before any work.
- What to ask
- Vehicle make, model and year. Which unit. What happens and when, such as “cuts out over bumps” or “hums with the engine running”. What has been tried. Name and the best number to call.
- Address and hours
- Unit 3, Foundry Row, Wrenford. Tuesday to Saturday, 9 to 5; drop-offs until 4. Phone answered 10 to 4.
- Photos
- Bench and shop photos taken by the owner. Customer vehicles only with permission, plates covered or blurred.
- Contact
- (555) 010-0187 bench
@bell-lane .example
Sending us a unit
- Call or email first with your vehicle, the unit and what is wrong. We will tell you whether it is something we repair.
- Send the unit on its own. Keep brackets, trim and remotes unless we ask for them.
- Put it in an anti-static bag or wrap it in paper, then pack it with at least 2 inches of padding on every side of a sturdy box.
- Add a note with your return address, name, phone or email, the vehicle and what is wrong.
- Send it tracked and insured to Bell Lane Car Audio, Unit 3, Foundry Row, Wrenford. Then send us the tracking number by email.
- We confirm when it arrives and quote before any work. Return shipping is part of the quote.
The phone number is in the 555-0100 to 0199 range set aside for fiction, and .example is a reserved address that never works.
03 · Before you change your website
Keep what works.
Keep your booking and payment tools.
If customers already book, send requests or pay through another service, link to it from your website and test it after any change. Switch only after the new option has shown it does the same job.
Keep job tracking where it is.
A website tells people what you do and how to reach you. Repair orders, customer accounts and repair payments stay in the tools you use for them today.
Test contact links on a real phone.
Tap the phone number and email address. Send yourself a test message through any form you use, and check that it arrives.
04 · Use your brief with Benchlight
Two ways to start.
You don’t need to buy anything to use the brief. If you would like help putting it online, these are the two options.