Interviewing ABCs
Good interviewing takes time and preparation. Here are some steps you can take to ensure you hire the right person the first time.
For Good Measure
You must make sure your techs are taking measurements to accurately diagnose the condition of a collision-damaged vehicle. If you don’t, you’ll cheat yourself, them and your customers.
No Free Groceries: Body Shops Should Operate Like Grocery Stores
If you want something, you pay for it, and if you don’t pay for it, you don’t get it.
Who’s the Expert?
We’re the collision repair experts yet we allow insurers to dictate how repairs are done and let them pay us a mere pittance for it. The potential result is my biggest fear: an industry full of unqualified technicians
To Clip or Not to Clip?
“What’s the difference among what I-CAR, shops, insurance companies and car manufacturers are saying about clipping?”
Measuring from the Inside Out
Thorough measuring inside the vehicle as well as outside leads to easier assembly and better quality repairs – with less last-minute emergency adjustments.
Working on Hybrids: A Body Shop Primer
Hybrids account for only 1% of all U.S. light-vehicle sales, which actually presents a dilemma for shops: Because hybrids aren’t all that common (yet), shops aren’t as familiar with the potential hazards as they should be.
Inflated Egos: ‘Head’ for the Hills!
Shops with prima-donna techs suffer from reduced morale, teamwork and, ultimately, production. If you’re ignoring these big-headed bullies and hoping they’ll go away or, worse yet, catering to them, you are your shop’s own worst enemy.
Spinning Our Wheels: Stumped by Wheel Alignment?
All you need to pinpoint suspension damage is a better understanding of the alignment process and the angles involved.
Respect: The Customer’s Auto When in Your Possession
Do not smoke or eat in (or on) a customer’s car. Do not steal the Viagra. And never use the test drive to take a carload of techs to a local lunch spot (or to solicit a prostitute). When a customer drops off his vehicle at your shop for repairs, it’s common knowledge that he
What a Tech Wants: Dealership Over an Independent
There are reasons techs choose a dealership over an independent or vice versa. More importantly, there are things you can do to convince them to choose your shop.
Do You See What I See
Does anyone find it the least bit surprising that the general public doesn’t trust the collision industry?
