Body Shop Management Systems Software
CONFERENCE PREVIEW: Sail Away!

Let the wind carry you to the first-ever BodyShop Business Waterborne Conference and you’ll be sure to shove off with all the information you need on low-VOC basecoats, the next big change in the collision repair industry.

JUNE COVER STORY: Protect Your Interests

With the proper legal advice, you can use these documents to establish you and your customers’ rights, obligations and interests at the outset of your business relationship.

READER’S CHOICE: Attracting New Talent

“How do we draw more technicians into this business? We’re making less profit and doing more work for the insurance companies. The insurance companies are going to force themselves into a situation where they won’t have qualified shops.” – Bob Showers, body shop manager, Bentley Pontiac-GMC, Huntsville, Ala.

MARCH COVER STORY: Rally for Retail

Trying to change your posted door rate that insurers control might be as silly as wishing for wings to fly. Creating retail list prices, however, could establish a baseline for negotiation and show insurers just how much of a discount they’re getting.

Plan for Success

A football team wouldn’t walk on the field without a game plan. Why would you run your shop without a business plan?

You Get What You Give

You get what you give. Every so often you hear one of these wise old sayings about life, but to me, the one above is proven to be true every day. To me, it means that the more effort you put into life, the more you’ll get out of it. “You reap what you sow”

Hydrate Your Business

A recruiting and training plan now can stave off your thirst for employees later.

Picking a PBE Jobber

Some body shops select their PBE jobbers based on price alone, but that can cost them much more than they save in the long run. They should also consider service and the jobber’s commitment to forming a profitable partnership.

Go High Tech

Are you still doing business the old-fashioned way? Making multiple phone calls and faxes to complete an estimate, wasting time handling paper documents and using shop management and estimating systems with limited parts ordering functionality? Are you frustrated with delays in getting parts, and also getting the wrong parts? This frustration is unnecessary as there

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.

Is a Body Shop Classification System Reality?

Hotels have a star classification system, so why can’t collision repair facilities? This kind of system would allow top shops to be compensated properly and would give consumers something to measure all shops by.

The Best of Times

Within the past couple months, the largest insurance company in the world was bailed out by the government, one of the largest investment banks in the world filed for Chapter 11, and an investment house that was considered an American icon was purchased to save it from financial demise. But still, I believe these are