You CAN Create Customers
Shop co-owner Chuck Logan asks whether he can tell DRPs to take a hike and still stay in business.
Who’s Really In Control?
Painter Thomas Ferry questions why autobody shop rates are so low compared to other trades
Apathy
A massive segment of repairers – wallowing in yesteryear’s thinking and uninterested in learning anything new – are driving themselves out of business. Do you fit this description?
Sold: Have You Ever Wondered what Happens to Body Shop Owners who Sell their Businesses?
In the final installment of our series, former shop owner Tom Sellers recounts why not to use buried money as a down payment and why he sold his shop to the son of a former competitor.
The Jury’s In: Save their Deductibles?
They come in all shapes and sizes, but their goal is the same: They want you to save their deductible. Thirty years ago, deductibles didn’t seem to be such a big deal. In fact, 30 years ago, some insurance companies actually wrote policies with zero deductibles. In the late 1960s, I was an apprentice in
Stupid Owner Tricks
Does the owner of the collision repair shop where you work make Forrest Gump look like Einstein? Take solace in the knowledge that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Sold: Have You Ever Wondered What Happens to Shop Owners Who Sell Their Businesses?
Part four of a five-part series.
Mc Bodywork: Three C Body Shop
n on the facility’s management is often monumental. Dumbing Down Our Workforce The expertise required to fix accident-damaged cars has long been the strength of the collision repair profession. It’s a specialty. From the viewpoint of the lay person, there’s still a good deal of magic surrounding the work. But during the ’90s, the industry
Somebody’s Watching Me: “Spy Cam” Teddys
Secret “spy cam” teddys aren’t the answer. Techs produce at least 50 percent more when they know you’re watching them. Implementing a production tracking system – along with productivity bonuses – has saved one shop owner $87,200 per year and increased his net profit by 10 percent. A worker produces at about 50 percent of
Why I Drug Test Employees
er hired a private investigator who administered polygraph tests to determine how the pump disappeared and who was responsible. One employee – the most likely perpetrator – promptly quit. During the course of the investigation, however, it was learned that 16 out of 25 employees were regular drug users. And this shop had been suffering
Staffing Your Front Office
Front-office systems come and go. Some are too complex or based on inaccurate forecasts. Others were doomed by unrealistic expectations. But it’s not an impossible goal.
Training Techs – A Guide for the Do-It-Yourselfer
Our workforce is incredibly knowledgeable, skilled and talented. But this didn’t just happen. Someone had to train them; someone had to be their instructor or mentor. The ways people learned the craft are probably as varied as the number of techs out there. Schools trained many, but probably not as many as you might think
