Examining Materials and Paint Profitability
Why do some shops boast high paint and materials gross-profit percentages, while others just hope to break even? So often I meet with clients and shop owners and the discussion quickly turns to paint and materials costs and then their profitability (or lack of it). Sometimes, the “first liar never has a chance,” and sometimes
Managing Customer Expectations
Use this repair timeline to educate customers about the repair process
Truce: Working with Insurance Adjusters
If you ever need to energize a bunch of bored shop owners, bring up working with insurance adjusters. This topic can incite a lively discussion among even a reserved group of repairers. That’s because everyone has a war story or two about an adjuster experience and they’re usually eager to share it. One of my
Just Say No: Can you save me my deductible?
You wouldn’t think of asking your dentist to save your deductible. So why, then, do our customers think it’s perfectly acceptable to ask us to save theirs? Maybe because we started it. If you’re like me, certain word phrases are just plain annoying. The one that bothers me the most is, “Can you save me
Fight Steering With Steering
It’s legal for insurers to tell consumers about preferred shop programs. Problem is, if you’re not one of the shops on these programs, you likely won’t get the work. Fight back by developing other sources of referrals that steer consumers to you. While insurers are permitted to make consumers aware of the "programs it has
Whose Liner Is It Anyway: Spray-on Bedliners
In search of a niche where the insurance industry isn’t involved and consumers pay out of pocket? Research shows that spray-on bedliners generate $110 million a year. There’s money to be made there. Could it be yours? You know they’re out there. You see them in your shop all the time. You’re even fairly sure
Sold: Ever Wonder what Happens to Body Shop Owners who Sell their Businesses?
The second part in our five-part series of “Bondo Tales.”
How NOT to Repel Women
Make a good first impression and then treat them right.
Idle Cars Cost You
For several years, I’d been hearing about the importance of cycle time for collision repair centers. It was a topic of conversation at my paint company performance group meetings. Insurance executives talked about their desire for faster repairs in reducing claims severity, and some insurance companies even developed incentives for collision repair shops that reduced
The (Color) Blind Leading the (Color) Blind: Women & Paint Matching
If your shop suffers from color-matching problems and your painters are men, color blindness could be costing you. Typically when you walk into a shop, the only feminine influence you see (if any) is in the office. But could there be an advantage to having the women in your production area being located somewhere other
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
Invoking The “Appraisal” Clause
Scenario: A first-party insured with collision coverage brings his damaged car to you for repairs. Your estimate comes to $3,501. The insurer has “appraised” (a.k.a “estimated”) the cost of repair at $2,255. Reinspections and supplementals have been exhausted, and there’s still a sizeable gap between the actual cost of repair and what the insurer is