Breathe Easy: Painters and Asthma
The same characteristics of polyurethanes that make them such good paints also cause isocyanate asthma in some painters. How can you prevent your painters from becoming ill? By understanding the health risks they take each day and insisting they use the proper breathing equipment.
Flat-Out Fair: Break Up Labor and Pay Everyone Fairly
How do you break up labor and pay everyone fairly? While converting his shop from all combination techs to a departmentalized metal shop and paint shop (a process he refers to as “Armageddon”), this shop manager developed a system to pay techs what they deserve while motivating them to work as efficiently as possible. It
Stacking the Odds In His Favor
Leonard Lassak’s pancake philosophy.
The Need for Speed
Want more claims dollars? Strive to standardize your business.
Putting Our Heads Together
Want more claims dollars? Strive to standardize your business.
Nature Vs. Nurture
Highly skilled technicians – Is it all in the genes or does training help?
The Word Track an Insurer Uses to Influence a Vehicle Owner to Go to a Preferred Shop
We have a list of five companies here …” Sound familiar? Like … oh, let’s say … the word track an insurer uses to influence a vehicle owner to go to a preferred shop? But what if the roles were reversed? What if, instead, it’s the word track a shop owner uses to influence a
Allstate Purchased Sterling Collision Centers
“We’ve been a PRO shop for Allstate for 15 years,” says a New Orleans shop owner who’d just learned Allstate purchased Sterling Collision Centers, a consolidator with 39 shops. Though this shop owner didn’t see it coming, he did know something was up. “Several months ago, [Allstate] reviewed our estimates written for them. After a
Restyle Your Business: Offering Restyle Products
In 1999, retail sales of specialty equipment products totaled $23.24 billion. You can funnel some of that cash into your own pocket by offering restyle products – from fender flares to floor mats to grille guards – in addition to the collision work you do now.
Custom Cars at the Click of a Mouse
It’s easy to picture a rear spoiler on a Ferrari, but would that same accessory look right on a Ford Taurus? Without seeing for themselves, customers might be leery of handing over their cash – and their cars. How do you convince them which restyle accessories will turn their sedate sedan into a screaming machine?
Why No One Wants Smart Kids to Become Repairers
“Why do our best students get pushed to go to college when we know that only 25 percent of all college graduates go on to employment in their field? Meanwhile, trades are overlooked. How can the collision industry compete with white collar, high-tech industries?” – Dan McClellan, autobody instructor, Great Johnstown Vocational Technical School, Johnstown, Pa
Dealing with State Farm
“Every shop in this country deals with State Farm, and they all understand that SF can, if it wants, put them out of business. In many markets, it will be a ‘take it or leave it’ situation,” says a shop owner about SF’s revised contract for its direct-repair shops. “I depend on SF insureds and claimants about 50 percent of the time. I, like every other shop owner, have some hard choices to make.”