In Better Hands…Without Allstate
Our 18-year relationship with Allstate as a PRO shop ended after their demands became unrealistic. Could we survive, considering Allstate was 30 percent of our business? You bet.
Maintain Profits: A Regular Maintenance Schedule
You can lose thousands of dollars a day if even one piece of equipment goes down. Prevent such costly breakdowns by committing to a regular maintenance schedule.
Better Safe Than Liable: Check the Safety Features
Hurried techs sometimes forget to – or just simply don’t – check the safety features on a collision-damaged vehicle. But being rushed is no excuse.
Scolded by Grandma
You’re better off assuming your customers are car experts rather than car-ignorant. One shop manager learned this valuable lesson from a little old lady who knew her vehicle all too well.
Complete Estimates = Bigger Bucks
Writing more accurate estimates doesn’t require extra man power or costly equipment. Just a little extra time on the part of your estimator will increase shop sales, improve efficiency and boost profits.
Collision-Related Alignments: It’s All in the Angles
Bad habit No. 1: not checking the important diagnostic angles and assuming everything is correct. Bad habit No. 2: sacrificing one alignment angle to fix another. Don’t react to a symptom. Fix the problem!
Damaged Goods
Fact: Consumers won’t pay as much for a vehicle that’s been wrecked and repaired as they will for a vehicle that’s never been in an accident. This market condition – or stigma as some like to call it – diminishes the vehicle in value, regardless of how expertly repaired it may have been.
And the Survey Says
Consumers’ attitudes toward a vehicle that’s been wrecked and repaired.
Inherent DV: One Man’s Disbelief
I truly don’t believe that a properly repaired auto is worth less by virtue of the fact that it’s been repaired. It’s not that black and white. How many times have you repaired a vehicle back to pre-accident condition – and then some – and said to yourself, “That wreck was the best thing that ever happened to that car”?
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Big Fun: The Mini-Cooper
Is bigger always better? Not according to BMW, the maker – actually re-maker – of the classic British Mini. About 10,000 Classic Minis were sold in the United States from 1960-1967 and, after a 35-year hiatus, the MINI is back – and being dubbed the first “it” car of the 21st century. (The BMW folks spell the new MINI with all caps to distinguish it from the Mini of yesteryear.) The MINI – available in the MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S – hit U.S. soil again this year, and dealers can’t keep ’em on the lot. It’s MINI-mania. Take it from the MINI Web site: The SUV backlash starts now.
If Customers Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy
While progressive collision repairers are relying more and more on computerized equipment, paperless processing and electronic transactions, old fashioned customer care – friendly, timely, convenient and cost-effective service – is still the key to repeat and referral business.