Facing Your Fears
If you’re making decisions out of fear, you’re making bad decisions. Although this shop owner was referring to how repairers are agreeing to just about anything because they’re afraid — afraid of angering an insurer, afraid of losing work, afraid of going out of business — his comment, taken in the larger context, epitomizes a
Wishing You the “Right” People
While criss-crossing the Ohio River recently in the passenger seat of Kenny Krause’s Moog Louisville Warehouse company car, a thought occurred to me. What a pleasure it was to be out making sales calls on customers. But, what made this particular day of sales calls so fun was the person driving the car. Kenny Krause.
Soaring Energy Costs Fuel a Quiet Crisis
If our rates and charges are too low to sustain our businesses, then we must pass our costs on to the market and raise our prices — immediately
Thoughts from the NACE Show Floor
Business has been bad lately. Real bad. So I went to NACE
looking for some inspiration and insight — and I got it.
The Heat Is on: Buying My Heat Inductor
I’ve made a lot of misguided tool purlchases through the years, but buying my heat inductor wasn’t one of them.
What’s Good for the Goose: A List of Preferred Insurance Companies
Take a gander at this idea: I have a list of preferred insurance companies that I steer my customers to. Not only have we been the reason many customers changed insurance companies, but we deal more now with the insurers we like — and less with the ones we don’t
Minding Your Business: Why Can’t Insurance Companies Just Pay Whatever it Takes to Properly Repair the Vehicle – No Questions Asked?
When a frustrated Texas shop owner recently asked me this question, I understood where he was coming from – he’s tired of the hassles, headaches and hair loss – but at the same time, I was struck by the naivet
Lowering Your Overhead
Earning money is one thing. Keeping it is another. You’d be surprised what shops can do to reduce overhead besides raising door rates
The Collision Repair ‘Steel Cage Match’
Well, it’s officially two-and-a-half months now since taking over as publisher of this magnificent magazine. Eager to learn as much as I can about this industry, I’ve spent the bulk of that time traveling the country, meeting suppliers, distributors, jobbers and shop owners. By the time you read this issue, I’ll be in Las Vegas
Life in The Fast Lane: Shop Manager Devised Method to Take Back What Was Rightfully His
Fed up with losing work to faster competitors, this shop manager devised a new method to take back what was rightfully his.
Will Insurers Eventually Purchase All Parts Directly from OEMs, Eliminating Shop Profits on Parts?
I’m going to play the devil’s advocate and say, ‘Yes, but only if we continue in our present path of doing nothing to stop them.’ We wouldn’t even be discussing this problem if all shops realized that the repair contract is between you (the shop) and the vehicle owner. Contrary to common, but misinformed belief,
Driving With Sharks: Off-Roading Means Being Able to Drive Your Car Into a Lake
To some people, off-roading means getting off the main roads and heading out to trails, deserts, mountains … To others, like former body shop owner Dave March, off-roading means being able to drive your car into a lake. “The idea of going fast on water in a car has always intrigued me,” says March, an