At first, this shop owner thought his problem was paint, but after working with his jobber and accountant, he realized it was actually a sales problem. Now he’s making good money on paint and focusing on improving other areas of his business as well.
Historically, our industry’s associations have been about as highly regarded as government employees — and thought to work just as hard. But during the past few years, some associations — especially on the state level — have become much more active, vocal and unified, making it possible for them to...
Back in early November, a series of e-mails began to circulate at a rather hectic pace among several industry people (shop owners, industry advisors, various media types, association and committee representatives, etc.). Typically, when you find yourself among the many who are copied on these e-mail strings, the tendency is...
In ‘lean’ organizations, the process itself is the ‘manager,’ freeing up your actual shop manager to be a leader instead — someone focused not on problem solving and putting out fires, but on building a better business.
Is there really a technician shortage or just a misappropriation of qualified techs? Is the pool of technicians shrinking faster than the collision repair market? Will the end result be higher door rates?
"Ditching this disingenuous ad is a victory for consumers — and a better business practice for GEICO. This incident should send a message that higher standards in insurance industry dealings are appropriate and necessary." — Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, after GEICO complied with his request to pull a...
Too many shops, not enough work, not enough profit, too much insurer involvement and not enough business expertise on the part of shop owners are all contributing to the sorry state that is the collision repair industry.
Too many shops post their entire jobber bill to materials – even though much of it isn’t paint. Shops then sell these items as miscellaneous parts, with the sale going to parts and the cost to paint. To make matters worse, shops are working off adjuster estimates – which can...
A year ago as I prepared for my first NACE show as an overwhelmed publisher of a magazine that reaches just about every collision repair shop across America, I wrote a column about leadership (or lack thereof) in our industry. Now, as I prepare for my second NACE next month...
