I’ve Got Something You Want: the Barter System
Shop owners are using the barter system to turn their down time into a way to accumulate trade dollars and attract new business. Just because you’re short on cash doesn’t mean you have to go without. More and more body shop owners are turning to bartering – and finding that it can be good for
You Asked for It: Our 4th-Annual Readers Choice Issue
If an industry expert offered to answer one question for you, what would your question be? (The question must be collision-repair related.) “Are there any topless female techs out there?”asked one shop owner. I’ll be the first to admit, putting together our annual April Readers Choice issue can be challenging. But it’s also a lot
An Olfactory Blow: That New Car Smell
There are some things in life you can count on. When you purchase a major appliance, it’s bound to go on sale the following week. If you want it to rain, plan a picnic. When you buy a new car, it comes complete with that new-car smell. Or does it? I’m afraid you can no
Insurer-Owned Shops: Anomaly or Trend
er relationships?”– Johnny Reyes, operations specialist, Pacific Collision Center, Inc., Placentia, Calif. Question answered by: Charlie Barone Among the greatest concerns of body shop owners in the United States is the possibility of a developing trend toward insurance company ownership of body shops. While the advancement of the Sterling/Allstate venture appears to be rapid in
Smart Strategies to Boost Production
Well, Alison, this is a loaded question. We can approach this from so many different directions, and I believe most of them would be a matter of opinion. We could address different types of production setups – like inline, fast repair and assembly line, technician combination work bays and team cells, to use a few
Is My Job Killing Me
Timothy, your question is a good one and involves more than a yes or a no answer. As I read your question, I can’t help but notice that there are some factors in your life that may be causing you to ask this question now. All of us, as we travel through life’s journey, have
Scaring Off New Recruits
n on their business. Much to my encouragement, I’m seeing a slowly increasing trend toward addressing these issues by some of the best shops in country. And that’s good for this industry because a slowly rising tide lifts all boats. Scott Irwin – the BodyShop Business reader who asked about our industry’s viability – is
“We Pay Up To $350 per RO for Paint, Period”
What is paint capping? Paint capping is a practice instituted by an insurance company that arbitrarily limits the amount of money they reimburse a repair facility for paint and materials on a specific repair order. To fully understand paint capping, you must first understand how paint and materials are calculated on an estimate. The standard
Politics: The Art of Friendly Persuasion
Politics has everything to do with the collision repair industry. In fact, it’s the means by which the powerful insurance industry uses to gain more and more control over the repair industry. Meanwhile, the repair industry is allowing this to happen by simply doing nothing in the political arena. Politics, in my view, is the
6 Steps to Turn That Frown Upside Down
There are times when you must fire a customer.
DRPs: Don’t Go Away Mad, Just Go Away
Since so many changes are taking place on the repairer-insurer-consumer horizon, all anyone can do is speculate about the future. Not being a betting man (I’ve never even bought a lotto ticket), I’d venture that the answers to Bill O’Keefe’s questions might be “yes” and “no”–but not necessarily in that order. At a recent NACE,