Is State Farm’s New DRP Good or Bad for the Industry Long Term?
Point CounterPoint
DRPs, Here We Come?
In talking with shop owners involved in DRPs – who changed their operations to serve the needs of only one market – I realized the importance of diversification. Part 6 of a year-long series.
Dirty Little Secret No. 3: Shops Can Steer Too
Despite what you’ve been led to believe, you can legally steer your customers away from ‘problem’ insurers and toward ones that know how to fairly settle claims.
Seeing the Big Picture
You can’t improve individual pieces of your business and expect overall improvement. Instead, you must examine the relationship between all the steps and begin to incrementally improve problem areas.
Parts Pricing: Your Business, Your Call
Parts prices listed in estimating systems are the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices. Despite what insurers would like you to believe, you can price parts based on the gross profits you desire.
“I Can’t Make Money on Paint!” (a.k.a. Why Johnny Kicked the dog.)
Many shop owners think their problems would be solved if they could just get their paint cheaper. But paint materials profitability problems are often just a symptom of larger troubles – paint labor profitability issues, lack of standard operating procedures, sales shortcomings, etc.
Is It Possible to Run a Body Shop Without Lying, Cheating and Stealing?
Point CounterPoint
Market Like an Insurer
Progressive’s Concierge program is the boldest action ever
taken by an insurer to mitigate the role a shop plays with the consumer. But what might the possibilities be if repairers employed some of these same strategies?
An Incident at the Courthouse
Eighteen years ago, this stay-at-home mom got an auto body shop in her divorce settlement. Today, the story seems funny. Back then, not so much.
The Return of Competitive Bidding
The time has come to examine the basis on which shops compete. To do this, you must first ask yourself: With whom am I competing? An insurer and its “phantom” shops or other actual shops in my local market?
