Send Me Your Best Student – Partnering with Vo-Tech Schools
Looking to take the local vo-tech school’s best and brightest? Fat chance – unless you’ve been partnering with that vo-tech school all along. If you’re all take and no give, don’t expect instructors to do you any favors when you suddenly need to hire.
Taking Control
Why are shop rates so low compared to other trades? Can I ditch my DRPs and still stay in business? What the heck should I pay my shop manager? If you’re like most of us, you’ve had questions but no one to answer them. That’s why we started this annual Readers Choice issue, now in
Producing a Buff-Free Finish
Are you one of those people who thinks it’s impossible to do a paint job without having to buff it before delivery? If so, think again.
You CAN Create Customers
Shop co-owner Chuck Logan asks whether he can tell DRPs to take a hike and still stay in business.
By Door Rate Dollars, We’re In the Dumper
Autobody shop rates.
Shop Manager, Show Me the Money
eff Rice, body shop manager, Pace Collision Center, Huntington, Indiana, says, “I always see what you’re supposed to pay techs, but what should managers make?
Write Better Estimates
The estimate is the most important aspect of our business process. If an estimate is poorly written, it can wreak havoc on your shop and cost you a boatload of cash.
Sell your Estimate
If you’re not explaining your estimate to a consumer and preparing him for why your competitor’s estimate may be lower, you might as well not bother writing the estimate.
The Cynic’s Guide to Structural Repairs
After 30 years of working on critically wounded vehicles, I can safely say I’ve pretty much done it all when it comes to surgical frame and structure repairs. I can also safely say that timely, quality repairs can still be done in our time-and-labor-hostile environment.
Apathy
A massive segment of repairers – wallowing in yesteryear’s thinking and uninterested in learning anything new – are driving themselves out of business. Do you fit this description?