Bullying the Bully: Insurers Trying to Strong-Arm Consumers
When it comes to trying to strong-arm consumers into having their car repaired at a direct-repair shop, insurers have no shame. If you survived the accident, you’re fair game. Forget the long arm of the law. It’s the strong arm of the insurance industry that no one can seem to outrun. It’s no surprise that
Itemizing Estimates: Where Do We STOP?
If you’ve been involved in this industry as long as (or longer than) I have, you may still remember the days when handwritten estimates were a way of life and computers and computerized estimating systems were still just Buck Rogers science fiction. Since estimates were handwritten back then, they were often as few lines as
OE Direct: Friend or Foe?
OED discounts OE parts, making them more appealing to the insurance industry and benefiting the repairer, who might have otherwise had to use aftermarket. But the forced vendor relationships, erosion of parts profits and possible insurer involvement are raising repairer eyebrows and concerns.
You CAN Create Customers
Shop co-owner Chuck Logan asks whether he can tell DRPs to take a hike and still stay in business.
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?
Globe Trotting: Collision Repair in 16 Countries
Despite the miles – and oceans – separating them, collision repair markets around the world aren’t as unique as you might think. In fact, a developing market will likely experience the same growing pains and challenges as did its more developed counterparts on the other side of the world. Collision repair shop owners experience similar
Bugged: The Alliance of American Insurers.
Big bugs live in Maui. Here in Ohio, winter takes care of most of our bugs. They don’t have long to live so they don’t have enough time to grow into monsters. Bugs in Maui, however, never know winter, so they just keep growing … and growing … and growing. I know this because I
Web Browser: Mentors at Work
Currently this industry loses seven out of 10 apprentice candidates in the first 18 months and once they leave, they often leave the auto industry for good. Collision shops, insurers, mechanical shops and dealerships cannot afford to allow this to continue,” says Mentors At Work president and CEO Mark Claypool. Mentors At Work is an
No Fear: Developing New Business by Asking
Learn the right way to ask for business, and you’ll not only lessen your chances of being shot down, but you’ll increase shop profits, too.
May the (Work) Force Be with You
The collision industry’s workforce is dwindling at an alarming rate, and journeymen are just about as hard to come by as Jedi Masters. To combat this shortage and to stay competitive in the years to come, take a cue from the Jedi Code: Pair an apprentice with a mentor.
