Market Pricing: Examining the Forces Behind It
independently of recessions and bear markets? Some industry leaders would say yes, they do. The reality is that body shop sales tend to follow meteorological trends rather than economic indicators. Hail storms and the shellacking of ice that some cities get in the winter do more to drive markets for body work than does the
Figuring Out Financials
This Month’s Ailing Shops … Shop No. 1 Annual Sales Volume: $449,000 Units Completed: 357 Average Repair: $1,257.70 Organization: Sole Proprietorship Employees: 7 Owner: Steve Accounting Duties: Steve’s wife, Cheryl Shop No. 2: Annual Sales Volume: $2.4 million Units Completed: 1,369 Average Repair: $1,753.10 Organization: Sub Chapter S Corporation Employees: 17 Owner: Mark Accounting Duties:
Image is Everything
You might perform top-quality repair work, but if your shop or employees look bad, smell bad or seem bad, your image is alienating potential customers and perpetuating negative stereotypes that the 20/20s and Datelines of this world so like to exploit.
Give Yourself a Raise: Working Together
Insurers know a local shop environment is very competitive, and they use this to pit local shop against local shop. But what if repairers refused to play this game and started working together instead of against one another?
Inside Your Body Shop Spraybooth
Stumped by what’s going on inside your spraybooth? Can’t figure out why your paint work isn’t premo? You’re not alone. Check out this reader Q&A, and you just might find the answers you need.
Industry Profile
We’ve got industry stats that no one else has. The BSB annual Industry Profile is, by far, the industry’s most comprehensive collision-shop survey. Shop Owner Profile Find out what makes shop owners tick. Insurer-Relations Profile Who’s on DRPs, why they’re on them, why some DRP shops are still anti-DRP. Market Profile Take a look at
Is the Industry Suffering from Widespread Billing Fraud and Repair Defects
Editor’s Note: Some background: In 2000, California’s Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) launched an Autobody Inspection Program after Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation (2000-S.B. 1988) requiring the BAR to conduct a pilot program to determine the extent of autobody fraud in the state and to then recommend solutions to the legislature.
Don’t You Be the Judge
What do you do when an insurer only wants to pay half of what it actually costs to repair a vehicle? Charge for all the necessary procedures, educate your customer and take the insurer to small claims court.
Love (to Undercut) Thy Neighbor
“It seems like shops are more obsessed with competing than with working and sticking together, so how will we ever better the industry for ourselves?” – Dennis Terry, technician, Hilltop Auto, Cabot, Ariz. The fact that insurers work so hard to control the consumer explains one of the reasons why shops don’t “stick” together. Shops
Does Your Shop Measure Up?
Techs working to beat the clock often skip the measuring process. But if you add a separate line to your estimate for the setup of the measuring system in addition to the setup of the vehicle on the frame machine, some of your techs might be more willing to knock the dust off the old measuring system once and awhile.
