A Crash Course on Retrofits
As a collision repair specialist, air-conditioning service is part of your job. When your customers bring in their cars for repairs, you want to offer them all the services required.
More Than an Estimate
It used to be so easy to write an estimate. Easy, that is, until the ARMS people announced to the country: "A customer doesn’t need an estimate. The customer is in pain and wants his vehicle made whole again." This tiny piece of information had a huge – and dramatic – effect on many leading
The 1997 Industry Profile
That was then … On Nov. 14, 1896, Britain abolished the Red Flag Law, a crazy, crazy mandate that forced motorists to drive behind a person who waved a red flag and walked ahead of the vehicle. While arguable – and in no way based in fact – this very well could have been the
Overcoming Roadblocks
Three men – Bob Anderson, Jerry Kottschade and Joe Sanders – have devoted a great deal of time over the years to assume positions of leadership within their chosen field.
Straightening Modern Metal: Using Heat
Using heat to facilitate the straightening of a modern automobile or light truck is very tempting.
Simply Success: Richard Cossette
Name: Lehman’s Garage, Inc. Location: Minneapolis, Minn. Owner: Richard Cossette Established: 1917 Square Footage: 66,000 (four shops) Number of Employees: 85 (four shops) Repair Volume: 907 cars per month (four shops) Average Repair Cost: $1,400 Success. It means different things to different people, but one belief is often associated with it – it’s difficult to
Get It Straight: Alignments
Customers these days are pickier than ever about the work performed on their vehicles – and alignment isn’t an exception. If customers aren’t satisfied with how their cars ride, steer and handle after driving them out of your shop, you’ll likely see those customers again – for the redo.
Room to Grow
Name: American Auto Body Location: Akron, Ohio Owner: Joe and Rocky Piscazzi Established: 1976 Square Footage: 20,000 Number of Employees: 10 Repair Volume: 60 cars per month Rocky Piscazzi recently learned that relocating to a new body shop can trigger Murphy’s Law of moving – everything costs more than expected. “Even though I’ve learned that
When the Goan Gets Tough: the Goan Body Shops
The age of refinish technology has yet to dawn in India. With a population in excess of 900 million, labor is cheap and plentiful and money is scarce. Needless to say, specialized collision-repair equipment is virtually nonexistent. Although India has only 5 million cars and CVs, the demand for collision-repair shops is high. The roads
Learning to Learn
If you would say to the typical collision-shop owner or technician, “You can have anything you want to improve shop productivity”, what do you suppose the most common answer would be? Chances are, it would focus on some new technological advance in equipment or tools.