You Choose, You Lose?
“Why don’t insurance companies offer two different policies? If they had an OEM parts policy and an A/M parts policy, consumers could choose which one they wanted and when they wrecked, they couldn’t say anything about using A/M parts since they chose that policy. Wouldn’t this solve a lot of problems for collision repairers?” –
Choosing a Management System
“Which job costing/shop management system is best suited for my shop? I’m unsure if the expense justifies the end results.” – asks Randy Hassell, owner, Hassell Bros, Inc., Jamaica, N.Y
It’s Not a Toy
It’s smart to assume that your collision repair customers are assuming that you’re competent.
Every Claim Is Not the Same
Insurance companies have led most consumers and shop owners to believe there’s no difference between first- and third-party claims – even though entirely different sets of laws and rules apply. And these differences can affect every aspect of your shop, from job scheduling to parts selection to liability to profitability.
Clean Up your Act
That tiny spec of dirt in your paint job costs you a lot more time and money to remove than it would have to prevent it. In The Big Book of Painting, page 2,344, paragraph 6, the author explains “The Rule of Dirt”: “All dirt comes to you. But from where? you sayeth. I sayeth,
Say You Don’t Want a Revolution
If you label your customers as “nuts” to brush off their repair complaints and tell them to “just bring it back” withoutaddressing the actual problem, your comebacks are costing you cash.
Wer’re Not in Kansas Anymore
The industry’s direction is being driven by consolidators, replicators, franchises and insurer-owned shops — everyone but the single-shop operator.
Hail Isn’t a Four-Letter Word Anymore
After one hail of a storm, this shop’s paint department couldn’t keep up and productivity grinded to a halt. In this month-by-month account — penned by the shop’s production manager — we hear all about the gridlock that occurred, the sleepless nights spent racking her brain for a solution and the teamwork system now in place that’s increased cycle time and boosted shop sales.
Fixing Plastics is Possible – and Profitable
It was 1968 and this shop was successfully repairing plastics. So why is it that shops today aren’t?
Rear Clipping: Does It Deserve Its Bad Rap?
We’ve all heard horror stories about rear full body sectioning, which has lost its favorable status with insurers, repairers and consumers. But was the problem the procedure – or the people performing it?
