Bullied No More: Learn How to Counter Intimidating Negotiation Techniques
“My way or the highway” negotiation techniques have intimidated the repair industry long enough. Learn how to counter them.
Perplexed by Paint
Turns out this topic is much like the famous Bill Clinton quote: “It depends on what the meaning of is, is.” Paint brand popularity and exact market share are touchy subjects among the refinish paint companies. No one wants to be quoted in print as having less market share than the next guy, and there’s
Going Head to Head
Collision repair consolidators seem focused on customer service as opposed to offering insurance companies even lower repair costs. They’re also concentrated on honing their operations to a razor sharp state of efficiency (which, incidentally, will lower repair costs).
Standard Operating Procedures – Working Smarter, Not Harder
Maximize productivity by standardizing “best practices” across your organization. “Since we started truly implementing standard operating procedures, it’s a statistical fact that I only spend two hours a week in three locations and that we grew from five employees to 50 in a four-year time period,” says Troy Gates, owner of a three-shop operation called Gates
Success with Single-Sided Resistance Spot Welding
Despite having tried twice, experiencing failed welds both times, I knew I could save myself time installing a floor pan by using single-sided spot welding — if I could just get it right. by March Taylor I, like most in the industry, believe that squeeze-type resistance spot welding (STRSW) aftermarket technology has finally caught up
Better, Cheaper, Faster …
Vehicle owners and insurers want all three. You can fight these shifts in the market, attempt litigation, kick, scream and even call your congressman. But at the end of the day, you either give customers what they want — or someone else will.
Lowering Your Overhead
Earning money is one thing. Keeping it is another. You’d be surprised what shops can do to reduce overhead besides raising door rates
Strategies to Stretch Profit Margins
Your options for increasing profit margins are limited when a vendor supplies you with the part, material or service. Instead, focus on improving the one profit margin you do have direct control over: labor.
Disproving the Wheel Alignment Fallacy
The next time an adjuster wants to pay you tire-center prices for a collision wheel alignment, get out the P-pages and educate him till he gets it.
Even ‘Know It Alls’ Need Training
Take it from a reformed Mr. Know-It-All: You don’t know what you don’t know — so training is vital to staying ahead in an ever-changing industry.