The Insurance Consumer Advocate Network: www.ican2000.com
Individual drivers are, on average, only involved in an accident once every seven years. Such infrequent exposure to the collision repair process leads to a lot of questions.
Orange You Going to NACE?
Bound for Orlando – the land of oranges and overabundant family fun – NACE promises a jam-packed schedule of seminars and workshops that leaves little time for mousing around.
Point and Click for Parts
Buying crash parts online may save a lot of shops a lot of time. But as the Internet continues to grow and online parts dealers continue to pop up faster than long-lost cousins at a lottery winner’s mobile home, the question of whether or not the industry is ready remains. The technology seems to be there, but does that mean it’s a good idea?
Don’t Shoot the Messenger! Ohio’s Jack Lundberg
Faced with the challenge of registering Ohio’s collision repair facilties, Jack Lundberg has been called a savior by some, the devil by others. Throw in a few death threats, and you know how Lundberg feels by 10 a.m.
Your Mission: Educate Consumers
"How can we better educate our customers so they can make more informed decisions about choosing a repair facility?" — Timothy Kilkeary, v.p., Kilkeary’s Auto Body, Inc., Eighty Four, Pa. Since I took over my family’s business in 1984, the collision repair industry has been on a roller coaster ride of changes, twists and turns.
Ditch Your One-Dimensional Ways
Only selling collision repair service these days? Diversification is the answer
to getting your profits back and making your business worth owning.
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme: Better, Cheaper & Faster
Years ago, the belief in business was that you could provide a product better, cheaper or faster — pick two. But to achieve success today, you must offer all three. Customers expect more, for less money and want it yesterday.
Life in the Fast Lane
The latest industry buzzwords — speed lanes, cycle times, process efficiency — all focus on repairing cars faster. Fast is hot; slow is not. As we ring in the new millennium, we may also be ringing in the era of rapid repairs.
A State of Unions Address
While many shop owners say a unionized workforce would spell disaster for their businesses, many techs say industry labor rates are making a disaster of their paychecks. Is a drastic change needed – and will that change come in the form of unions?
Drop the Gun and Step Away from the Adjuster
Believe it or not, there are seasoned appraisers in the industry who aren’t the enemy — and who aren’t happy with insurers’ penny-pinching policies that disregard quality and fair profit In my September Editor’s Notes, I wrote about an appraiser named Pat, who has some interesting views regarding the industry. You see, Pat is on