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.
Barenaked Ladies Spotted With Volkswagens
Despite the presence of Barenaked Ladies at Volkswagen’s recent “Driversfest,” held at the Pond of Anaheim, Calif., no one objected. In fact, many people cheered — men and women alike — as the Barenaked Ladies tirelessly performed onstage for nearly two hours.
Shop Owner Profile
Where would we be without all the shop owners in the world? After all, even the most productive, profitable and professional shop must have a leader — someone to guide the business and lock up after everyone else goes home.
It’s Showtime, Baby
You can ‘bet’ that the 25th annual NACE show will offer plenty of business opportunities, not
to mention a little fun.
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.
Understanding Structure
Your customers cherish their automobiles — giving them names and personalities. And while you can dispute whether cars have souls, you can’t dispute that they have dimension. In fact, looking at cars as 3-D objects is the heart and soul of understanding structure.
Market Profile: Is the Industry that Bad?
It’s not uncommon to hear shop owners complaining about how awful the collision repair industry is. In fact, when a group of such shop owners get together, it’s worse than a group of old ladies sitting around discussing all their health problems. I know because I speak with a lot of collision repairers and I’m related to a lot of old Italian women (my mother, for one). And, although I have no desire to hear my family discussing bladder control, a group of collision repairers complaining is still worse — especially since most of their problems are fixable.
Getting Into Customers’ Heads: Increasing the Chances of Selling Every Job
Hopefully, we can all agree that collision repair falls into two distinct operations: sales and production. Your shop may have the very latest heated downdraft booth and the snazziest computer-driven structural-repair bench, but unless you can get the customer to let your shop perform the repair, all the equipment in the world won’t help.
Perception of Color
Although color theory is detailed and complicated, it’s crucial to collision repairers. And, if things get too difficult, you can always call in the Mud Monster.
When Worlds Collide: Collision Repairers vs. Insurers
Can collision repairers really fight off the insurer invasion of the industry? Or, rather than waging war, should they learn to live together in peace?