Strategic Partnerships
No business exists in a vacuum, least of all a collision repair shop.
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.
Going to the Spraybooth: Downdrafts
Ten years ago when Myra McConkey first laid eyes upon Michael McConkey, he was standing in a spraybooth – “One of those old, old ones,” she says. A crossdraft?
“Yea, a crossdraft!” – covered in paint, hair matted to his head.
Body Shop Boot Camp
While the collision shop of today is repairing existing vehicles, the cars of the future are off the drawing board and plans for production are underway. Increased use of aluminum and plastics, computerized navigational systems, crash-avoidance computers and sophisticated adhesives are all becoming part of our reality.
School Profile/Alfred State College
At Alfred State College (ASC) – a technical college in Western New York with a student body of 3,200 – an emphasis on work ethic and a real-world shop atmosphere combine to assure plenty of job opportunities for every graduate, including its autobody program grads.
Ask the Executives
There’s no better place to go for advice than to those who’ve reached the top. To help you climb your ladder of success, we asked Clark Plucinski and Russell Verona – both industry leaders and BodyShop Business Executives of the Year – questions ranging
from productivity to customer relations to future trends:
Starting Over
Russ Manley and his father, Ron, have run Manley and Son Auto Body and Paint in Forsyth, Mo., for 34 years. In the early years, custom work was the bread and butter for the shop, but because of poor work conditions, paint jobs that went wrong were as prevalent as the ones that went right.
Negotiating with an Insurance Adjuster
Regardless of where the majority of your business comes from, one fact of life of owning a collision-repair shop is having to negotiate with an insurance adjuster.
Like a Rock: Southwest Collision of Alsip, Ill.
Ask anyone in the collision-repair business in suburban Chicago about the work and reputation of Southwest Collision of Alsip, Ill., and the adjectives they’ll use can be
summarized in two words – rock solid.
Analyzing Collision Damage: Estimates
Writing estimates can easily make or break a collision-repair shop’s business. The estimate is more than a financial barometer for the customer and insurance company –
it’s the first step in the repair process.