You’re Not an Order Taker
I’ve always said to ‘write our own estimate.’ But recently, something came to my attention from an insurance rep and then I checked with my attorney: If the check has the shop’s name on it, my attorney said that makes the adjuster’s estimate a contract and all the methods, procedures and parts choices are to
Show Me the Savings!
Insurers are writing for partial paint times on repaired panels, claiming it doesn’t take as long to apply color to part of a panel as it does to the whole panel. We all know this is bogus.
A ‘How-To’ Guide for Increasing Labor Rates, BodyShop Business, February 2006
Rather than belabor the exhaustive list of reasons labor rates need to rise, let’s focus on what type of market conditions act to create higher – or more frequently increasing – prevailing rates in individual markets. By Tigger (from his view in the Thousland Acre Wood) No one in the collision repair industry would argue
Quality Is Not Subjective
So what if the guy down the road will do the repair the wrong
way for less money? Don’t fall into the “locally acceptable quality” trap.
Soaring Energy Costs Fuel a Quiet Crisis
If our rates and charges are too low to sustain our businesses, then we must pass our costs on to the market and raise our prices — immediately
Prime, Featheredge, Fill…The Lost Steps
It takes 12 steps to prepare a repaired panel for paint prep. If you’re not vigilant, you won’t get paid for seven of them – costing you hundreds of dollars per repair.
Ask or You Won’t Receive
Sometimes appraisers lie — so if you buy everything they’re telling you, you won’t make enough money to buy much else.
CYA with A/M Parts
How can I cover my @*! when installing A/M parts? When the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Avery vs. State Farm, repairers immediately began asking the CYA question. And not since “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” has one little question fueled such debate. If only the answer were as straightforward as the question.
Strategies for Preparing – and Presenting – Your Estimate
The insurance industry’s reluctance to pay what I consider to be fair and proper damage appraisals concerns me greatly. It also concerns me greatly that many shops aren’t doing anything about it.
Turning Freeloaders into Paying Customers: This Simple Strategy Helped Us to Increase Walk-in Sales by 35 Percent
When your day is so hectic that your lunch consists of complimentary donuts from the local car rental company, the last interruption you want to deal with is a free estimate. Time is money. But don’t slash mention of the "F" word from next month’s ad copy just yet. With the proper system in place,
Billing in Dollar$ Makes More Cents
No longer will you have to use (and justify) the labor hour “two-fer” ratio. Labor hours become irrelevant – and so does the insurance industry’s so-called “prevailing competitive price.”
Bottom Line: Database Differences Cost You
If our estimates match in content but a “database difference” hoses me out of money, I insist the insurance appraiser split the difference with me.
