POINT-COUNTERPOINT: Should Labor Rate Surveys Be Abolished?
YES By Lee Amaradio Jr. A labor rate survey’s intended purpose is to establish a starting point so labor rate negotiations can begin. It’s intended to create a floor to build upon, not create labor rate caps. Today, it’s not serving any purpose other than keeping costs down for insurance companies. The major problem with
JUNE COVER STORY: Protect Your Interests
With the proper legal advice, you can use these documents to establish you and your customers’ rights, obligations and interests at the outset of your business relationship.
Let’s Be Real, Folks
I would sure love to see an empty stadium at the Cleveland Browns’ home opener next season as a protest against outrageous NFL ticket prices. Maybe then my son and I could afford to go to a game. But are fans ever going to band together and make such a collective statement? No. Cleveland will
DRPs Have Run Their Course
Where I live, there’s quite a battle going on between grocery stores to get more and more shoppers to come through their doors and earn their loyalty so that they keep shopping with them over and over again. These “frequent shopper” programs come in all shapes and sizes across all types of retail markets. Until
Reader’s Choice – Raising Rates Without Losing Business
“How do you raise rates and tell insurance companies what they should be paying for without losing business?”
— John Thompson, estimator, West Herr Collision Center,
Hamburg, New York
How Far Should You Go to Keep Your DRP?
Even mega shops are starting to feel the pain from being on DRPs. As they say, give away the farm and eventually you may not have one left.
It’s Now or Never: A Proposed Code of Ethics for the Collision Repair Industry
People are funny. Most of the time, if something bothers them, they just complain about it and do nothing. We all know why, too: It’s easier to whine than actually do something to address what we’re whining about. Taking action is the rougher road to choose. That’s why there are monuments built and history books
Suing as a Solution?
My lawyer friend told me that all parties involved in the collision repair industry are still trying to get away with all they can because there haven’t been enough lawsuits yet. I explored that theory and found he may be right.
DRPs, Here We Come?
Doing good work and counting on referrals will only get collision repair shops so far. At some point, we need to step up our marketing efforts. Part 12 of a series.
“Poof!” Go Parts Profits?
Is State Farm direct-purchasing parts?
DRPs, Here We Come?
We’re shooting for a DRP, but that doesn’t mean we’re willing to give up something for nothing. Part 11 of a series.
DRPs, Here We Come?
Starting our DRP involvement with a small insurance company at first seemed like a good idea. But we soon realized that more volume didn’t necessarily mean more profit. Part 10 of a series.