During the past year, we’ve visited with Paul
and Teresa Slate, first-time body shop owners in Tennessee who’ve
agreed to share their experiences – positive and negative – with
us. In this issue’s update, Paul writes about his and Teresa’s
February and March experiences.

February and March

– We sent our son, David, and our assistant
manager, Steve, to Atlanta for computer training on our updated
shop-management software. They came back excited about implementing
the new programs and are presently working with them. This enhancement
will make job costing easier to manage.

– Teresa and I attended a Nashville Chamber
of Commerce meeting, which allowed us to share with other businesses
exactly what we do – and we’ve received several customers from
this one meeting. Membership in our local chamber of commerce
is a necessity in our business.

– Several opportunities to advertise have
been presented to us in the last few months. We’ve used a local
television station during weekly wrestling events, a local rock
radio station and a local gospel radio station. We’ve received
some feedback from all of these sources, but I’m not so sure it’s
paying off. We’re still testing this idea out.

– When you call us now and have to be put
on hold, you’ll hear on-hold messages that are custom made for
our shop. This company was a NACE exhibitor and uses a CD player
wired into our phones. The system was added last month and has
been well-received. The cost was about $600.

– We’ve also been involved with trying to
maintain a 50-year-old building and all of its related problems.
Roof repair, plumbing and air-compressor updates have been recent
challenges. One of our air-compressor tanks is dated 1949, and
our local inspector for permitting pressure vessels wants us to
replace it due to possible internal corrosion.