Lee Amaradio (41)
Lee Amaradio, Jr. is the president and owner of “Faith” Quality Auto Body Inc. in Murrieta, California. Lee is president of the Collision Repair Association of California (go to CRA at their website ) as well as an advocate for many other industry groups. He can be contacted at
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To read Lee's columns prior to last January search "Amaradio" on this site from the home page
There is No Such Thing as a ‘Bad Decision’ in Business
Written by StaffFirst let me say that there is no “right” answer to most of the challenges a collision owner faces today. Things that worked in the past will no longer cut it today and we need to constantly re-invent the wheel. I will give some examples of ways to cautiously move forward in today’s market.
To view a PDF of this article please click HERE.
One example is advertising, in the past we would get a bigger yellow page ad, and maybe we would do newspaper and maybe some TV. In today’s market the consumer rarely picks up the phone book and newspaper sales are at an all time low, while TV is still questionable with DVR’s people can fast forward through your expensive 30-second commercial.
Another example is purchasing equipment and your ROI. In the past a shop would buy a thirty thousand dollar frame rack or measuring system and they would be able to close a sale based on something they had that their competitors didn’t. Today, repair standards and requirements to repair a collision have become so advanced that most decent collision facilities have the same equipment. So purchasing a large piece of equipment in today’s market most of the time offers “no” return on your investment.
Learn each day to deal with the issues you are faced with at the moment. We all make huge mistakes when we look too far ahead and begin to worry about what might or could happen eventually.
To view the full text of this article with photos please click HERE.
I ride mountain bikes, and have been for years, but recent circumstances have kept me off of my bike for quite some time. Last week I chose to break out my bike, fill up the tires, and go for a ride. I chose a route that I knew very well. It’s a short 12-mile loop with a big demanding hill at the end.
As I started my ride everything went as planned except I realized quickly that I was not in the shape I had been in the past. I was very familiar with this route because I had done the ride a hundred times or so. I knew the “Big Hill” that was waiting for me at the end, when I would be the most tired. As I continued on I really wasn’t sure I was feeling strong enough to do the “Big Hill.” I continued to think about the “Big Hill” constantly as I rode on. I realized that I was worrying about the “Big Hill” so much that I was adjusting the way I was riding and this was making me more tired. I was conserving energy by going slower then faster, (wrong technique) and was not feeling good at al. My entire focus was on the “Big Hill,” so much so that at this rate I may not even make it to the “Big Hill.”
The danger in focusing on the past is that we sometimes forget to deal with the present in a productive manner. By this I mean that we want everything to be as is was and keep thinking that things soon will return to the way they were pre-recession.
To read or download the full text of this article as a PDF please click HERE.
I’m not trying to say things won’t return to our past prosperity but we cannot let it control our actions today. I took a look at my shop recently and realized that I was putting off necessary maintenance on almost everything. My mindset was ‘as soon as we get the extra money I will get that done’ or ‘I will buy that extra piece of equipment.’ Without realizing it, I had put everything on hold.
I was also unconsciously sending a message to my staff that things were much worse that they actually were. This in turn created a trickle down effect that affected the morale of the entire shop. I didn’t realize any of this until I heard some rumors that we were in financial trouble. People had begun to draw their own conclusions because we had tightened up so much.
Yes, we needed to adjust and tighten things up, but we were far from any financial trouble. Other than complaining about my credit lines getting cut nothing I said ever implied that we were in any financial trouble. But simply because we had begun to watch everything and make everyone accountable people drew their own conclusions.
Underqualified Repairers Hurt the Whole Industry
Written by Lee Amaradio Jr.As the financial pressure mounts with the U.S. recession going on three years now, the collision industry is rapidly falling behind the technology curve. Many shops are unable to afford the training and new equipment required to repair today’s modern vehicles.
Insurers are accutely aware of the fact that there are fewer and fewer shops able and ready to repair many of today’s high tech vehicles. The old methods of repair will no longer work but the responsibility to educate the insurers lies with the collision repairers themselves. But how can a shop that is well-educated and well-trained compete in a marketplace where the status quo is so far behind the times? We’re implicitly teaching insurers that it’s still OK to ‘repair’ vehicles the way we always have because to do so costs less.
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
When we are forced to prove this point over and over, it makes the shop that is doing a proper repair look like a bunch of pompous overcharging prima donnas. The fact is that it costs more to repair a collision properly than to do a proforma job and in today’s marketplace it is also less profitable to do it right. Although the overall ticket average may be higher the bottom line profit remains lower.
The entire collision industry is struggling because we have allowed ourselves to become “yes men” and throughout this recession things have only gotten worse. How can anyone agree to repair a vehicle the new technical details of which they know little or nothing about? Yet many shops are doing this every day.
Setting the Record Straight on Ford vs. Aftermarket Parts Testing Featured
Written by Lee Amaradio Jr.I read about the aftermarket parts testing conducted by ABPA (ABPA Says Aftermarket Bumper Outperformed Ford Counterpart in Crash Test—Page 47 this issue) and I have to say that I expected as much. Not unlike CAPA certification, the results will always favor the aftermarket part. In the article they stated that is some cases the aftermarket performed “better than the OEM.”
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
Wow, I guess I will need to rethink my standards regarding all aftermarket safety-related parts, and maybe we should all lobby to have the OEM’s recall their vehicles so we can install these superior aftermarket parts. We know that the consumers’ safety is our primary concern so now that the cat is out of the bag what should we do? After all, I have been installing OEM rebars that have been “proven” (?) to be inferior to the aftermarket rebars. I think we should probably take it one step further and start testing headlights and other parts because the poor consumer has been duped into thinking that the manufacturer’s parts are best for the safe repair of their vehicle.
My Customer, the Crash Test Dummy Featured
Written by Lee Amaradio Jr.As 2011 approaches and we move forward into another year in the collision industry, we can be sure of one thing: vehicles are changing. The way we as collision repairers do business is also changing. We are running our companies leaner. We are measuring our efficiencies and comparing our numbers with other shops around us. We have all become better at running businesses. We have changed drastically in how we manage our customer. We have improved our customer service. Many of us have started our own customer marketing campaigns. We have CSI programs that measure our customers’ satisfaction down to the last detail. It would be safe to say that we have become customer-oriented companies. We communicate with our customers better. We return their vehicles faster. We give them completed paperwork at the same time we give them their vehicles. We take the time to explain even the smallest details to them and even offer them a cup of coffee while they wait. We are concerned about them and we want them to be treated in a professional and honest manner.
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
Aftermarket Parts: Are they the Same? Are they Safe? Is there a Problem?
Written by Lee Amaradio Jr.What gives me the right to comment on any of the above issues and why would I want to bite the hand that feeds me? If there were no problems with aftermarket crash parts why would I even care?
To view this article as a PDF please CLICK HERE.
I am in business to make money, and to stay in business I need to treat my customers fairly and honestly. Part of being in business responsibly is serving my customers by giving them good and honest value for their money. If there were no problem with these parts I would embrace them and present them to my customers as an added value. I would be an advocate, not a critic, of the aftermarket part.
I am a member of the CAA, the SCRS and a Gold Pin holder of CIC; I have some questions for all these organizations.
My first question is to the board of the CAA. As a member of the CAA, I want to know where the board stands on aftermarket parts? Do you agree with the aftermarket parts companies when they say they have tested their parts and they are the same as OEM parts according to the law that reads that the parts must be of ‘like kind and quality’ to the OEM’s?
To view a PDF of this article please CLICK HERE.
Or, do you agree with the recent tests that have been conducted by Ford Motor Company that proves that they are not the same? I want to know where you stand on this issue because as this industry issue has come to the forefront at CIC (with Toby Chess and his now famous rebar test) you have been quiet as to where the CAA stands on this issue. It seems that you should have some opinion and I would like to know what it is and why you have chosen to keep quiet on such a controversial industry issue.
As a member of the CAA, I want to feel comfortable that the organization is looking after my best interest as a shop owner.
We all have worked really hard the last two years in anticipation of an upturn in the economy. What now? I haven’t seen much of an upswing. Although, as a matter of fact, I haven’t seen things get any worse either. We have made our adjustments and we just seem to be plugging along.
My problem is that I want things to return to the pre-recession economy. I find myself sitting on my hands wishing and waiting, instead of preparing for things to remain as they are. Things really could be much worse. Life is just life and as business owners we cannot beat ourselves up too badly when we find ourselves struggling in these tough times. If you are surviving in today’s economy you are getting ahead.
But I am not in business just to survive. I went in business to prosper. I have been in business for over 30 years and, if I were to add it up, at least half of those 30 years have been spent in the survival mode. It has taken me a lifetime to learn one thing and that is business and life will always have its disappointments, so enjoy the good times while they last.
Business is much like a marriage. You really need to take the time to appreciate it when things are good, because tough times are coming.
That’s life. I can’t tell you why we never reach the top of the food chain, but I can tell you that you never will. Look at people like Bill Gates. You would think that he doesn’t have much to worry about but his life offers no more satisfaction then yours or mine.
I try to write articles to help others out; articles that try to motivate shop owners and managers to do a better job. I have come under attack many times from some in our industry for voicing my opinion and being the person that is willing to speak up and say the hard truth.
Our industry wants “Change” but no one can agree what that change should be or what direction we need to go to get there. I have shop owners that hate me because I have DRPs and stand up for those insurers that I think are doing a good job. Some shop owners think we need to hate all of the insurers and saying anything less than that makes me a hypocrite.
Some think DRPs are the problem while others think they are fine. Some think the insurance company is our customer while others think the vehicle owner is the customer. Some like aftermarket parts while others stand against them. Some think the insurers are responsible for the repair process while others think it’s the shops liability for the repair. We cannot even agree on some of the simplest things.
The truth is that nothing has changed and it never will because we can’t even decide what change we want. If I were a commanding officer heading to battle and I ordered the troops to go in one direction and they just chose to go their own way and started fighting each other we would certainly lose any battle we were to fight. To win any battle the troops need to all be on the same page and they all need to support one another and have each other’s back, not stab each other in the back. This is why things will never change; we are not in agreement on anything as an industry.
Consumers are Duped Into Accepting Unsafe Collision Repairs
Written by Lee Amaradio, Jr.Last month Toby Chess wrote an article in Autobody News (see Dec. 09 issue) that was about two repairs on completed by two different shops on Mercedes Benz vehicles that were not only repaired in a substandard way but safe to say in an un-safe manner. I want to add to what Toby had to say because this is not the exception but the norm.
With our economic downturn, shops and consumers are struggling. One (shops) to make a buck, and the other (consumers) to save a buck. There has been a giant step backwards in accountability from both shops and insurers that guarantees that a safe vehicle is put back on the road. The consumer is becoming the victim because they are deceived into thinking that a guarantee is the same as a safe repair.
I believe that we reap what we sow, so to think we will get away from accountability just because we haven’t been caught is wrong. To hide something from the customer will only come back to bite you in the end. Selling the job back to the customer should never be anything more than explaining to them what you have done and reassuring them that they can count on you because you care about them. It should never get to the point of talking them into accepting a repair that you know is substandard.
