Being a new shop, Caliber Collision in Lewisville is lean on staff, with 11 employees including Crawford, office administrator Tabatha Kent, lead painter Victor Belmares and one estimator. The shop has a revenue target of $300,000 a month.

 

The Lewisville shop, with frontage on a busy highway, is the latest Caliber Center to open its doors in North Texas. The 13,000 sq ft shop opened for business in September 2002 after three months of remodeling that included a newly designed waiting area, streamlined body and paint areas and the addition of new collision repair equipment including Car-O-Liner frame racks and a Zhongda down-draft spray booth.

Crawford's team has been well trained to meet the challenges of operating in a fast-paced, cycle-time oriented business. Each associate follows Caliber's standard operating procedures to ensure consistently high-quality repairs, attends industry seminars on the latest techniques and products, and participates in I-CAR training.

 

The shop makes "appropriate use" of new OEM, recycled OEM and aftermarket crash parts. Crawford notes that his recycled OEM parts often come from American Auto Salvage in Ft Worth, part of the Part Source of Texas salvage yard network. "They're reliable and they can usually find what we need if they don't have it."

 

Crawford, who's worked in collision repair throughout the Dallas - Ft Worth area, says, "Being part of a large company has some clear advantages. Caliber's size and scale allows us to offer customer services exceeding those of a typical body shop." Caliber Centers, which operate almost entirely on insurance directed business, offer a 24-7 call center, vehicle pick-up and delivery, claims management, assistance with rental cars, and a nation-wide lifetime warranty. "Our customers really appreciate our added benefits and service offerings," says Crawford. "We go the extra mile to make things more convenient for the customer and take the hassle out of a stressful situation."