When Lee Gamboa recently went to pay by check at the
supermarket, the clerk looked at his last name and asked if he were
related to "the body shop." He replied that he was. The clerk looked at
him and said sarcastically, "Yea, sure. You wish you were." Oh, the price of being a celebrity.
In fact, Gamboa's Body & Frame
could become a household name in the Sacramento area because the
Gamboas really believe in advertising. "The advertising helps to ensure
that the majority of work comes from customers who want their cars
fixed at Gamboa's rather than from DRP assignments," said Lee
Gamboa,son of founder Robert Gamboa. Lee believes that steady
advertising on siix different
radio stations is one reason that business is up over 50% from three
years ago. "And a lot of referrals. We don't work on anything pre-90's,
and we stay away from dealership and fleet work."
Robert
(Bob) Gamboa, now 61, opened his shop in Sacramento 30 years ago after
a Ford dealership closed the body shop operation that he had managed.
One of Bob's helpers at the Ford body shop was a teenager, Rick Caron.
Caron's grown up now and once again he works for Bob, but this time he
has the title of vice-president, one he shares with Lee Gamboa.
Lee,
age 41, wasn't at first ready to join the family business. "After
graduating from Humboldt State I felt like I wanted to prove myself
away from the family shop." He spent eight years away, ending up as
service manager at a dealership before he returned to the family
business six years ago.
Spoiling the techs
Bob
Gamboa feels that his business has been able to grow largely because
his employees are so loyal. "We spoil 'em," he said. Top techs earn
upwards of $96,000 and all employees share a benefits package
comparable to any dealership: medical, dental, 401K, paid vacations.
"John Nabors, an estimator at the Rancho Cordova shop, was my first
employee. He's been with me for 30 years, and there are lots of 10 year
veterans," said Bob.
With
80 plus employees at three locations, producing consistent quality
becomes an issue. "With this many people, you need to give a lot of
direction," said Lee. "We're very procedure oriented and we have
multiple layers of management in place. For example, we have a QC
(quality control) person who checks each weld before it gets covered
up. How many big shops do you know who do that?" he asked. Consistency is the goal
The
goal is to ensure that everything is done the same way from one store
to another. Lee says that this is particularly important when dealing
with insurance adjusters. "We can't insist that a car be fixed a
certain way at one store and then agree to do the same repair
differently at another location. If you let that happen, then the
adjusters start playing one Gamboa's store against another."
As
an example, Gamboa's insists that clear coat go "up and over" on every
quarter panel repair. "That's the way PPG (and all major paint
companies) says it should be done. You can't break the clear in the
middle of a panel. We want them to stand behind us on the guarantee.
Some adjusters will say you don't have to clear coat the sail panel
just to refinish the quarter panel. We tell them, 'if you won't pay to
do it right, we can't offer the lifetime warranty.' And that message
needs to be consistent at every store."
Joining PPG CertifiedFirst™ Network
Gamboa's
has sprayed PPG for nine years and is now finalizing plans to become
part of PPG's CertifiedFirst Network of collision repair centers. PPG
recently kicked off a national consumer advertising program for the
national network.
"Our PPG rep, Mark
Juell, has been great. And we get excellent service from MAC's
Distributing (Sacramento). They don't just sell us paint. They assist
us in complying with air quality rules, work with us on tech training
and have helped us implement better cost control measures. The people
at MAC's are always willing to help us do whatever it takes to stay on
the edge."
Managing the insurance work
Like
most large operations, Gamboa's does much of its business through
insurers' DRP programs. "We manage the business to keep the DRP work
right around 40%. Any more than that and we'd be too dependent on the
DRP programs," said Lee. "We work with the good programs, like Farmers,
USAA, Mercury, State Farm. But we've blown other DRPs out of here. We
severed our DRP contract with Allstate, although we're still happy to
work with Allstate insureds and fix their vehicles the right way. But
now we do it at $60 an hour instead of $52." Lee noted that it may now
take longer to fix an Allstate insured's car if supplements are
necessary, but the work can be done right and both he and the customer
are happy.
Consumer oriented
Rick
Caron and Lee Gamboa make it clear to their managers that "We work for
the customer, not the insurance company." Estimators give every
customer a form with a check-off box that asks if they want a copy of
the Consumer's Bill of Rights. "Maybe 25% check the box," Lee said
sadly. Gamboa's radio advertising also includes a message that
consumers have the right to choose where their car or truck is fixed.
To
protect consumers, the State of California's Bureau of Automotive
Repair (BAR) recently began inspections of completed autobody repairs
over $2,500. The inspections are done upon the consumer's request.
"That's fine," said Lee, "but the problem with BAR is that not all of
their inspectors realize that a collision estimate evolves. It's not
like replacing a water pump." He said that because the estimate changes
more often than not, there's a higher likelihood of errors creeping in
than on a mechanical estimate. "They need to take that into
consideration."
Gamboa's is very
careful to comply with the BAR regulation that requires the customer to
sign off on a tear down estimate. "We explain that the car has to be
torn-down to assess the full extent of the damage, and once that's done
it can't be reassembled." The customer also signs off on a charge of
$120 if the vehicle is moved to another shop for repair after the
tear-down.
Gamboa's invests heavily in
training and equipping their technicians. All three shops are I-CAR
Gold Class. To improve productivity, there is a Challenger lift in
every body stall - "That lift can really save your back, which means
less lost time due to injury," explained Lee.
Looking ahead
Despite
achieving a sales level most owners would envy, 500 vehicles and $1
million a month in sales, the Gamboas still plan to expand. Bob Gamboa
is presently planning an expansion of the 24-employee Roseville store.
"Plus, I'd like to have a fourth location before I retire," said Bob.
