Recent Columns
- John Eagle Collision Center Faced Consequences for Not Following OEM Repair Procedures
- Glue Pulling Repair Becoming More Commonly Used in Auto Body Shops
- CIC Committee Looking at How Estimates End Up on Vehicle History Reports
- Heidi Foster at Crash Champions is In It to Win It
- 3M Offering Specialized Products, Training, Support to Collision Repair Shops to Help Drive Profit Efficiencies
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On a recent Saturday my brothers and I and our families did some serious catch-up on Dad's place. A widower of 88 years, until severe osteoporosis limited his activities he kept his place prim and proper. Lawnmowers, pruning shears, and the like over a four-hour period, though, pretty well brought it back to its former state. In the process we also cleaned out a rag-tag accumulation of junk overhead in his garage. Among the clutter, an empty dynamite box dated 1953 brought back memories of a time soon after WW2, in which tractors were scarce and dynamite was relatively cheap, when we'd watch Dad blast stumps from our 20 acres. He learned the art of using the right amount and correct placement of dynamite while mining in his late teens.
Delay: the road to ruin
It's been said "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." I would add, "The road to ruin is paved with good intentions."
Why is a body shop like a fruit stand?
Larry Edwards says collision repair shop owners could think of themselves as produce managers in a grocery store.
From my perspective, ASA's official response to the Allstate Insurance buyout of Sterling Consolidators is a weak effort at appeasement of concerned/infuriated collision repair members of that Association. This response, obviously aimed at alienating as few as possible of their collision and insurer constituents and associates, reads: "ASA ardently supports consumers' unequivocal right to choose their collision repair facilities. ASA has grave concerns with controlling ownership of collision repair facilities by insurance companies. We are uncertain that the economic interests or the safety requirements of the American driving public can best be served by this type of vertical relationship.
Seven Opponents of Highly Effective Marketing
I have recently finished re-reading Stephen Covey's excellent book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" (Simon & Schuster Fireside Book, 1990). As I read through Covey's basic principles of personal vision, leadership, management, communication, cooperation, renewal and interdependence, it occurred to me that for every positive trait, there is an equal and opposite negative trait.
There's been a lot of insolent crowing and misguided arrows over the issue of insurer ownership of collision shops, the Allstate/Sterling Consolidation presently holding center stage. To give their questionable venture a hint of correctness, Allstate's V.P., Chuck Paul, recently announced, "Your (collision repair) industry is fragmented; less than 10% of your shops do a million in sales annually" (as if shop stability could be measured only in millions; also neglecting to mention that his insurance industry has systematically worked to keep the collision industry "fragmented," to their advantage). Continuing, he reasoned since "car insurance is mature" and "there is no organic growth in this (insurance) business," Allstate's only avenue to expand and increase its market share is through buying into collision repair shops through consolidations such as Sterling. I feel much better knowing they had no choice!
Exercise your creativity muscle
"Failure to flex our imaginative muscles is as deplorable as breaking down our physical strength through lack of proper exercise." -- Walt E. Disney
When insurers own shops: What it all means
On the surface, it probably looked like a very minor agenda item to the members of the zoning board of Blue Island, Ill., a suburb just south of Chicago. After all, the board was just being asked to grant a "special site permit" for a new 16,000-square-foot collision repair shop - not the sort of thing that generally attracts much interest in the community, let alone turn-out for the zoning board's meeting.
Recycled parts issues take center stage at CIC meeting
Used or "recyclable" parts were the focus of discussion during a number of other presentations at the Collision Industry Conference (CIC) held in mid-March in Nashville, Tennessee.
I believe the following quotes, all drawn from notes sent to me regarding articles I've written, are indicative of deep-seated convictions held by a growing number of collision repairers. Many repairers, especially DRP shops, are fearful of retribution by their insurance customers and won't speak their minds publicly (but they'll write to me). Here then, are their thoughts from my correspondence and other sources as noted.
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Internal information vital to problem solving
How's this for a wild claim -- a consultant with whom I'm acquainted would guarantee to solve any company's problems if they would allow him unlimited access to question every employee without revealing or reporting to management who said what during his interviews. Well, maybe it isn't such a wild claim.
Build a powerful database
Insurers to offer more service; drive down severity
He laughs when he's asked about Progressive's "Concierge" program. His shop has participated in this DRP program's trial run since last fall. "It makes me think of a twist on that old Oldsmobile ad slogan: 'This is not your father's DRP'," said the second-generation East Coast shop owner who spoke about the Progressive program on the condition that neither his real name nor his business location (not even the state) be revealed.
It's time for the third installment to Barons In The Buff, a collage of candid quotes from the mind-trust of insurer and associates wit and wisdom. Barons In The Buff simply re-quotes some of their stand-alone statements, untouched except for occasional clarification or comment. Want to contribute?… Send your gems to my address listed at the end of this article - no fabricated or embellished quips, please: What men say is often stranger than fiction. So sit back and have a good laugh, remembering that "A merry heart does good like medicine."