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Recent Columns
- Solving the Tech Shortage: How Conditions, Culture & Compensation Can Help Body Shops Attract & Retain Employees
- From the Desk of Mike Anderson: Reflecting on My Journey in the Collision Repair Industry
- In Reverse: The 1980s – The Advent of the Unibody
- Best Body Shops’ Tips: How to Position Your Collision Repair Shop for Sustainability
- In Reverse: Collision Repair Shops “ARM” Themselves
Ed Attanasio
Ed Attanasio is an automotive journalist based in San Francisco. Ed enjoys sports of all kinds and is a part time stand-up comedian.
He can be reached at era39@aol.com.
Day Job/Night Job: Body Shop Office Manager Racing Toward Her Dreams
Cynthia Torp is the office manager at Classic Autobody in Berkeley, CA--her father's shop--but when she is not coordinating ROIs and DRPs, she is going for the gold in the world of car racing.
You might say she's on a fast track, because Cynthia Torp, 26, surely doesn't travel half-speed with anything she does. Whether it's running the front office at Classic Autobody in Berkeley, CA, or reef diving, riding dirt bikes, river fishing in Montana, or hiking, she goes all-in 24/7. And now, this includes her latest passion: car racing!
Origins of the California Autobody Association as it Celebrates 50 Years
Art D'Angelo, Sr. (third from left) worked as a 3M sales representative for many years before purchasing an existing paint company with two stores. He was the CAA's first president and many consider him the founder as well.
The California Autobody Association (CAA) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year after serving the collision repair industry in the Golden State since 1966.
Grateful Body Shop Owner Ready to Give Back
Jose Esquivel, the owner of Midwest Auto Body in Melrose, IL has survived and thrived by working with family, embracing education and stressing customer service above all.
Jose Esquivel, the owner of Midwest Auto Body in Melrose, IL, entered the collision repair industry at the top--as an owner.
Some Shops Hate Him, but Consumers Love Him: The Wreck Check Story
Wreck Check Car Scan Centers were founded in 1997 by Rocco J. Avellini. The company helps consumers who get shoddy repairs from body shops nationwide.
If someone gets into a car accident, takes their vehicle to a shop, and then later discovers that they are the victim of a shoddy (and possibly unsafe) repair, what is their next step? What if that customer then takes the car back to the same shop and does not get any satisfaction? People all over the country are in this predicament every day, and that is why more and more disgruntled body shop customers are visiting one of 35 Wreck Check Car Scan Centers throughout the U.S. to find answers to their questions and remedy the associated issues.
Looming Supreme Court Ruling Overshadows Week of Hearings
Indoor Advertising Engages Consumers in Prime Locations
Body shops are always looking for a better and affordable way to keep their name in front of their customers.
NJ Body Shop Owner Gets an Offer He Can't Refuse
Shop Owner Joe Rodi came to Italy in 1956 and thanks to a recent sale to Wawa, a large retailer, he will soon be able to return to visit his homeland of Calabria for an extended vacation.
Joseph Rodi, 78, is the owner of Rodi's Auto Body in Cherry Hill, NJ and happy to say that he is living the American Dream. He's proud of his two sons who work in the business and of all the things he has achieved through his shop in its 56 years of existence. And that's why the Rodi family and many members of the community in Cherry Hill were a little concerned when Wawa, a large retailer, started looking at Rodi's property and subsequently approached him to purchase his shop and the strip mall he also owns nearby.
Do Vehicle Wraps Make Sense for Your Shop?
The King of Wraps in San Jose, CA did this wrap that tells a story and uses humor to promote the Waffle Roost in northern California.
You've seen them everywhere and the graphics are pretty spectacular. Food trucks, large 16-wheelers, vans of all sizes and cars of every type now have advertising messages that entice viewers. Some people have allowed companies to put their logos on their daily drivers and paying them handsomely for doing so and this movement is growing fast.
Day Job/Night Job: Mixing Paints During the Day and Cocktails at Night
Sean Fitzgerald is only 33, but he's already owned Phantom Autobody in Jeffersonville, IN for three years now.
Sean Fitzgerald, 33, has a busy work schedule as he balances two jobs--body shop owner and bartender--but he makes it all work because he stresses quality in everything he does. While running the show at Phantom Autobody in Jeffersonville, IN, he is a hands-on owner who still paints most of the vehicles that come into his shop. And after his 10-12 hour days fixing cars and doing custom paint, he is off to work as a bartender to help him pay the bills.
Women Shop Owners and Female Consumers Get Help from AskPatty.com
Jody DeVere established AskPatty.com a decade ago to help women as body shop professionals and also as consumers of automotive repair services.
When a car needs repairs, it's likely that a woman will be bringing it into your shop. Those numbers have climbed over the years, and now the experts claim that 73 percent of all automotive repair customers are female. In 2012, there were more women than men with driver's licenses for the very first time. On top of that, women have become more savvy consumers and can't be bamboozled anymore with technical terms and industry speak.
More...
The Little Things Go a Long Way with Customer Service
Nancy Friedman is known throughout the country as the Telephone Doctor, but she is also a keynote speaker for large automotive companies and a customer service consultant for big corporations. She takes businesses of all sizes that are dropping the ball when it comes to basic customer service and turns them into thoroughbreds. Her clients include CARSTAR, Big O Tires, Goodyear, Tire Pro, Midas, and many other well respected automotive companies around the country.
Best Marketing Techniques to Recruit Top Employees
It's safe to say that every shop owner in the country is well aware of the enormous need for qualified collision repair professionals—from body technicians, painting technicians, estimators and even front office personnel. With fewer technical school programs in our high schools and colleges and a lack of alternative training programs, we’re not currently creating enough new employees to accommodate the need.
Say Hello to Our Little Friend: El Nino!
There are a handful of businesses out there that praise bad weather and celebrate when the big one hits, while most of us cower in fear and prefer staying home. Meteorologists, roofers, storm window companies, and of course, body shops, benefit when different degrees of storms hit all ends of our country.
Marketing Dinosaurs That Should Be Extinct in 2016
In all industries, there are sworn by marketing practices that will eventually become archaic, due to emerging technologies and other factors. Like anything else, times change and things that were working 10-15 years ago are no longer the best path to take.