With mediocre so prevalent — that’s why they call it “average” — sometimes proper collision repair is called or considered premium. And it makes some sense since it’s how people tend to buy. Doing it right can be the place customer pay begins.
Scottsdale Collision Center’s main repair site is in Phoenix — 20,000 square feet in two buildings — with a smaller one of about 3,000 square feet in Tempe. But a few years ago, Oscar Granados opened a third location in Scottsdale — the “right side of the tracks” so to speak — to capture higher-dollar work.
“People see ‘south Tempe’ in the address and say, ‘we’d rather go to Scottsdale,’” Granados said. “I need to be in that area. Tickets are higher, $1,000 to $2,000 more per vehicle.”
Scottsdale Collision gets five to 10 cars a week from its sexier location, and here’s where Granados is really killing it: his third location is just that: location, location, location. It’s a storefront; he does no repairs or work there.
“Overhead is extremely low, and it’s more convenient,” he said. “People don’t care where their car is fixed,” but how far they have to go to do it.
Isn’t It Just a Concierge?
That means distance and perception — remember how safe and skilled repair creates an even higher view.
It got him into a high-end lifestyle magazine, AZ Foothills, of the sort read by the clients he sought.
A technician at Scottsdale Collision Center finishes wrapping a vehicle.
Competitors are trying the same thing: Arizona Collision Center, also in Tempe, headlines its website with “Scottsdale Body Shop” and pops up along with several others on a web search with “Scottsdale” among the terms.
OK, there’s nothing new about a concierge drop-off. But shops don’t necessarily need “new” — you want a move, sometimes literally, to be effective. The point here is partly intention. It adds to the concierge concept, with an additional twist.
Granados’ indie MSO with no DRPs — “no ties with anyone to get business through the door; insurance is my biggest competitor” — means he’s always after an angle. Now, when insurers tell Scottsdale drivers in a $2 million home to go to cheaper climes, they still might look for a local shop.
It sounds closer and nicer and like home, and in a third helpful tweak, sometimes not even for people who live there. Customers come in all commerce sizes: some will pay for that appearance factor.
“We were getting a lot of calls, they’d be a mile from the shop, and they’d rather go to Penske in Scottsdale,” Granados said. “Tempe / Scottsdale is two different animals, and they’re not going to Tempe.”
‘Get Creative’ with Marketing, the Universe, Everything
Granados names other chains, too.
“Crash Champions, massive facility, right next to Caliber, next to another, next to Penske. We have to get creative.”
He means marketing: Google and social media, the occasional comment for TV news, community car care classes, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. But it applies to whatever Scottsdale Collision Center does: “a strong intake team, sales reps for fleet accounts — anything to battle the insurance companies,” including the “movie façade” storefront.
Other initiatives average — an in-house mechanic for add-on service — and aesthetic: Scottsdale does tints, wraps and decals, all in-house. The work works in especially well for fleets. Granados is moving that to the smaller Tempe site for efficiency.
Overall he cites “fleets, family, friendship” — including in there his 15 to 20 employees — as a guide.
Sometimes, all this creativity means doing less. Or “focus” as it’s popularly known — if not always done.
“We just cut back our marketing by quite a bit; we were spending too much, all over the place. Got a little marketing happy,” Granados said.
Paul Hughes