During Texas Auto Body Trade Show

A variety of educational classes were held during the Texas Auto Body Trade Show featuring top industry speakers from around the country.

Here are highlights from some of the presentations that took place at the event, held Aug. 26-27 in Irving, TX, and hosted by the Auto Body Association of Texas (ABAT.)

Repair Planning to Earn the Vehicle Owner’s Trust

Danny Gredinberg, administrator of the Database Enhancement Gateway (DEG), said the show was well laid out between the exhibitor area and the education areas.

“I especially loved the competition involving estimating,” said Gredinberg, who was one of three judges of the competition alongside Robert Grieve, owner of Nylunds Collision, and Logan Payne, manager of Payne & Sons Paint & Body Shop in Dallas, TX.

Gredinberg said the educational classes were packed, and attendees were hungry for education. In his presentation, “Repair Planning Using the DEG and OEM Owners Manuals to Earn the Vehicle Owner’s Trust,” Gredinberg shared tools to find out why critical operations may need to be performed using information form the owners’ manuals, and why it may not be an included operation.

“It’s always nice to see unfamiliar faces and owners/managers bringing their team to learn different approaches and using new tools and resources in the repair planning process,” he said. “I especially love the honesty when someone acknowledges something they want to change and work on using the free resources from DEG, as well as incorporating the use of owners’ manuals as part of their research.”

During his presentation, Gredinberg noted “vehicle owners trust us, the repairers, to perform repairs the right way.”

As a result, he said repair professionals need to do a better job gaining the trust of both the customer and bill payers when presenting the repair plan.

“We need to accept the fact we cannot fix everything that comes through our doors and its OK to simply say ‘no’ if you are not properly trained and/or equipped to perform safe and proper repairs,” said Gredinberg.

Approaching Out-of-Pocket Costs Above Deductibles with Customers Payne said he was happy to see high attendance at the trade show. “As a business owner, I know how hard it

is to attend out-of-office educational events,” he said. “I also know that it is pertinent to understanding your industry fully.”

He said collaborating with people in the industry always moves the needle of success forward. “Shop owners and employees stand to gain valuable and workable information at trade shows like ABAT,” he said.

As a presenter at the event, Payne talked about “Insurer vs. Customer: Who Pays? How to Approach Out-of-Pocket Costs Above Deductibles with Customers.” The discussion included labor rate and parts price differences, labor shortages and dealing with insurers. Payne also talked about how to approach out-of-pocket costs above deductibles with customers, and the importance of having a conversation when an insurer is unwilling to pay the cost of a repair and still keep the customer satisfied.

“Communication and transparency are key,” said Payne. “Our customers are an active part of the repair process from the moment they contact us. We work for them, not their insurance company.”

By conducting business this way, Payne said the hope is they not only get the best quality, but also a better understanding of the repair process and associated costs.

Payne also shared his belief that knowledge is power. “The more our customers know, the better working relationship we have,” he said. “The ‘awkward’ gets pushed out pretty quickly once it’s understood that we are here to make sure their repaired car is as safe as possible.”

Economics 101: What EXACTLY is a Prevailing Rate?

Tim Ronak, senior services consultant for AkzoNobel, said the ABAT conference and trade show was one of the most passionate groups he has had the privilege of being invited to present at. “For me, participation has become one of the highlights of my year to be able to contribute to the collision industry in a meaningful way,” he said. During the event, Ronak gave a presentation on “Economics

101: What EXACTLY is a Prevailing Rate?” “The current geopolitical, economic pressures have fueled historic inflationary pressures while driving unemployment to record lows,” said Ronak. This has resulted in an environment of scarce labor resources in the midst of the Great Resignation. During his presentation, Ronak shared information about how shop owners can create a reimbursement model that permits funding qualified staff in a way that keeps them engaged and employed. He also talked about ways shops can price themselves in a market and avoid antitrust complications when updating or engaging in market surveys. “It is important to recognize Tradeshow attendees had the opportunity to listen to a that inflation affects everyone, reTech Shortage Panel featuring Dave Kindig of “Bitchin’ gardless of position or income,” notRides,” Greg Luther of Helfman Collision, Amber Ritter of the Collision Repair Education Foundation, Dave Robinette of I-CAR and Raven Hartkopf of Collin College. ed Ronak. “Knowing that costs have risen at least 15% over the last two It was moderated by Tim Ronak of AkzoNobel years should force employers to reflect and ask themselves if they have created an environment where their YOUR ASSURANCE OF QUALITY www.capacertified.org