The MSO Project - June 2020 by EndeavorBusinessMedia-VehicleRepairGroup

BECOME YOUR CLIENT’S

SEGMENT YOUR SHOPS FOR

BEST ADVOCATE

INCREASED EFFICIENCY

PAGE 18

PAGE 22

S T R AT E G I E S A N D I N S P I R AT I O N F O R M S O S U C C E S S

DOES YOUR TEAM

WORK AS ONE? PAGE 29

JUNE 2020

MARKETING

IN 2020

How to expand your reach—and customer base—with social media PAGE 12

Social icon

Circle Only use blue and/or white. For more details check out our Brand Guidelines.

Brought to you by:

Sponsored by

GROWTH PLAN

29 | Let it Process

Refining processes gets staffs working in unison

JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

WHO’S BUYING

ACQUISITIONS Ford aluminum certified. The body shop has OEM certifications including Ford, Nissan, Acura, Honda, Hyundai, Chrysler, GM, Fiat and Kia. APRIL

CLASSIC COLLISION ACQUIRES PALM COLLISION CENTER Classic Collision acquired Palm Center Collision in the South Florida region. With this acquisition, Classic Collision now has eight locations in the South Florida region. The addition of the Palm Collision Center to the Classic family will increase the footprint to 35 shops in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina and add 14 new employees to the Classic team.

CARSTAR announced the opening of CARSTAR John’s Body Shop in northwest Washington, in Poulsbo. The facility opened as John’s Bodyworks in 1978 by John Ball. John’s nephew, Joel Hanson, grew up in this repair center, which sparked his interest for collision repair.

CRASH CHAMPIONS ACQUIRES THREE OHIO BODY SHOPS Tom Carpenter, owner of three Auto Body Collision & Glass locations, sold the business after 30 years to Chicago-based Crash Champions. Auto Body Collision & Glass’s 60 employees across the 6

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

three sites are expected to stay with the new owner.

FIX AUTO EXPANDS INTO OHIO Fix Auto Columbus recently became Fix Auto USA’s inaugural location in the Columbus, Ohio market. “We made the decision to align our business with Fix Auto USA because, as we expand our operations, we wanted to do so with the support and strength of a recognizable and trusted brand.And we know Fix Auto USA provides that,” said Fix Auto Columbus general manager Rex Slaughter. MARCH

ABLE BODY SHOP ACQUIRES SPRUCE PARK AUTO BODY Spruce Park Auto Body has

been in business in Anchorage, Alaska for 57 years. In the coming months, Able Body Shop Midtown is set to relocate to the Spruce Park Auto Body location at 1730 E Dowling Rd, just a half a mile from the current Able Body Shop Midtown location.

PRECISION COLLISION CENTER ACQUIRES MO. BODY SHOP Precision Collision Center recently acquired KCI Collision Center in Platte City, Mo. Chris Jones, owner of Precision Collision Center, owns two other locations in Pleasant Valley and Gladstone, Mo. Precision Collision Center has certifications including I-CAR Gold, Honda and Acura ProFirst, Ford, Assured Performance and

DRIVEN BRANDS ACQUIRES FIX AUTO USA, AUTO CENTER BODY INC Driven Brands announced its acquisition of Fix Auto USA and Auto Center Auto Body, Inc, according to an internal company statement, obtained by FenderBender and issued by Michael Macaluso, a top executive with Driven Brands who oversees its collision repair vertical. Fix Auto USA and Auto Center Auto Body are headquartered in San Diego,Calif., and concentrated on the West Coast. Fix Auto USA (FUSA) has 150 franchise locations and ACAB has 10 company-owned locations. FUSA and ACAB will retain their current branding, and the acquisition excludes Fix Auto Canada locations.

COURTESY CARSTAR

FE BRUARY

CARSTAR OPENS LOCATION IN NORTHWEST WASH.

ONE TOOL TO RULE THEM ALL

T H E M O S T E F F I C I E N T WAY T O I M P R O V E B U S I N E S S

Gain access to business-building podcasts, videos, articles and more. All in one spot. Wherever you go.

P ODCASTS

V ID E OS

ART ICLES

FENDERBENDER

FB TO GO APP

AND

DOWNLOAD FOR FREE IN APP STORES FOR

ANDROID AND iOS SPONSORED BY

EDITOR’S LETTER

Stay Focused

REMEMBERING YOUR “WHY” IS KEY TO FUTURE SUCCESS As you read this, depending where you live, there’s a good chance that life is beginning to open up again. I am writing this on my first day back at the 10 Missions Media office. It feels great to be back, working at my desk, surrounded by colleagues, instead of alone in my one-bedroom apartment. In some ways, life feels fundamentally different than it did when I last worked in the office. But on the other hand, here I am again, finishing up final edits on the June issue and writing my editor’s letter, just as I do every month. The more things change, the more they stay the same, right? Many of you might be feeling the same way: That although the world is currently different, our job—in your case, to help people get back on the road and on with their lives—remains unchanged. That job is one of the few things you can control right now, and it’s a worthy one to take seriously and on which to stay focused. It will, after all, be the key to not only getting through these difficult times, but also seeing it as an opportunity for setting your operation up for continued success. You have a real opportunity to show your customers just how much you care about them, and the measures you take not just now, but every day, to keep them safe. You have a story to tell, and there’s an audience more willing to hear it now than ever. In this issue of The MSO Project, you’ll find plenty of stores of how to do just that. From social media marketing to educating customers and implementing better processes, I hope that you’ll find value in the stories and inspiration for improving an aspect of your business. Now’s certainly the time to do just that. 8

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

Anna Zeck Editorial Director The MSO Project

FOLLOW FOLLOW WHAT WHAT THE THE LEADERS LEADERS FOLLOW. FOLLOW. CONNECT T HCE OLNANT E C ST T H E L AT E S T

WITH FENDERBENDER FOR C LIF SE I ONND ERREBPEAN I RD ECRO N T ERN T WO I TLH FO C O L L I S I O N R E PA I R C O N T E N T

TRENDS+ANALYSIS

Take Your Training Online

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS MADE ONLINE TRAINING AS INVALUABLE AS EVER The COVID-19 virus hit the U.S. hard in early March and quickly caused schools, restaurants and bars to close across the U.S. and the globe. It was declared a global pandemic, which caused fear and uncertainty. States across the country turned to social distancing practices and shelter-in-place policies. You probably remember it well. A report from the Wall Street Journal at the beginning of the pandemic announced dealerships in Europe started closing their doors early on. Since then, auto plants in the U.S. have shut down operations and have started using production to make medical supplies like gowns, face masks and shields. MSOs like Service King have moved to take measures to temporarily consolidate business as well. So, it’s a good time to start preparing for all possibilities of work, including work that uses social distancing. In response to the events, some organizations have announced plans to provide online training so shops do not fall behind or lose certifications. As a body shop owner, you should always be prepared for the event of a disaster and equip your MSO to continue running effectively during those times. S/P2 is one example of a training company that instead of 10

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

in-person training, has offered environmental and health and safety training, and human resources training all online since 2002, says Kyle Holt, president of S/P2. The Universal Technical Institute (UTI) initially announced that while it will assess the situation and continue to make decisions for the well-being of its staff and students, it will be using the company’s website, uti.edu, and uti.edu/covid-19, to provide updates. Then, it updated its policy and moved all classes at its 13 campuses to online only. UTI gave all students the option to pause their education without losing credits, tuition or their place in school. “It’s a brave new world and we’ll be feeling the ramifications for years to come,” Holt says. “We’ll be having new technicians coming out of school that lost two or three months of training and handson education. We better get much better at caring for on the job training for young technicians over the next couple of years.” During tough economic times, a body shop should focus on keeping production moving forward, Holt recommends. However, if business slows down and people are stuck in one place, it is a good time to stay updated remotely on training. When it comes to training for your shop, here are ways that can be done remotely.

GETTY IMAGES

BY MELISSA STEINKEN

RESOURCES FOR ONLINE TRAINING

Many training companies offer online training resources. For example, Polyvance offers collision repair technicians the option for plastic repair training through its smartphone app. Polyvance is not the only one. Holt says shop operators will need to plan ahead for the type of internet and WiFi available to their staff. There are still people with limited access to the internet. So, if shop operators look to supplement downtime and social distancing with online training, they should take into account which companies offer mobile-friendly services along with computer services.

S/P2

S/P2 offers online training courses for automotive service, collision repair and refinish, heavy duty/diesel and welding technicians.

AUTOMOTIVE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE

The AMI offers online courses for the wiTECH Diagnostic system.

POLYVANCE

Polyvance has a library of video tutorials

and instructions on plastic welding, bumper repair, paint repair, equipment maintenance, dashboard repair, and more. The company advances the technology of polymer reair and also offers an online estimating course for repairers.

BASF

The paint company, BASF, offers eLearning modules for collision and restoration shops. Glasurit and R-M re-certification were the first courses to go digital. Certified technicians whose two-year certification is set to soon expire can log on, take the appropriate course through online learning modules, and have their certification renewed immediately.

HUNTER

Hunter Engineering offers Hunter University, an online self-study program for technicians and industry professionals for training on alignments, tire service, and road force balancing techniques .

ALLDATA

In 2012, ALLDATA launched an online training site for collision repairers and automotive technicians. It started with the ALLDATA Training Garage.

The site offers resources like color wiring diagrams and OEM diagrams.

SNAP-ON

The diagnostic tool and repair company offers training videos for every tool at no charge.

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS

Technicians can access MotoSkill Shop Tech Training to access classes on diesel, hybrid, diagnostics, management and more. “For career and technical programs, many students are being forced to go to remote learning and I think that’s going to cause a really strained ripple in auto service, collision and diesel industries when you have to put your hands on a car to learn,” Holt says. Holt says that, when the economy takes a hit, often, more students turn to technical programs because they will provide an income and a steady career. “I believe we’ll see a bump in students entering technical programs in the next two or three years,” Holt says, “but we probably won’t see them in the body shops for another four years or so.” JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

Shifting

Marketing Trends If leaders adapt to changes in marketing, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be able to stay in front of customers

By MELISSA STEINKEN

rowth during 2020 for MSO leaders is more important than ever before. The year has presented undeniable challenges, including the COVID-19 virus outbreak that has caused widespread shutdowns of economies. Fortunately, the auto repair industry was deemed essential during the unprecedented times, which helped keep countless shops in business. To grow as a leader, even during uncertain times, you need to love what you’re doing, says Eric Olhava, senior vice president of operations for Gerber Collision & Glass. Olhava stresses that leaders need to be people-oriented (not simply customer-oriented) but also responsive to employees and business partners. “That means carefully listening to [employees and business partners] and then adapting to their needs,” Olhava says. While some businesses may have seen setbacks in revenue during these times, MSOs have shown they continue to grow. Recently, Driven Brands acquired Fix Auto USA and Auto Center Auto Body Inc. Fix Auto USA and Auto Center Auto Body are headquartered in San Diego, Calif., and concentrated on the West Coast. Fix Auto USA (FUSA) has 150 franchise locations and ACAB has 10 company-owned locations. It’s not a surprise that 2020 has brought unexpected changes and challenges for leaders of MSOs. It’s a year of evolution and will continue to make an impact longterm, due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Now, in the wake of these changes, it’s time for collision repair operators to take a hard look at how they’re leading communication with their teams and their plans for social media and marketing in the months ahead.

GETTY IMAGES

Leading a Team Internally Communication is evolving in body shops. During COVID-19, MSO body shops most likely had to look towards solutions like consolidating teams and shops to keep the business afloat. For example, Service King temporarily consolidated its footprint and had 305 locations open to serve its customers and carrier partners. At full capacity, the large MSO operates approximately 350 locations across 24 U.S. states.

To combat uncertainty, the MSO has built a cadence of communicating with its team members on a regular basis, says Sean Huruman, chief human resources officer for Service King. Twice per week, the MSO sends out a newsletter to its team with information strictly related to the developing events surrounding COVID-19. The MSO found that it was also important to not only email that information to

body shops but also send it out to employees via text message. Text messages provide a way for technicians in the back-end of the shop to receive the information as well if they don’t have access to email. It also opened up a path for the MSO to communicate with technicians directly without having to convey updates only through the body shop’s general manager. When it comes to staying in touch with the leadership teams at Service King, the company utilizes platforms like Microsoft Teams and Lifesize to video chat. The videos help the team stay connected even while working remotely for a long period of time. “I think the most important thing leaders can do is to be communicate and be honest,” says Paul Gange, Fix Auto USA CEO. “Our employees are human and this is a scary time that is stress inducing so we can’t ignore the human factor.” At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Gange says the leadership team at Fix Auto met twice per day via Zoom video meetings because he feels it’s important to see each other and talk as close to face-to-face as possible. And, the MSO implemented a regional group chat program. Every region of Fix Auto USA body shops has a chat profile or chat group they can talk to. As of mid-April, there were between 100 and 150 messages exchanged each day. Additionally, the MSO utilized the mobile app WhatsApp to host these regional chats.

JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

FEATURE

Shifting Social Media Strategy When the coronavirus pandemic rolled in, marketing strategies for MSO body shops changed in the blink of an eye. Most MSOs became more focused on the “people” aspect of their message, and companies like Fix Auto USA had to develop a new strategy in light of how viewership changed. For example, Gange says Fix Auto switched from advertising on a lot of major league sports channels including baseball and basketball to focusing on how to market to the customers that were now watching more news coverage. The MSO made the decision to freeze consumer advertising in light of the events. Other social media and marketing platform strategies had to be reevaluated as well. There was less traffic on review sites like Yelp and Google Reviews because there are less people driving around and reviewing companies on those sites. On the company’s website, Fix Auto made it a priority to be transparent about its new sanitization and cleanliness practices in the store across all its websites and web platforms. And, the company focused on pushing urgent COVID-19 messages out to more recent body shop customers. If the team messages every customer in its database ever, even the ones that

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

hadn’t been at the shop for six year, it could be overwhelming to the customer. After all, the customer is receiving a lot of updates from various customer-facing brands at the moment. Overall, social media for body shops should now be centered around appealing to the customer’s humanity and showing the customer that it’s a brand that not only cares about its practices but follows through on those practices.

GETTY IMAGES

2020 Social Media Trends Let’s pivot to Amazon. During the coronavirus outbreak, Amazon, like many other companies including body shops, changed its social media message to the public. All of a sudden, consumers were seeing targeted ads about how the company was still serving the public while practicing CDC guidelines like social distancing and washing hands. Yet, soon after those commercials and ad campaigns, Amazon employees were spilling the message that the company was not delivering on its promise. On April 24, hundreds of Amazon employees called out sick to protest what they call are unsafe working conditions, according to a NBC report. The employees reported that there are departments and spots where workers can’t even keep two feet of social distance and that the company was not informing its workers when people tested positive for the coronavirus. With more and more people stuck at home, more and more people are engaging at the social media level with each other and more importantly, with brands, says Olivia Henslet, founder of Smart Marketing. Hensley predicts that for the rest of 2020 and 2021, there will be a huge shift in social media marketing and it will include no longer simply pushing an advertisement in front of people on those platforms. “We were already kind of seeing this trend because we know the younger

generation is far more apt to buy into a company that has some sort of empathy to a cause,” she says. Now, body shops are going to need to focus on branding with the “we care” model in mind. Shops are going to need to show customers that they care about the communities they serve. For example, if a body shop has a routine of buying lunch for its team once a week, Hensley recommends the shop supporting a local restaurant when it does. Then, the shop should post a picture of the team or the food and tag the local business in its post on Facebook and Instagram. Body shops don’t need to go into crazy social media plans in order to keep up with changes, but they need to take little steps to stay connected to their market. Ulimately, it’s important for shops to present a brand and a message that’s 100 percent genuine during these times.

Social icon

Circle Only use blue and/or white. For more details check out our Brand Guidelines.

JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND THE FENDERBENDER MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE?

I love being in an environment where I’m not the smartest

person in the room; where I can learn from other experienced operators. The benefit of

attending the FenderBender Management Conference

is simply being able to rub

shoulders with people who have been doing this for longer and

have exceptional ideas to share.

KEVIN RAINS • Conference Speaker, 2020 • Owner, Rains CARSTAR Group

September 14–16, 2020

Hyatt Regency Minneapolis

2020

C O N N E C T. T H R I V E . G R O W. The FenderBender Management Conference is a three-day, annual event to provide collision repair shop owners and operators with the knowledge, networking, motivation and tangible strategies to push their businesses forward.

SEE WHAT’S NEW AT FENDERBENDERCONFERENCE.COM THE AGENDA • SPEAKERS • AND MORE!

BUSINESS BUILDING

Referral Collision Location:

Shakopee, Minn. Owner:

Securing a Satellite Shop

A DEDICATED SHOP FOR PICKUPS AND DELIVERIES CAN LEAD TO UPSELLING OPPORTUNITIES BY MELISSA STEINKEN

Say it’s a busy time for one of your body shop locations and a slow time for the other location. Guess what? You can distribute some of the busy work to the location that’s slower. But, wait. In order to load-level, or move jobs around based on car count capacity, you need to have the proper systems in place. As an MSO, load-leveling the work can be very beneficial. It balances out the work. Not only does it relieve some of the pressure from your team, opening a satellite location where cars are simply delivered and picked-up at, can open an opportunity to upsell to the customer, says Greg Downer, general manager at Referral Collision in Shakopee, Minn. “It’s surprising how much work can be sold when the staff takes time to ask,” Downer says. After one year in business, the team at Referral Collision, decided to look for another location that was bigger in square footage and could accommodate more work. The team found another facility but decided to keep the original location and create a satellite location for customers. “It was born out of opportunity and then we realized we had this other facility that we could now use to create another avenue of sales,” Downer says. A satellite shop is a chance for a body shop to deliver a car in a well-lit, heated and comfortable space. Essentially, the shop operator can sell the car back to the customer during this time.

The owners of Referral Collision, Jesse and Cathy Ruhmann, opened their first body shop location in 2015. The facility consisted of a customer service area and a shop floor of about 5,000 square feet. The building also had 1,000 square feet of office space and 4,000 square feet of production space. In total, the team was working out of an 8,000 square foot building. Yet, within one year the team was quickly working on more cars and needed more production space. A new body shop location opened up for sale and the team jumped at the chance to move production to the new, 16,000 square-foot facility, Downer says. 18

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

Size:

8,000 square feet (call center) Staff:

12 (2 owners, 1 front office, 2 at call center, 1 parts manager, 6 backend technicians) Monthly Car Count:

95-110 depending on heavy hits Annual Revenue:

$2.5 million

The team saw the opportunity as a way to ease the customer concerns and not have them see as many damaged vehicles sitting in a lot.

THE PROBLEM

Downer says that while opening the production-only facility a block down from the shop’s original location helped the team revamp its customer service game, there was one obstacle while making the transition: communication. “Communication is by far the biggest hurdle,” Downer says. In order to get a call center to run smoothly, a body shop team has to be communicating properly, Downer says.

COURTESY REFERRAL COLLISION

THE BACKSTORY

Jesse and Cathy Ruhmann

HOW TO SET UP A A new call sateelite location is separate from the production facility and thus, two teams are divided when it comes to information. Downer realized he needed his staff member that was taking down the customer information during intake of the vehicle, to properly relay all of that information when the car arrived at the production shop.

THE SOLUTION

SATELLITE LOCATION

Greg Downer, general manager for Referral Collision in Shakopee, Minn., shares how any body shop owner can build an efficient call center.

STEP 1 Stay within a certain mile radius of the original facility.

Downer and his staff at the satellite shop have created a check-in sheet in order to keep track of the customer’s information. When the customer drops off a car, the employee will walk around it with the customer to assess the damage and capture the damaged work, unrelated damage and any upsell items on the car. Then, the document is placed in the car’s folder and taken with the car to the production facility. To go a further step, Downer’s team will take the check-in sheet, make a photocopy and hang the photocopy on a window sticker in the customer’s car so it sticks to the window. To eliminate any other communication concerns that arise, the team has an open communication policy. The staff at the satellite facility will email, text or call with any customer information depending on the urgency of the information and vice versa. The phone lines are linked between the two locations. “Even if the front office is with customers at the original facility, we can pick up the call in the back end here as well,” he says.

Downer recommends finding a satellite

THE TAKEAWAY

Simply ask the customer if they’d like to

“If you can get a communication process down correctly, then you can make sure the hub and spoke of the body shops are working in tandem,” Downer says. To keep cost and processes streamlined, Downer has an employee that does all car washing, detailing, buffing and porter tasks for the shops.

center building within a 10-mile radius of the original body shop. Even if the center is close to the body shop, it allows the body shop to pull customers from another 10-mile radius surrounding its location and that will increase the marketing area for the business.

STEP 2 Find a smaller facility, if possible. Find a location that is small so that the overhead cost remains small. Downer says to look for about 4,000 to 5,000 square feet in a building. The building should be able to hold one bay for delivery and pickup and an office space.

STEP 3 Try not to hire on a lot of staff. A satellite shop only needs to be staffed with about two to three people, Downer says. There should be someone at the front office who can work the phones and then someone who can interact and walkaround the car with the customer.

STEP 4 Keep asking about more services. add on a service, Downer says. His team offers additional premium detail packages and a window tint service. If the customer is getting front bumper work done for example, Downer says to offer a service like a protectant coat. For every 10 customers that come into the shop, one customer will accept an additional service.

JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

BUSINESS BUILDING

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

Educate the Customer

SIMPLY LISTING A SHOP’S OEM CERTIFICATIONS IS NO LONGER ENOUGH TO GENERATE NEW CUSTOMERS The biggest mistake Tom Zoebelein sees body shop owners make is believing that, once they are OEM certified, they’re done. That’s it. There’s no next step. That, he says, is a mistake. Zoebelein, owner of Stratosphere Studio, an internet marketing service for body shops, says one common mistake keeping MSOs from standing out from each other lies within the OEM certification. When an MSO takes the time to educate the customers on why the shop being OEM certified is a differentiator for the business, then the MSO will stand out from some of its corporate or franchise competitors. Zoebelein has over 15 years of experience with consulting with body shops on marketing matters. Today, he sees one question being asked often but without an answer: How do shops leverage OEM certifications to customers?

First, focus on writing industry content for the customer. When you start di-

GETTY IMAGES

gesting information learned through an I-CAR class for example, you need to stop and think about how you’re going to present this information to the customer. The customer has not gone through the same training and does not have the same background knowledge as a body shop expert. Instead, you need to take that I-CAR information and write it for the customer. Phrase it into a way that tells the customer why he or she won’t get the same repair as the body shop down the street.

Second, explain industry jargon. When writing about the service on the website, make sure to write about how the service will ultimately help the customer. For example, write about what a customer can look for when it comes to a clear coat that’s blended and whether to tell if it’s done correctly or not. Or, give advice on what to look for when

If a customer goes to the website for Mid Island Collision Repair, he or she will first see an image of a couple embracing each other and the words, “Your Safety is Our Priority.” Before the customer sees any other words or offers of any services, the body shop is making a point about safety. This small image and wording is what makes Mid Island Collision Repair stand out from other body shops, according to Zoebelein. Customers are seeing information about OEM certifications but they are essentially getting information on a part of the repair no one is even aware they need to know about, he notes. Zoebelein shares his tips to educate customers on OEM certifications and make an MSO stand out as one that cares about more than just the repair or the sale, but about customers’ safety at every point of a repair. AS TOLD TO MELISSA STEINK EN

searching for a body shop. Remember to use less collision repair vocabulary and write in general terms. Third, remember that your body shop website is getting found. Your website is

getting clicks and people are going to it. The question remains, “What do you want people to find once they get there?” If you repair mostly Subarus and BMWs then you want to focus the information on those types of cars. Write blog posts about the repairs done on those cars so that a customer can find specific information or answers to their questions. Fourth, stop simply posting an OEM logo onto the website. If a customer sees a

sign or a logo that says you are OEM certified, there is a very high chance that customer won’t know what it means. Maybe they’re thinking, “What is an OEM?” When writing about the OEM certification that your shop received, you need

to phrase the post into how the certification benefits customers. Once a customer clicks through the button to “learn more” on the Mid Island Collision Repair website, he or she will be able to read not only about the number of OEM certifications the shop has but about how an OEM certified repair means the technician is only using equipment mandated by the manufacturer. Fifth, track the ROI of educating the customer. Once you’ve changed the wording

on your website, it’s key to track that customers are clicking on your site’s educational posts. When websites house contact information and information about services, the shop is likely to see a 7 percent conversion rate. If the shop can get one of the customers to convert to clicking through the homepage onto a blog, aat least percent of the time that customer turns into a lead or calls the shop. JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

BUSINESS BUILDING

Segmenting Your Staff

SEGMENTING FRONT-END AND BACK-END STAFF CAN LEAD TO A MORE EFFICIENT PROCESS Keith Myer’s “ah-ha moment” came in the early 2000s when he realized that if he wanted to continue to grow his body shop, Eurotech Refinishing and Collision, he had to do something different to the repair process. So, Myers, CEO of the two body shop locations in Bellflower, Calif., and Cerritos, Calif., began working on a repair process and pay structure that was different than the traditional commision model. Over the years, growth for the body shop has remained fairly steady with 10–15 percent growth in the last few years. “It took time to deconstruct the process and recreate it in segments, similar to a manufacturing process,” Myers says. “But the key to making it work was moving from commision pay to hourly pay.” Myers isn’t the only MSO body shop owner who has constructed 22

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

a new way to segment technicians in the body shop. Bill Condron, a fixed operations director that oversees two collision centers for Sawgrass Ford in Sunrise, Fla., has also stepped out of the box of the traditional technician structure. Condron says his two body shops are surrounded by 400 other repair facilities in southern Florida. So, he saw a need for his team to set itself apart in terms of the front office structure and routine. Condron has succeeded in creating a body shop centered on excellent customer service. In fact, the shop has a 4.8-star rating out of almost 4,000 reviews and a 4.5 rating on Carwise. The body shop also brings in approximately $11 million in annual revenue between the two locations. Myers and Condron guide readers through how they structured their facilities for standout success.

GETTY IMAGES

BY MELISSA STEINKEN

BACK-END RESTRUCTURING

Myers opened his body shop in 1988. As it continued to grow, an issue developed. He found it difficult to find technicians who were good at all aspects of the repair process, including mechanical work, structural repair, body work and reassembly. And, as cars continued to become more complex with new technologies, Myers realized the search for technicians who could handle all aspects of repairs would continue being difficult. In 2002, Myers launched a new process for his shop floor. Instead of a technician being required to be proficient in all aspects of the repair process, everyone on the shop floor became an expert in a specific part of the process.

BENEFITS OF A SEGMENTED SHOP FLOOR

Effectiveness: Myers now has a team that can become more efficient in the repair process. “As technicians do the same thing over and over, they become faster and more proficient,” Myers notes.

FRONT-END RESTRUCTURING

Condron isn’t afraid to take on a new challenge in the body shop when he sees more opportunity for growth. For example, there are only two other places in all of southern Florida that are structurally certified to repair Teslas. Condron had his body shop teams become certified in light body repairs for Tesla vehicles. Inevitably, when Condron saw the collision repair facilities growing exponentially, he decided to focus on customer service in the front office. The body shops are direct repair shops for the most part, he says, with the staff fixing about 35 percent of Ford vehicles and about 65 percent non-Ford vehicles. He’s had a structure that focuses on the individual ever since the early 2000s.

HOW THE FRONT OFFICE IS STRUCTURED

In each of the body shops, every customer service representative is paired with an estimator. All estimators also have an office where they can sit privately with customers to discuss insurance, repair schedules, and so forth. Each estimator at Sawgrass Ford Collision Center is tied to a certain insurance company. That way, if a customer comes into the shop and has a specific question about State Farm, for instance, the customer can meet with the estimator linked to that account. “We have so many different things going on and we fix anywhere between 250 and 400 cars a month,” Condron says. “It’s too much to manage if everyone is doing everything.”

Efficiency: Technicians don’t have to stop and change tasks, check in parts or do any other nonproductive tasks. “They stay focused on their part of the repair process,” Myers says. Profitability: Each department or profit center requires a smaller footprint than that of the traditional commisionbased model, and less equipment thus increasing the output per square foot and profitability. “In a commission-based model, each body tech needs multiple cars that are assigned to them to work on, so typically that requires two stalls per tech. And as you grow your business, you need more techs and more stalls,” Myers says. “Our shop is able to put more cars through faster, with less footprint, and perform more consistent, safe, high quality repairs.” JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

READ WHAT READ WHAT THE PROS READ THE PROS READ

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TODAY FENDERBENDER.COM/SUBSCRIBE

BUSINESS BUILDING

Creating an Onboarding SOP

ONBOARDING APPRENTICES OR INTERNS SHOULD BEGIN BEFORE THE EMPLOYEE’S FIRST DAY

GETTY IMAGES

BY MELISSA STEINKEN

When it comes to training new staff members for a collision repair facility, difficulties can arise. The collision repair industry is, of course, still experiencing a technician shortage. Steve Reinarts, dean of automotive programs at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis, has been in the industry for more than 16 years and says he doesn’t see enough students coming into automotive collision repair programs. In fact, Reinarts says he has about 10 jobs open and available for every one student that passes through his classroom. So, as an MSO, hiring staff members becomes even trickier. MSOs have to hire for more locations and train employees on procedures that can potentially cross over to other locations. According to Sapling, a people’s operations platform that handles everything from onboarding to offboarding, great employee

onboarding can improve employee retention by 82 percent. And, a negative onboarding process can result in new hires twice as likely to for opportunities elsewhere. Adam Ross, general manager for AMERICAS at Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, says it’s also easier for employers to onboard new hires that were previously interns or apprentices at the business. A lot of the necessary parts of the process have already been completed with the apprentice or new hire. “When you’re onboarding completely new employees, you have to basically go through the whole internship and apprenticeship period with them if you want them to do a good job,” Ross says. Ross details how an MSO operator can go about effectively onboarding apprentices or interns into the organization for long-term success. JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

BUSINESS BUILDING

STEP 1: AVOID COMMON ONBOARDING MISTAKES.

Ross says one common mistake employers can make is to look at onboarding as a one-day event. It needs to go further than one day or even one week. Research from Sapling shows that most organizations do stop the onboarding process after one week, which is not enough time for the new hire to feel comfortable and acclimate to the new role. Hires should be asked how the training went and what areas could be tweaked or improved. Ross says another large mistake is when the owner doesn’t have someone on staff specifically dedicated to onboarding the new employee. Remember, the employee can easily get overwhelmed with too much information, paperwork and video training all at once. This can occur if the employer does not enter the process with a clear goal in mind for the training.

STEP 2: PAY ATTENTION TO FACTORS UNIQUE TO THE COLLISION REPAIR INDUSTRY.

Onboarding for the collision repair industry is unique from other organizations, Ross says. For example, the training should focus largely on customer service training and teamwork building. Ross recommends the operator also include other factors like capacity-building for self-management, industry jargon and pre-boarding information on equipment with health and safety warnings. Overall, the training should encompass lessons on the company’s culture and operational hierarchy.

STEP 3: CREATE A STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR ONBOARDING THAT MULTIPLE LOCATIONS CAN USE.

Before creating the SOP, put together a team that can spearhead the process, Ross says. Creating an SOP requires defining certain areas of the onboarding 26

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

Defining the SOP POLICY: Uniformly orientate new employees into the company culture and inform current employees of the addition. PURPOSE: To ensure new employees understand the range of policies and procedures that comprise work-life at our company. SCOPE: How long will the program last. Right from preboarding to the 90-day review. RESPONSIBILITIES: Identify which departments and teams are responsible for the new hire during which parts of the process. TERMINOLOGY: Define any complicated terms or acronyms. PROCEDURE: Document the process using a checklist of exact tasks needed to be completed. Include workflow diagrams and methodology. METRICS: Measure how efficient the process is over time.

process including the process, scope, purpose, responsibilities, terminology, procedure and metrics. (See Sidebar: Defining the SOP)

STEP 4: ENTER THE PROCESS WITH A CLEAR GOAL IN MIND.

Before entering the first day of onboarding and training, the owner or body shop operator should have a clear focus on the process. He or she should enter with a first-day guide already in place and some pre-boarding done before the employee arrives.

STEP 5: GIVE THE EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK ON THE DAY.

It’s vital for a leader to give the new hire feedback on the onboarding process, specifically the first 48 hours, Ross says. Employees should leave the process having accomplished a clear goal. Ross says to stop using the “sink or swim” approach for new hires. Give the hire time to not just succeed or fail but actually learn the shop’s way of repairing a vehicle. Above all, make sure the process is fun and engaging for the employee.

TECH TRENDS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS • • • •

10+ SESSIONS IN A VARIETY OF FORMATS TWO COMPELLING KEYNOTES ENDLESS NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES AND A TOUR OF NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, SMYRNA VEHICLE ASSEMBLY PLANT

Automotive Technology Summit

THE ADAPT: AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT IS A THREE-DAY EVENT PROVIDING SHOP OWNERS AND OPERATORS WITH A UNIQUE, UNMATCHED OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN DIRECTLY FROM INDUSTRY LEADERS ON THE MOST PROGRESSIVE AND PRESSING TECHNOLOGY TRENDS DISRUPTING THE AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET

DECEMBER 6-8 • NASHVILLE

EXPERIENCE WHAT ADAPT CAN DO FOR YOU A DA P T S U M M I T.C O M

PL ATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS

S I LV E R S P O N S O R S

AS E ASY AS... 1 2 3

POST A JOB RECEIVE QUALIFIED APPLICANTS GROW YOUR TEAM

USE CODE: AJC123 TO TAKE $100 OFF YOUR FIRST LISTING! autojobcentral.com

DJ MITCHELL GROW TH PL AN

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROCESS

ELIMINATE INEFFICIENCIES BY TWEAKING FAULTY PROCEDURES

GETTY IMAGES

B Y DJ M I T C H E L L

Throughout my career I have been in countless body shops. Some of these shops I visited I was affiliated with either by owning them with my dad or I worked for them. Other shops I may have visited to see a new friend, make a new friend, we were considering an acquisition, or I was there to help someone with something specific. When I visited these shops, I almost mindlessly group them into one of three categories: 1. Good running shop 2. Average running shop 3. Poorly running shop. The thing that moves these shops up and down in category in my opinion comes down to one thing. That one thing to

me is the most important and should be worked on and critiqued constantly. That thing is process. Many shops fail to ever implement a process, and many of those that implement them do not follow through and do them diligently. Even worse, some shops do not update them as time moves on. Processes cannot be followed when its convenient or when its easy. Processes must be followed all the time. I love process because there is no grey. It is either black or white. Shops that fail to implement process are often chasing themselves. Always working on something that should

already be done. Running around searching for lost parts or missing parts. Buffing their paint work after its been reassembled and the manager notices a sag around the handle. Redoing body work because the panel is wavy after reassembling the vehicle. Returning phone calls because the phone is ringing all day. All these things should be done proactively instead of reacting. Processes should be put into place to make sure things are done at the correct time and in the correct order. If a parts ordering, receiving, and distributing process is put into place then chasing lost and missing parts rarely JUNE 2020 | THE MSO PROJECT

DJMITCHELL / GROWTH PLAN

“IF PROCESS IS TRULY EMBRACED [IN YOUR SHOP] ... YOU’LL NEVER LOOK BACK.” DJ MITCHELL VP & CO-OWNER MITCHCO COLLISION REPAIR

THE MSO PROJECT | JUNE 2020

messages can be sent straight out of your management system or by using other programs like Podium. The check in process is a common one that most shops have, but many times it is still done on paper and with a digital camera. What if the documents the customer signed were electronic and got automatically recorded to the file? Customers could get the files sent to them or go on a website to sign them without having to come in. That could save days on a tow in vehicle. Check in photos could be done with an iPhone and could get transferred to the file instantaneously. That’s so much easier than using a digital camera. It is very easy to become frustrated in a shop. It can be especially easy to become frustrated as an owner or manager. But, a lot of this frustration is caused by our lack of process and

DJ MITCHELL is the vice president and co-owner of MITCHCO Collision Repair, a regional MSO in Florida. He also hosts a podcast for FenderBender’s The MSO Project. E M A I L : D J M I T C H E L L @J H C C . C O M COURTESY DJ MITCHELL

happens. Establishing a cool down bay in the paint shop where the vehicle gets QC-ed between steps eliminates the need to buff cars after reassembly, slinging compound everywhere, and risking having to disassemble again if the buffed area doesn’t come out to satisfaction. In process quality control checks in the body department stops wavy body work from being painted. A simple process for when and how you update customers prevents customers from having to call in for updates. Most people in our business do not have a minute to spare and are working extremely hard solving these problems. Thing about how much more we could get done if we didn’t have do deal with all these issues? Not updating your process as time goes on can be just as dangerous as not having them. Don’t get me wrong, even a bad process can be better than no process. But, sticking with a process and not reevaluating and tweaking as time moves on can be a productivity killer. An easy example of processes that could be revisited are the ones revolving around the customer experience. People are changing the way they communicate with each other, but most shops still rely on phone calls to update their customers. Many people would prefer a text message or an email. Not only is it what the customer prefers, but it is easier and faster on the shop in most cases. Emails and text

training. If we don’t have a good process, and if we don’t train our team appropriately, then this frustration really falls on us. I know this to be true first hand as we are opening our newest location right now. Our files are a little sloppy, our parts department is lacking, the shop could be picked up more, communication is happening but not the appropriate way, and our in-process QC has proven inconsistent. We have an extremely talented staff, and out of all honesty it is probably the best one we have ever assembled on our first try. When things are not going right it is frustrating, but when I start to feel that way, I take a step back and remember the process is new and in its infancy. We still need to continue training the team and molding our process. It could be easy to blame someone else, but, it falls squarely on my shoulders. Process is the most important thing we can work on in our shops. It makes everything easier to do, highlights mistakes instead of wondering what went wrong, provides a level of consistency to everything that we do, and overall makes the shop work smarter and not harder. Invite your team into the process, highlight what issues will get corrected with a process, take their input, and get to work on designing. If process is truly embraced, and we throw out “that’s how we’ve always done it”, you’ll never look back.

SYSTEMS • TECHNOLOGY • SUPPORT Social distancing is not the same as disconnecting… Web-based Ordering Systems Phone and Tablet Ordering Systems Electronic Invoicing and Payment Systems Business Analytics Systems Inventory Control Systems Online Training Opportunities Video Conferencing

Thank you for the opportunity to support your business. Your friendship in uncertain times means a lot to us. Together, we’ll emerge stronger than ever before.

How can we help you? 800.531.1305 - IndustrialFinishes.com

THE MSO PROJECT

SATA®air vision 5000 System Supplied air respirator is independent from booth atmosphere – for ultimate safety, comfort and perfection. Whatever environment you are working in: Whether you want heated or re-humidified breathing air or simply looking for absolute safety from particle contamination – with the new add-on modules complementing the SATA air vision 5000 breathing protection system, you can be sure that your health and comfort are both efficiently catered to.

www.sata.com/SATAairvision5000

The NIOSH approval number is TC-19C-0533

Stay healthy The exclusive independent distributor of SATA products in the US and Puerto Rico

Phone: 800-533-8016 www.satausa.com E-mail: satajet@satausa.com

SATA, SATAjet and/or other SATA products referenced herein are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SATA GmbH & Co. KG in the U.S. and/or other countries.

THE MSO PROJECT