NATIONAL FEATURE

continued from pg. 11 demanding the same things across all carriers, plus you don’t want a good carrier seeing that you didn’t charge other carriers for the same thing. There should be an appropriate standard of care that is used, so you can always say, ‘This is the policy and our business practice that is applied across all customers, irrespective of whether they’re insured or self-pay.’”

From this perspective, panelists touted the value of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as helpful in providing evidence of processes that shops follow on every repair.

“They offer a level of consistency that you can always fall back on,” suggested Steve Krieps (Collision Safety Consultants of WV). “They give you more credibility when you insist, ‘This is how we always do it and how our people are trained’ when you can go back to demonstrate that in file after file.”

While it’s imperative that shops educate their customers about the process and about what’s needed on their vehicle, it’s equally important to recognize that the goal is to help the consumer without becoming overly emotional or involved. “We want to educate them, but it’s the consumer’s problem to deal with,” Krieps noted.

“If you don’t stay in your lane, you’ll end up in an area where you’re not the expert,” Eversman warned. “Falling into someone else’s area of expertise never bodes well.”

CIC’s next meeting is scheduled for July 19-20, 2023 in Indianapolis, IN. Registration information, as well as presentations from previous meetings, can be found at ciclink. com H&D

Executive Director’s Thoughts

Cover Story

continued from pg. 15

Bradshaw. “I am extremely grateful and humbled to have played a small part in the Southeast Collision Conference. I think now more than ever it is so important for people to take a step back and work on their business rather than in it. It is empowering to realize the strength of the collision repair community – we see people from all different walks, from a single man operation to a 10-location operator – everyone has so much to gain and learn from one another, and I feel like we were able to create an environment where this was accomplished.”

“Overall, the CCA and WMABA teams pulled together a great and memorable experience for all those collision repairers who took the time to come and invest in themselves, their team and the future of their businesses,” Hendler concluded.

Stay tuned for information about SCC 2024 as it becomes available at southeastcollisionconference.com H&D

-Jordan Hendler