Hammer & Dolly July 2015

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July 2015 Volume 9, No. 7 $5.95 www.wmaba.com

Consumer Complaints 101 Body Filler Basics The New Age of Video www.grecopublishing.com

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CONTENTS JULY 2015 36 COVER STORY GOOD CAR, BAD SHOP: INSIDE A POST-REPAIR DISASTER

A horrifying vehicle repair shocks the Baltimore area.

BY JOEL GAUSTEN

LOCAL NEWS 20 BUILDING A COMMUNITY: MD AUTO BODY A technical high school scores with an enhanced online presence.

PROGRAM HITS THE WEB

BY JOEL GAUSTEN

DEPARTMENTS 6

LEGAL PERSPECTIVE FILING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS 28 How customers can take action when they’re wronged in the claim settlement process.

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BY JAMES A. CLEAVER

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TECHNICAL FEATURE FILLER PROCEDURES 30 ABODY look at filler applications on steel panels.

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BY LARRY MONTANEZ III, CDA & JEFF LANGE, PE

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MARKETING FEATURE TO GET ROI FROM VIDEO MARKETING 40 AHOW guide to putting the right visuals in front of your consumers. BY LEE EMMONS

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Calendar of Events Editor’s Message JOEL GAUSTEN

Executive Director’s Message JORDAN HENDLER WMABA Golf Outing Notice

What’s WMABA Up To? WMABA Membership Application

Technician of the Month: James MacKenzie JACQUELYN BAUMAN

President’s Message DON BEAVER

Meet the Board: Robert Plate JACQUELYN BAUMAN

Advertisers’ Index

Images © www.istockphoto.com Cover photo courtesy of Mark Schaech Jr.

July 2015

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Industry training opportunities and don't-miss events.

CALENDAR OF

EVENTS CLASS LISTINGS

July 2, 2015

July 21-22, 2015 Collision Industry Confere nce Cobo Center, Detroit, MI For more info., visit www.c iclink.net

July 23, 2015 SCRS Open Meeting Cobo Center, Detroit, MI For more info., visit www.s crs.com

ALUMINUM EXTERIOR PANEL REPAIR & REPLACEMENT Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

July 5, 2015

ADHESIVE BONDING Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

July 7, 2015

SECTIONING OF STEEL UNITIZED STRUCTURES Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

July 9, 2015

AUTOMOTIVE FOAMS Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA ADHESIVE BONDING Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA ADVANCED STEERING & SUSPENSION SYSTEMS DAMAGE ANALYSIS Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

July 13, 2015

ALUMINUM EXTERIOR PANEL REPAIR & REPLACEMENT State Farm Insurance, Roanoke, VA

July 14, 2015

ALUMINUM EXTERIOR PANEL REPAIR & REPLACEMENT Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA WELDED & ADHESIVELY BONDED PANEL REPLACEMENT Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA WELDED AND ADHESIVELY BONDED PANEL REPLACEMENT Criswell Collision Center, Annapolis, MD

July 16, 2015

REPLACEMENT OF STEEL UNITIZED STRUCTURES Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA SQUEEZE-TYPE RESISTANCE SPOT WELDING Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA FULL-FRAME PARTIAL REPLACEMENT Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA

July 20, 2015

ADVANCED STEERING & SUSPENSION SYSTEMS DAMAGE ANALYSIS State Farm Insurance, Roanoke, VA

July 21, 2015

ADVANCED STEERING & SUSPENSION SYSTEMS DAMAGE ANALYSIS Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA FULL-FRAME PARTIAL REPLACEMENT Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

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VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY & TRENDS 2015 Criswell Collision Center, Annapolis, MD

July 27, 2015

OVERVIEW OF CYCLE TIME IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE COLLISION REPAIR PROCESS Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA PLASTIC & COMPOSITE REPAIR Manheim (Harrisonburg) Auto Auction, Harrisonburg, VA COLOR THEORY, MIXING TONERS & TINTING Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA

July 28, 2015

RACK & PINION & PARALLELOGRAM STEERING SYSTEMS Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

July 23, 2015

WHEEL ALIGNMENT & DIAGNOSTIC ANGLES Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA FULL-FRAME PARTIAL REPLACEMENT State Farm Insurance, Roanoke, VA ADVANCED STEERING & SUSPENSION SYSTEMS DAMAGE ANALYSIS Southern Collision Centers, Chesapeake, VA STEEL UNITIZED STRUCTURES, TECHNOLOGIES & REPAIR Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

July 30, 2015

MEASURING Coxton’s Gold Team, Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

August 4, 2015

PLASTIC & COMPOSITE REPAIR Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE DAMAGE ANALYSIS & SAFETY Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA CORROSION PROTECTION Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA STEERING & SUSPENSION DAMAGE ANALYSIS Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY & TRENDS 2015 Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA

August 6, 2015

2015 FORD F-150 STRUCTURAL REPAIR TRAINING COURSE Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA STRUCTURAL STRAIGHTENING STEEL Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE DAMAGE ANALYSIS & SAFETY Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

August 11, 2015

SUSPENSION SYSTEMS Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

August 13, 2015 August 18, 2015

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, PERSONAL SAFETY & REFINISH SAFETY Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA REPLACEMENT OF STEEL UNITIZED STRUCTURES Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA

August 20, 2015

OVERVIEW OF CYCLE TIME IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE COLLISION REPAIR PROCESS Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

August 25, 2015

VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY & TRENDS 2015 Manheim (Harrisonburg) Auto Auction, Harrisonburg, VA VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY & TRENDS 2015 Coxton’s Gold Team Collision Center, Yorktown, VA REPLACEMENT OF STEEL UNITIZED STRUCTURES Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA 2015 FORD F-150 STRUCTURAL REPAIR TRAINING COURSE Harrison Body Works, Richmond, VA ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLE DAMAGE Virginia Farm Bureau, Richmond, VA

August 27, 2015

MEASURING Southern Collision Center, Chesapeake, VA

www.i-car.com or (800) 422-7872 for info

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10% off on all parts orders when you mention this ad.

July 2015

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Joel Gausten

EDITOR’S

(973) 600-9288 tgpjoel@verizon.net

MESSAGE A HARSH REALITY

I sincerely hope this issue of Hammer & Dolly upsets you.

In this month’s cover story, we take a look at one of the worst stories of improper repairs we’ve ever encountered. As you’ll read, the owners of the vehicle in question depended on their insurer’s preferred body shop to professionally fix their car and guarantee their safety.

WMABA OFFICERS PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT TREASURER SECRETARY

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Don Beaver Dbeaver@antwerpenauto.com 443-539-4200 ext. 17061 Torchy Chandler torchy.chandler@gmail.com 410-309-2242 Mark Schaech Jr. mark@marksbodyshop.com 410-358-5155 John Krauss jkrauss@craftsmanautobody.com 703-534-1818 Barry Dorn bdorn@dornsbodyandpaint.com 804-746-3928

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Rodney Bolton (rbolton@aacps.org) 410-969-3100 ext. 250 Mark Boudreau (crashdaddy@aol.com) 703-671-2402 Kevin Burt (kevinburt@walkermillcollision.com) 301-336-1140

ADMINISTRATION

RT Plate (rt@pcirepair.com) 703-929-8050 Phil Rice (phil@ricewoods.com) 540-846-6617

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jordan Hendler (jordanhendler@wmaba.com) 804-789-9649 WMABA CORPORATE OFFICE P.O. Box 3157 • Mechanicsville, VA 23116

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What they received for their trouble was a nightmare that was still unfolding as this issue went to press.

How does a repair like the one described on page 36 even happen in today’s industry? We attempted to find out – and none of the answers we found made us feel any better about the situation. If you need a real-world example of what is wrong with today’s industry, this would be it. As a husband, father, neighbor and community member, I get angry just thinking about what the policyholders involved in this situation are going through – and what could have happened if they got into a subsequent collision. It could be any one of us in this situation, and that simple thought is infuriating to me. After you read the story, I’m sure it will be to you as well.

This month’s cover story will inevitably lead the way to more stories and examples of what post-repair inspectors are seeing out in the field. I can tell you that it isn’t pretty.

Fortunately, the ability to turn things around is in your hands. Do you always do the right thing for your customers, or do you let low labor reimbursement and things like severity influence the quality of repairs you produce? Are the repair mistakes described in our cover story things that you wholeheartedly believe would never come out of your shop – or do these repairs hit a little too close to home for you? Read the article and honestly ask yourself these questions. If you’re not happy with the answers, it’s nobody’s fault but your own.

But here’s the good news: It’s not too late to change. WMABA is committed to helping shops receive the correct information about proper repair procedures and factors in the marketplace that affect how they deal with insurers. The association is also your voice when you feel you can’t stand up against certain insurance practices on your own. If you feel pressured to do a repair in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, call the association. You have friends in the industry willing and able to help. Don’t allow yourself to compromise your customers’ safety – and possibly their lives. Work with WMABA to ensure that the incident detailed in this issue will always be the exception and never the rule. H&D

July 2015

STAFF

PUBLISHER DIRECTOR OF SALES EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR ART DIRECTOR OFFICE MANAGER

Thomas Greco thomas@grecopublishing.com

Alicia Figurelli alicia@grecopublishing.com

Joel Gausten tgpjoel@verizon.net

Jacquelyn Bauman jacquelyn@grecopublishing.com

Lea Velocci lea@grecopublishing.com

Donna Greco donna@grecopublishing.com

PUBLISHED BY TGP, Inc. 244 Chestnut St., Suite 202 Nutley, NJ 07110 973-667-6922 FAX 973-235-1963 Reproduction of any portions of this publication is specifically prohibited without written permission from the publisher. The opinions and ideas appearing in this magazine are not necessarily representations of TGP Inc. or of the Washington Metropolitan Auto Body Association (WMABA). Copyright © 2015 Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S

MESSAGE

Jordan Hendler

(804) 789-9649 jordanhendler@wmaba.com

Lighting a Fire with Hope

Hope is what keeps anyone going. Hope of love, happiness, health, prosperity and leaving this world better than it was when we got it. All of these are great reasons to push forward. So how does one hope in our industry? They see a prospect of a better future. That’s what can turn ships, alter courses and move mountains.

I think I say it a lot that we need to eat an elephant one bite at a time. Small victories are what make our seemingly insurmountable obstacles seem more manageable, and after about 10 clichés here so far, I hope (see, there’s one more) I can get your attention.

Where does a frustrated, pissed off, run down, hopeless shop owner, manager or technician go to vent? Right here. I get your steam bursts, and I use them for fuel. We give you the opportunity to understand that you’re not alone, that you have options for solving almost any problem and you have help to see it through to resolution.

This entire issue shows how much the disparity between cultures in repair facilities is growing. The repairers who concern themselves with safe, quality repairs are getting greater pushback because of those who just plain don’t.

I think there’s a false belief that if the insurer says a procedure is commonplace and acceptable, it will absolve the repairer of the liability of doing it. That’s simply and categorically untrue.

If you have any inkling of our legal system, it’s the hands that perform it who own it.

Recently, through ongoing and furthering discussions with Attorneys General in our area, we’ve learned that they lean towards going after “bad shops” as a remedy to the problems we bring forward. The consumer division goes first to the service provider in the consumer

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complaint. When reading the cover story, you have to know that it’s the repairer who will be called to task first. The culture of the insurance industry to slash prices, reduce or change parts and alter repairs is in our minds to blame, but much harder to pursue on their part. That’s not to say that they won’t, but they’ll jump first onto the shop.

Where is the hope? It’s in filing complaints with the AG’s office on their website as the repairer, in addition to helping customers file their complaints with the AG and the Insurance Commission.

The more examples they receive of misconduct, it becomes far more likely that change can happen.

Helping us identify problems or areas of contradiction with fair claims settlement laws, market laws, worker safety and environmental protections will all help with progress. Anything you see that could provide samples of issues for us to raise is worth picking up the phone or sending an email.

So, I hope you do. H&D

Check the WMABA website and newsletters for regular updates and reports from the Executive Director’s perspective.

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2015 GOLF OUTING SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 Shotgun Start at 12pm The Timbers at Troy Golf Course

6100 Marshalee Drive, Elkridge, MD

SIGN UP TODAY AT www.wmaba.com/golf-outing

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WHAT’S

The Playbook

UP TO? WMABA MEMBERSHIP: THE UN-SECRET PLAYBOOK

It’s always a good time to get involved in WMABA. If you’re reading this, your first benefit is already being realized: Staying up to date on the news in our area and beyond.

Get Your Team Jersey

Supporting WMABA is an investment in the future of your business and your industry. By becoming a member, you are represented in all the places the Board or Executive Director go. Whether at a trade show like SEMA, assisting with the SCRS OEM Technology Summit regarding certified repairs or locally at the state capitol meeting legislators or testifying at a hearing, your interests and the interests of all repairers are at the forefront. Though repairers often feel competitive, the association is a place for camaraderie and community. Here, we’re all on the same team.

Get Educated

WMABA offers issue-specific, topic-driven education throughout the year. Participation in special events and local meetings, such as the Audi Training Center-hosted seminar and tour, offer your business the best in opportunities to advance your understanding of changes within our industry.

MEMBER TESTIMONIALS

The two obvious benefits of belonging to WMABA are: 1) Keeping up to date on industry events, challenges and technical changes, and 2) Networking with industry shop owners and vendors. The not-so-obvious benefit is that we as shop owners can unify to make a change. Being a member assures each of us that we are not ‘the only one’ dealing with these issues. WMABA is the only association focused on making this industry better for the collision shop owners and technicians. No other organization can make that claim. Most of them just follow the money. Put your money where it counts – join WMABA! - Bill Denny, Bill Denny’s Automotive, Inc., Havre de Grace, MD

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Find more association updates at www.wmaba.com.

The association is your resource for all things related to your business. Whether you have a question about current Labor Rate data, operations, customer interaction, insurer relationships, vendor products or national news, your association is the place to ask first.

Through our relationships nationally, we can even take issues to the forefront of places such as the Society of Collision Repair Specialists, Collision Industry Conference or national contacts for insurers and vendors.

Locally, we research governmental regulations and oversight to make sure the repair industry is protected from any negative legislation. Represented in both Virginia and Maryland, WMABA proposes and opposes recommended bills that come into the legislature during open session. Also, we work with consumer-related entities, government agencies and other related industry organizations to ensure that the voices of the repairer and their customer are heard.

Many repairers take advantage of the knowledge and community the association has for navigating situations that arise. A simple phone call or email can circumvent many issues our members encounter.

Call the Game

As a member, you decide your personal level of participation. Do you have interest in committees that address particular issues you feel passionately about? Would you want to be a Board member and assist in guiding the direction of the association? How about sitting on the sidelines so you can focus on your own business? All answers can be correct! While WMABA would like to encourage your spirit of volunteerism, it is solely up to you at what level you get involved.

The minimum is getting your membership. This year can WIN with your commitment to the betterment of your business and your industry. Sign up today! H&D

WMABA keeps us in touch with what is happening in our industry, from class action lawsuits to pending legislation in our state and the whole country. Our membership helps us remember that we are not the only ones facing the discouraging burdens and issues out there. It reminds us that if we all stick together, we can make a change for the better.

Their coverage of PartsTrader, well before it hit home, was invaluable. They even went to the State and tried to make it unlawful for insurance companies to require it. They are working hard for us, on things that all body shop owners care deeply about, but don’t have the time to stand up and fight.

- Barbara Chase, Sisk Auto Body, Owings, MD

I joined WMABA the very first year I opened my shop. I was immediately embraced by both colleagues and mentors who provided me the fellowship to know I wasn't the only one facing the challenges before me, advice that provided clarity and confidence to make the decisions that would guide my business and a network that I could call on repeatedly over the years I have been a member. WMABA's ability to educate the collision repair industry, speak on its behalf and lobby for issues that affect it has been - and is to this day - the greatest value I have received from any association of which I have been a member.

- Mark Boudreau, Spectrum Collision Center, Arlington, VA

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LOCAL

NEWS

BUILDING A COMMUNITY: MD AUTO BODY PROGRAM HITS THE WEB

Ask any collision repair instructor to identify his or her greatest obstacle, and you will inevitably be told that it’s engaging – and getting support from – the industry and community that would benefit most from an educated student. Always looking for ways to get parents, students and area shop owners more involved and knowledgeable about what goes on at his school, Salisbury, MD-based auto body educator Joe Showacre (Parkside High School) decided to take a computer design class offered by the Wicomico County Board of Education last year to learn how to build an online presence for his Collision Repair Program. His efforts resulted in parksidecollisionrepair.com, a website that offers an interesting glimpse into what one of the region’s most active automotive classes has to offer.

“Parents and students who are interested in learning more about my Collision Repair program can actually go on the website and get educated on what we do, see samples of our work and view the entire

curriculum,” explains Showacre. “They can get all the information they need.”

In addition to including the site’s Web address on his business cards and repair orders and listing it on the Wicomico County Board of Education website, Showacre also promotes his department through an active Facebook page (facebook.com/parkside collisionrepair).

“This year alone, we’ve had close to 100 people from outside the school contact us through Facebook to say they liked what we were doing,” Showacre says. “These are people who ordinarily wouldn’t know that I exist.”

The Parkside Collision Repair Program is a two-year course serving seniors and juniors (with an exploratory rotation of 9th and 10th graders). Once permanent students are admitted into the program after going through the rotation, they then enter into a two-year course comprised of theory and hands-on work. The department has utilized the Education Edition of I-CAR’s Professional

Development Program (PDP) for the last two years, while plans are underway to incorporate an aluminum repair station for the 2015-2016 school year. The vast majority of Showacre’s students are in line to attend either technical or academic colleges after graduation, and at least 45 percent of Showacre’s current senior class is already working in the field through the school’s on-the-job (OJT) program. Showacre makes it a point to incorporate various business aspects (gross profit/net profit, fixed expenses, floating expenses, 25-percent markups, etc.) into his regular collision repair curriculum.

In addition to teaching students what they need to know to succeed in the professional field, Showacre’s program serves the community by offering a live body shop. The customer-pay facility provides repairs to approximately 135 vehicles per year. All the work performed at the shop (including metal, plastic and various structural repairs) is monitored by Showacre

Parkside High School instructor Joe Showacre is elevating the image of his auto body department through active use of the Internet.

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Local educator uses the Internet to advance his Collision Repair Program.

BY JOEL GAUSTEN

for proper technique and safety. All repairs performed at the school are provided free of charge, with customers only paying for parts, materials and taxes. The facility has become so popular in the area that it is currently experiencing a two-month backlog.

“Most of our hits are between $1,500 and $5,000,” Showacre says. “I try to have the students do a lot of medium hits. It’s about having real world experience. Kids work on around 250 cars before they graduate.”

Like other progressive auto educators, Showacre credits much of the program’s ongoing success to the active participation of a strong Program Advisory Committee.

The instructor makes it a priority to spread the word about the group, from listing each member’s contact information on parksidecollisionrepair.com to urging area vendors and industry pros to take the time to get involved.

“I think communication between the school environment and the business environment is critical,” he offers. “Without this Committee and communication with the business side, I wouldn’t know what was new out there. They are my eyes and ears. I’m in these four walls all year long. For me to stay up to date on things, I have to lean on the Committee.”

Not surprisingly, Showacre urges his fellow vocational school instructors to build similar committees for their programs.

“The more that the industry knows that you’re working to do something for them, the more beneficial it’s going to be for your students, because the shops are going to be more apt to take a student and mentor him or her,” he advises. “If they don’t hear from you for nine months and you make a phone call and say, ‘I have a student who needs a job,’ they might not want to talk to you about it.

Because they haven’t seen you for months, they don’t know what your department has been doing in that time.”

Thankfully, now everyone can know exactly what Showacre and his impressive students are up to by visiting parksidecollisionrepair.com. H&D

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TECHNICIAN OF

THE MONTH

Hammer & Dolly chats with the WMABA community’s best and brightest.

BY JACQUELYN BAUMAN

If you would like to nominate someone as Technician of the Month, please contact Hammer & Dolly Managing Editor Jacquelyn Bauman at jacquelyn@grecopublishing.com

James MacKenzie

“James MacKenzie is one of our very best and completely deserves this spotlight of Technician of the Month,” says Kevin Maharaj, owner of D&V Autobody in Dulles, VA. Mackenzie started out in automotive restoration work, originally attending a two-year college in Kansas to bring older cars back to life.

“I got my first job doing restoration work in 1992, mostly cosmetic stuff on older cars,” he explains. “At my next job in ’95 at Cascades Auto Body [in Sterling, VA], I was still doing cosmetic work, but when I saw the money the collision guys were making, I made the switch.”

It was Cascades shop owner Al Fortin who gave MacKenzie on-the-job training in collision repair and helped him massively with framework, something that the technician is still intensely appreciative of. His fortitude in pursuing a line of work he had no experience in is something he considers one of his biggest accomplishments.

“When I got into the collision aspect of this industry, I really had no background,” he recalls. “As cliché as it is, I’ve fought blood, sweat and tears to get to where I am. I think that’s something to be proud of.”

He spent 13 years at Ashburn Collision Center before it closed down, working side by side with shop owner Ron Jardine, who only helped to advance his collision repair knowledge. Jardine taught MacKenzie how to write a good supplement, take care of the parts and how to be most efficient at what he does.

MacKenzie has now been on the collision repair side for 15 of his 23 years in the business, and couldn’t love what he does more.

“I really like repairing a car,” he beams. “I like taking something mangled and making it look like nothing ever happened. In 10 years, I can still see myself doing bodywork.

I’m most comfortable out in the shop, working on the cars. Of course, I can’t say exactly what my mindset will be in the future; maybe I’ll end up in the office, but right now I can’t picture myself doing anything but this.”

When he’s not in the shop, MacKenzie likes to play golf, something he’s been doing on and off for about 15 years. After recently getting back into it, he has participated in a few stroke play tournaments, competing for money. At one of the more recent tournaments, he came in fifth and won $150.

Although he used to do restoration work on the side, MacKenzie now has difficulty finding the time for it. He believes that one day he may get back into fixing up classic vehicles, but for now he tries to leave work at work.

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With his background and work ethic, James MacKenzie is an integral part of the D&V Autobody team.

The technician credits a number of people for helping him reach the level of success he has achieved in his time in the industry. “[Fellow technician] Ron Richards was one person who taught me when I thought I already knew what I was doing,” he jokes. “He had a huge influence on my skill set. I also have to thank my shop foreman here at D&V, Ron Reece. I had never worked in a large shop with this much work; he helped me get acclimated. He had to break me down and build me back up.

Plus, I’m grateful for the Maharaj family for giving me this opportunity when my chips were down, giving me a spot to work my way up from. Lastly, I have to thank Jose Luis, who I have worked side-by-side with for about seven years.”

When asked why he thinks he was nominated for Technician of the Month, MacKenzie cites his dedication to his job and his duty to efficiency. This focus stems from some important advice that he received when he was first starting out.

“When I was younger, I was told, ‘You don’t know everything and you can always learn,’” MacKenzie reflects.

“Now that I’m older, I can really see that, and I think that advice has had a big impact on the way I do my job now.” H&D

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What’s happening at the State House, in your industry and everywhere in between.

LEGAL

PERSPECTIVE

BY JAMES A. CLEAVER, Senior Partner, The Law Offices of Alexander & Cleaver

FILING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS

As body shop owners, there are many times when you will hear from a customer who is having a difficult time dealing with his or her automobile insurance company. There are ways that consumers can file complaints against the insurance companies. If you feel that the consumer has a legitimate concern, you may want to refer him or her to the specific entities that handle them.

In Maryland, consumers can file complaints against auto insurers with the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA).

The primary role of the MIA is to protect consumers from illegal insurance practices by ensuring that insurance companies and producers that operate in Maryland act in accordance with State insurance laws. The complaint form can be found on the MIA website, mdinsurance.state.md.us. The consumer fills out the form and then provides documentation at a later date. The MIA has the authority to: forward a copy of your complaint to the insurance company, if appropriate;

obtain information or explanations on the consumer’s behalf from the insurance company or their representatives;

review in detail the information obtained from the company for compliance with statutes, regulations and policy contracts;

explain the provisions of the consumer’s insurance policy, as appropriate; and

suggest to the consumer actions or procedures that they may take which could aid in resolving the insurance problem.

If it is determined that the actions of an insurance company are in violation of a statute, regulation or policy that the Administration enforces, they may take corrective action against that company.

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In Virginia, the consumer must file a complaint with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Bureau of Insurance (SCC). Again, the complaint can be found and filed on the SCC website, scc.virginia.gov. In most cases, a letter and a copy of the complaint will be sent to the insurance company or agent, requesting an explanation of its position. Telephone contact may be made to discuss the complaint, ask questions or make specific requests. After the company or agent responds, the SCC will determine what further actions, if any, it will take.

In Washington, DC, a consumer files a complaint with the DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB). The form can be found on the DISB website, disb.dc.gov.

Complaints may include coverage issues, claim disputes, premium problems, sales misrepresentations, policy cancellations, refunds, etc. The DISB will also investigate complaints against insurance producers, financial advisers, brokers or agents and public adjusters. The DISB will look into the consumer’s complaint to see if any District laws and procedures have been violated. It will also step in the consumer’s place to obtain information and explanations from the financial service provider.

If you have any further questions regarding insurance complaints, please call me at Alexander & Cleaver. I work primarily in the field of civil litigation, heading up the firm’s personal injury practice. In that role, I’m the firm’s primary negotiator and litigator in personal injury cases, using my vast experience and knowledge acquired over parts of the past five decades to achieve results for clients. H&D

Jim Cleaver is the senior partner of the Alexander & Cleaver. Jim co-founded the firm in 1984 with Gary R. Alexander. He works primarily in the field of civil litigation, heading up the firm’s personal injury practice. In that role, Jim is the firm’s primary negotiator and litigator in personal injury cases, using his vast experience and knowledge acquired over parts of the past five decades to achieve results for clients. It is no surprise to colleagues and clients that Jim has been designated a Super Lawyer in personal injury cases, was named one of Maryland’s top trial lawyers and was selected by the prestigious Million Dollar Advocacy Forum. Jim can be contacted at (800) 292-LAWS.

Executive Director’s Thoughts

The Attorneys General offices for both Virginia and Maryland have expressed interest in receiving your consumer and business complaints as well. If you were to file a complaint as the repairer against an insurer, they would have it on record and would follow up with you. This helps address issues where our industry doesn’t typically make those inquiries. The more there are, the more likely they are to take action. - Jordan Hendler

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TECHNICAL

FEATURE BODY FILLER

PROCEDURES

Over the years, OEMs have been making stronger, thinner outer body panels from a variety of substrates. Outer panels have been constructed from mild steel or with high-strength steel, aluminum, composite material or some sort of combination of materials. Depending on the material used, repair procedures differ from easily repairable to completely unrepairable.

In this article, we will primarily talk about filler applications on steel panels.

“Bondo,” as plastic filler has been referred to over the years, is in actuality a brand of body filler from 3M, but it’s also the generic term that makes many body technicians cringe as they think they are sculpting the panel. Anyone who has ever restored an old car knows many techs start working on the damaged panels only to find gobs of the stuff on damaged bodywork.

Many times, they trowel multiple layers on a panel body to “sculpt” it to get a car straight quickly. Well, it is time to clear up that way of thinking and make some changes. Body filler is not designed to cover over poor metalstraightening techniques. The panel should be as straight as possible and the filler should then be applied in a thin coat.

Properly used, filler can assist in smoothing out a panel; generally, an application is required when finishing sheet metal in areas that were sectioned and welded.

The first step of proper body filler procedures is to prep the surface to ensure proper adhesion. Let’s look at the generalized steps:

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1 Prior to straightening, the vehicle must

8 After the epoxy primer is fully cured,

be washed for any water-soluble contaminates, if the vehicle was not already washed during the damage analysis.

scuff the surface with a Red Scotch-Brite pad so the filler will adhere properly by leaving enough scratch in the substrate.

wax and grease remover.

vacuum system to remove all dust particles.

hammer and dolly techniques, you may need to use a few weld-on dent removal pins in areas inaccessible from the backside. Make sure to check with the OEM to find any foam or adhesive applications in the areas where you will be welding the pins on, as you would not want to degrade or set the material on fire. Remember, most filler manufactures and OEMs state that filler should not exceed 3mm in thickness. (Hot tip: Use a nonaggressive sanding disc [such as a 3M Green Roloc disc] to clean the repair area, followed by a dual action sander with P80 grit. Only use 50-grit on any highly deformed areas. You do not want to reduce the metal thickness).

surface with wax and grease remover and a tack rag to ensure a clean and lint free area.

100, 120 and 150-grit paper.

each filler maker has slightly different mixing procedures. Lay out the amount of filler material you have estimated you need and add the proper ratio of hardener on the pallet. Now, you will need two plastic applicators (squeegees) or putty knives — one to mix the material and one to apply the material. Plastic filler material is generally whitish gray or yellowish, and the hardener is blue or red in color. Never stir the material, as you create air pockets that in turn create

2 The damaged area is now cleaned with 3 After straightening the metal with

4 Feather edge the repaired area using

5 Scuff the area with a Red Scotch-Brite

pad.

6 Re-prep the area by cleaning the panel

with wax and grease remover.

7 Mask off the panel for application of

acid-etch/wash primer on bare metal areas and epoxy primer to the repair area.

9 After the area has been scuffed, use a

10 Before applying any filler, wipe the

11 Now it is time to mix up some filler.

Rule number one is that you never mix filler on cardboard. There are two reasons for this: One, cardboard contains a wax-like substance to make it somewhat water repellant; two, the chemicals in the filler and hardener easily seep into the pores of the cardboard, both causing adhesion and quality issues with the filler. Either use a pallet made of steel, plexiglas or filler mixing paper that can be taped to any type of surface. The idea is that you don’t want it to be porous or contain chemicals.

12 Read the product instructions, as

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Nuts and bolts, tips and tricks from our resident industry experts.

BY LARRY MONTANEZ III, CDA & JEFF LANGE, PE

air holes (pinholes) in the leveled filler. Flip and chop the material repeatedly until the color is uniform. Make sure to clean your squeegee or putty knife as you mix to ensure that you don’t change the mixing ratio.

13 Using a plastic squeegee, apply the

mixed filler to the straightened area. Apply the material in long linear strokes with medium pressure. Avoid adding too much material and only in one direction. You will also need to follow the contours of the panel. In some cases, you may use masking tape to prevent material getting on to bodylines or adjacent areas.

14 After applying the filler, clean your tools

while waiting for the filler to cure.

15 In cold temperatures, a heat lamp may

be needed to assist in the curing process.

Generally, this can take about 10-15 minutes.

16 Once the filler is cured, you will sand

the area. Generally, you will start with a pneumatic-sanded, eight-inch, six-inch or long board with 80-grit or 100-grit paper, depending on the size of the repaired area.

This will usually be followed by hand sanding boards using 100-grit and 120-grit and finishing with 150-grit.

17 As you sand, check the panel

periodically with your hand and a non-lint cloth for evenness and flatness. This will assist in preventing oils and grease from your hand transferring onto the panel. As the filler takes shape and becomes smooth, you may want to use a guide coat so you can see the high and low spots during your final sanding.

Basically, it is sand and check, sand and check.

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18 In some rare instances, you may need

to apply another coat of filler to assist in leveling out the panel. However, if the area is generally level, you will need to apply a coat of high-quality polyester putty to fill sand scratches and any small imperfections in the filler surface. If a second coat of filler or putty is

needed, you should reapply epoxy primer to the area to ensure proper corrosion resistant properties are not compromised.

19 You will mix the putty the same way you

mixed the body filler and apply the putty in a similar manner to the filler.

20 When the putty cures, apply guide coat

and sand the panel.

21 Hot tip: When sanding filler or putty,

always keep an eye on how dull your sandpaper is getting. When the paper gets dull, it won’t sand any longer and you’ll be working for nothing – and, in some cases, scarring the area. Always use a fresh piece of paper on the sanding board, especially when doing finishing sanding with finer grit paper.

After finally sanding the area with 150-grit paper, you will be ready for the featheredge, priming and block sanding process, which is not included and needs to be calculated for each repair area. (See our article on the feather, prime and block process and calculations in the June 2011 Hammer & Dolly.) When it comes time to apply the high-build filler primer, ensure that each coat flashes over properly to avoid shrinkage later.

If the proper flash time is not adhered to, sometimes sand scratches and imperfections can become visible after the vehicle is finished and will require re-repairs.

We hope this article has helped the industry to understand the intricacies of applying body filler. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Larry Montanez III, CDA is co-owner of P&L Consultants with Peter Pratti, Jr. P&L Consultants works with collision repair shops on estimating, production and proper repair procedures. P&L conducts repair workshops on MIG & resistance welding, measuring for estimating and advanced estimating skills. P&L also conducts investigations for insurers and repair shops for improper repairs, collision repairability and estimating issues. P&L can be reached by contacting Larry at (718) 891-4018 (office), (917) 860–3588 (cell), (718) 646–2733 (fax) or via email at larrygoju@aol.com. The P&L website is www.PnLEstimology.com.

Jeff Lange, PE is president of Lange Technical Services, Ltd. of Deer Park, NY (www.LangeTech. net). Jeff is a Licensed New York State Professional Engineer who specializes in investigating vehicle and component failures. Lange Technical Services, Ltd. is an investigative engineering firm performing forensic vehicle examinations and analysis for accident reconstruction, products liability and insurance issues. Jeff can be reached at (631) 667-6128 or by email at Jeff.Lange@LangeTech.net. H&D

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COVER STORY

PICTURES DON’T LIE: A few examples of the careless work uncovered by the post-repair inspection team at Mark’s Body Shop in Baltimore.

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R

emember that great feeling you had the last time you bought a new vehicle? There’s nothing quite like sitting in that spiffy ride, taking in that new car smell and heading home from the dealership that first time.

Unfortunately for Maryland couple Tim and Mary,* they didn’t even have a chance to enjoy their just-purchased 2015 Honda Accord EX-L for a full day.

After owning the vehicle for only three hours, the couple t-boned a reckless driver who ran a red light. In an instant, this new car became a twisted mess requiring extensive repairs. They contacted their insurance company, who gave them the names of “preferred body shops” in the area. Accepting their carrier’s recommendation, they took the Honda to one of these facilities to get the repairs. Before long, the repaired vehicle was back on the road – but it was quickly apparent that something was very, very wrong.

“There were huge spaces along the door,” recalls Mary. “That tipped us off; if the panels aren't lining up, there must’ve still been some frame damage.”

In addition to these gaps, Mary and Tim noticed scratches all over the exterior of the car, including one on the hood where the paint was already cracking. When Mary glanced at the grille, she noticed what appeared to be “a crumpled piece of debris” inside. The car was also very loud when driven.

Concerned over the safety of their car, the couple brought it back to the original shop to fix these issues. However, the car still didn’t look and feel right after this subsequent visit.

“All they really did was take out that crumpled up piece of garbage, which was apparently a crumpled up air filter, out of the grille,” Mary says. “They tried to buff out the scratches, but they were still there and you could still see them. That’s pretty much all they did. We measured the gaps, and they were still exactly the same when we came back.”

At this point, the increasingly distraught owners contacted WMABA member and post-repair inspector Mark Schaech Jr. of Mark’s Body Shop (Baltimore).

“They went online and found us by Googling things,” he recalls. “They saw our videos and came to us and asked if we wouldn’t mind doing an inspection on a car that had just been repaired. We did the inspection and found all kinds of stuff even before we took the car apart.”

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Once the car was disassembled, it was instantly obvious that the entire front inner structure was severely compromised. One of the car’s many problems included a stress buckle in the inner frame rail, which meant that the rail could no longer properly absorb and redirect the energy in a crash the way it is designed to do. Some of the other damage was clearly noticed by the other shop because it had been covered up with seam sealer.

Perhaps strangest of all, when Schaech’s crew removed the reinforcement bar, they discovered that someone had left an empty water bottle in the frame rail. While not life threatening, the presence of such an item inside the structure of the vehicle offered disturbing insight into the level of carelessness that went into the repair.

“We see plenty of bad repairs, but this one was an absolute death trap,” Schaech says. “Luckily, we found the bad repairs before the customers drove this car for a few years and ended up dying in a subsequent collision.”

Even before the car was disassembled at Mark’s Body Shop, the couple called their insurance company and had a representative stop by the facility. Schaech immediately warned the rep that his crew was going to take the car apart because what could be seen on the outside was very likely just the tip of a very extensive iceberg.

“The insurance company rep basically said, ‘Well, this isn’t an open checkbook. Once you get it apart, we’ll come out and write our own estimate and that’s what we’re going to pay,’” Schaech recalls. “I said, ‘That’s what happened to the car the first time!’”

Once it was determined that the Honda was simply repaired too poorly to ever leave Mark’s Body Shop, Tim and Mary immediately found themselves in a battle with their insurer.

According to Mary, the insurer offered to pay thousands less than the vehicle’s sticker price.

After being pushed by their insured, the company finally relented and said they would pay the invoice plus tax. Then came the salvage debacle.

“In our state, you have the right to retain salvage,” explains Schaech. “At first, the insurer told the customers that they couldn’t do it, then they told them it was going to be around $15,000 to retain the car, while the salvage value was really closer to $5,000. They asked the insurer to send them the bid so they could see how the insurer came up with this number.

One couple's repair nightmare reflects industry shortcomings.

BY JOEL GAUSTEN

July 2015

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COVER STORY

IT’S ALL DIFFERENT INSURERS AND ALL DIFFERENT SHOPS; IT IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. THIS IS MORE THAN JUST A COUPLE OF BAD APPLES. Lo and behold, they get the bid email from the carrier, and it says, ‘fully rebuilt car, clean title.’

They basically bid the vehicle with a clean title. They were either trying to get more money out of the customers, or they weren’t going to brand the title. To the customers, it showed that the insurer was trying to steal money from them again.”

Schaech contacted the insurer, who claimed that the high amount was an oversight. The figure was eventually brought down to around $9,500. Currently, Schaech is working with video producer Lee Emmons (Absolute Perfection Media) in creating an informational piece on the Honda situation for the general public. (Tim and Mary agreed to be filmed while being shown the results of Schaech’s disassembly. In a rough cut of the video shown to Hammer & Dolly, the unscripted shock, anger and dismay they express is palpable.) “[Insurance companies] are the ones who are supposed to have your back and protect you,” Mary says. “The fact that they have contracts and ties with shops that do this kind of work...I felt betrayed, stabbed in the back, really stupid and naïve for trusting them.”

As this issue of Hammer & Dolly went to press, representatives from the Maryland

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Attorney General's Office visited Schaech’s facility to physically see the vehicle and speak with WMABA Executive Director Jordan Hendler, the customers and representatives from the shop regarding some of the issues facing the collision repair industry and shops’ efforts to inform the consumers of their ability to submit formal complaints if they encounter issues during the claim settlement process.

Sadly, Schaech insists that this horror story is far from an anomaly in today’s auto body field.

“I’ve seen dozens of vehicles from several insurers,” offers the shop owner, who ended all DRP agreements at his facility nine years ago. “It’s all different insurers and all different shops; it is not an isolated incident. This is more than just a couple of bad apples.

We’ve totaled a bunch of vehicles; we had one truck here where 15 welds were missing off of the quarter panel. The technician just missed it. Some consumers go back to the shops and have them re-work some stuff.

“We know that the cost controls of the insurer on a DRP shop are very stringent,” he adds. “If you want to get a lot of work, you have to keep the severity down. Does it mean looking the other way on damage or rushing a job through the shop? Those things happen just because they want to keep their severity low and still be able to make money. I’ve seen insurers try not to total cars in my store; they try to keep it under the salvage threshold.

Most shops on DRPs have a problem with not being able to charge for all the labor-intensive work that goes into blueprinting the vehicle, tearing it down and storing it. Then, if the car becomes a total loss, in many cases the DRP shops get nothing – a couple of dollars. That’s a big issue. If you have a third party controlling your sales, but your expenses are what they are, where do you cut it? Parts costs what they cost; margins are pretty fixed. When it comes to labor, if you have an outside party controlling the rates and reimbursements you get, it’s very difficult for a DRP to afford top-level talent. I hear DRP shop owners say, ‘I can’t afford to buy a new welder’ or ‘I can’t afford to do I-CAR Gold Class or do an OEM certification.’ They can’t afford to do these

things because there’s very little return on their investment, if any.”

Despite these dilemmas, there are those who believe that the industry will never get away from DRPs. If this is true, then is there a definitive way that DRPs could operate to ensure quality and safety while also satisfying insurers’ demands? Is it really possible for shops and carriers to have the best of both worlds?

“Could it work? I guess so,” Schaech replies. “It worked early on, in the late ’90s/early 2000s, when carriers said, ‘Look, we just want to streamline the process. We want good, quality repairs. You guys write the sheet, send it up with some photos and we’ll pay the bill.’ Quite honestly, that’s how some of the DRPs worked back then, but today, I feel that many shops were duped and got addicted to the workflow. Then, they were squeezed and squeezed until there was no profit. DRP could work, but you have to give the control of repairs back to the repairers.

“Most of the DRP shop owners I talk to are very fearful,” he continues. “A lot of them agree with my position, and a lot agree that there are problems that need to be addressed, but everyone is afraid of the insurance companies.”

Unsurprisingly, Schaech is not the only post-repair inspector seeing this kind of poor quality on the road. In a June 2 television report on WRIC 8News (available online at tinyurl.com/qfwdan7), WMABA member Ben Gibson (Harrison Body Works, Richmond) detailed how a customer’s Honda minivan was adversely affected by a poor repair that utilized aftermarket parts for the bumper, grille and headlight that simply didn’t fit.

As Gibson told 8News, “Our industry is being pushed by the insurance industry to use any way we can to cut costs.”

Naturally, the broadcast instantly sent shockwaves throughout the Richmond market.

“The response has been all positive from the industry,” Gibson tells Hammer & Dolly.

“I’ve also heard from a couple of dealerships who are tickled to death and said, ‘How come somebody can't say this all the time?’”

Looking ahead, Gibson hopes that these escalating stories about bad repairers lead to better self-policing within the industry to ensure that shops are always performing to the best of their abilities and not just working to save the insurance industry money.

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“This customer [in this news report] was led to believe by the insurance company that [the other] shop did quality work that he could rely upon, and that's just completely false,” he says. “If we don’t start calling a spade a spade, we’re all going to be in a world of hurt; we’ll get lumped together with all of them.”

Although the customers featured in this piece went through an ordeal that nobody should ever have to face, these stories serve as a way to illustrate some of the fundamental issues affecting the collision repair industry – and why legislators and governing agencies need to get involved and right these serious wrongs.

As Schaech says, “It’s important that there is awareness. There are other states, Attorneys General and media sources that are looking at this issue and reporting on it, taking a position on it and hoping to educate uninformed consumers. This is a problem that people need to know about.”

Mary has her own message to any insurer that would allow this scenario to take place: “You're here to protect me; you're here to insure me. You should be ashamed of yourself.” H&D *These names were changed for this story at the participants' request.

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July 2015

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MARKETING FEATURE

The first question is,

“What kinds of videos are useful for marketing body shops?”

How to Get ROI from Video Marketing Why Online Video?

Videos are taking over the Internet. A steadily increasing percentage of Internet traffic is going to streaming videos; by 2016, online video traffic will account for over half of consumer traffic. YouTube receives 1 billion unique users every month, and 50 percent of mobile traffic is devoted to online video.1 Your potential customers are on the Internet, and they love watching videos. In fact, they would much rather watch a video on your website than read the text on it.

While only 20 percent of Internet visitors will read a page of plain text, 80 percent will watch a video with the exact same information.2 You’ve probably heard statistics like this before, and most likely have experienced this to be true in your own interactions with company websites, social media posts and email marketing. Videos are engaging, and can help your online marketing efforts stand out from your competitors.

What happens when you stand out from your competitors with engaging content? You begin the process of building relationships with new customers, generate new leads and increase your revenue.

Unfortunately, it’s not enough just to make a video.

The explosion of Internet video content is a double-edged sword – if you don’t know how to effectively promote and optimize your content, it will get swallowed up by the 300 hours of video that are uploaded to YouTube every minute.3 More than 1 million advertisers are using Google ads on YouTube, with the majority of those being small businesses.4 Competing in that kind of environment takes much more than simply uploading your video online. You need to show up prepared and with knowledge of how to get your videos in front of new customers.

In this article, I’ll talk about optimizing your videos for organic search, promoting your videos through Google AdWords and using your videos on your website, in email marketing and in social media.

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The “Shop Tour” or Company Overview Video

One very popular video amongst body shops is the “shop tour” or company overview. This type of video can be a great place to start. Consumers enjoy watching videos online to learn more about you and your business, and a video that does a good job of presenting your company will help you build trust and confidence in those viewers. A shop tour can help people to imagine what it will be like coming to your shop, and let them know what they can expect. An overview of your capabilities and qualifications can also go a long way towards convincing them you’re the best place for them to bring their vehicle.

Although a shop tour can build trust in your viewers, it isn’t the only topic worth investing in, and may not be the approach that’s going to get you the biggest return on investment. Sometimes, shop tours can tend to try to cover too much ground, and end up too long and boring. Try not to get too technical when you make this type of video, and make sure you’re focused on communicating the “spirit” or mission statement of your company.

Keep it Short and Sweet If your video goes beyond 60 seconds, you risk losing your audience before you’re able to get your point across. Ensuring that people understand what your main message is within the first 10 seconds is vital for holding the attention of your audience. If you can’t communicate your main message within 30 seconds, a third of your audience is likely to miss it completely.5 Also, take the opportunity to advertise your contact info early on; make sure your company name, phone number, website and email address is displayed very early in the video and is clear enough to read.

Keep it Visually Interesting Another great tactic that can make your videos more engaging is to make sure you get a variety of shots to illustrate the message you’re trying to depict. In this type of company overview video, spend the least amount of time necessary on a shot of someone being interviewed or talking to the camera, whether it’s the business owner or a professional host. If possible, use a second camera to break up the shots of the person talking.

Don’t Make Them Take Your Word for It In 60 seconds, you may only have time to tell people, “We’re the best!” and, “We care!” without much specific information to back it up. Fortunately, there’s a solution to this problem, and it isn’t to bog the video down with technical details about your tools and equipment.

The solution is the customer testimonial interview.

Customer Testimonials When you incorporate a customer testimonial interview into your marketing videos, people are more likely to believe the superlative things you’re saying about your own company. Eighty-eight percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations,6 and video testimonials bring those online reviews to life.

In fact, customer testimonial interviews are so powerful and effective, they should be incorporated into every type of Internet video. Sometimes, the customer testimonial is all you need to make a great video that engages the audience.

A testimonial video should be kept between 60 and 90 seconds, like other marketing videos. In these videos, you can show a little bit more of the person talking, but make sure that you break the interview up with plenty of shots illustrating what they’re talking about.

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Ideally, you can have the customer reenact some of the situations they’re talking about.

Even if you can’t get enough time with them to stage those shots, have footage of your shop to cut to, so you can make sure your video is as visually appealing as possible.

This will keep viewers around longer.

As much as consumers like to hear feedback from real customers, they also like to be assured that you know what you’re doing. A great way to portray that your shop is trained, certified and has the right equipment to finish the job properly is to invest in a differentiator video.

Differentiator Videos

Do you have manufacturer certifications? A video showcasing the fact that you have specialized training and equipment that makes you particularly wellsuited to repair a specific brand of vehicle can be a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition. After all, that’s one of the reasons you made the investment in the certification in the first place – to set yourself apart and receive recognition for your capabilities.

Maybe you have an aluminum certification for Ford or a European manufacturer. Potential customers who own those types of vehicles should know about it. But don’t get too bogged down in the technical details of the certification – make sure you focus on how your capabilities benefit them as consumers. If possible, add a testimonial from a customer who drives one of the brands you’re certified for.

Do you have rental cars on-site? Are you an I-CAR Gold Class shop? Are you family-owned/family-operated? All of these things differentiate your shop from the competition and can all make great topics for videos.

Tutorial or How-To Videos

Tutorial videos can be great for engaging your audience and keeping them coming back for more content. Although this type of video might have a lower ROI in terms of directly converting new visitors to leads, they can be great for building relationships with an audience and boosting your website’s SEO rankings by embedding them on your website.

How and Where to Promote Your Videos

How to use visual media to solidify your customer base.

BY LEE EMMONS

So, you’ve completed your video. Now what? Upload it to YouTube and hope for the best? Unfortunately, this isn’t enough. In order to see the most success with your video, you need to put time and effort into distributing it to your target audience. You put a lot of time and thought into actually producing your video; give it some wheels with a proper online strategy.

Email Marketing Video content is great for email marketing campaigns, in which you’re building relationships with existing customers. One of the best ways to make your email marketing feel less like “spam” is to offer useful, interesting content. Using the word “video” in an email subject line has been shown to boost open rates by 19 percent, increase click-through rates by 65 percent and reduce unsubscribes by 26 percent.7 You may ask, “What kind of How-To videos would an auto body shop make?

Our customers only need us when they have an unexpected accident.” And that would be a great question. Just keep in mind that just because you’re a collision repair facility doesn’t mean every video you make has to be about collision repair.

Why not make a video about vehicle maintenance? Any useful automotive content can be great for your audience.

Optimize Your Video for “Organic” Search The first step in positioning your video to be discovered online is to optimize it for organic search engine optimization (which refers to the optimization of natural, unpaid search engine rankings). YouTube is owned by Google, so YouTube brings a lot of value for organic SEO. When you upload your video, make sure to optimize the title, description and tags for specific keywords. Think about the page you’re going to embed your video on, and the search term you’d like that keyword to rank for. A video that’s optimized for the same keywords as the page you’ve embedded it on will help that page rank for those keywords in an organic search.

For example, if you make a video about your paint department, embed that video on your website’s paint services page.

All of your videos should be embedded on your website. Not only do they help with search engine optimization, they also improve the user experience for visitors by making your website more engaging. In fact, websites that include embedded videos have, on average, an extra two-minute dwell time compared to sites that don’t.8 Google AdWords In addition to optimizing your video for unpaid search, it’s also important to promote your video through paid Internet advertising. A very powerful way to create targeted promotions for your YouTube videos is to connect your YouTube channel with Google AdWords. Google AdWords include the paid results on search engine results pages, but that’s only one part of what AdWords can do.

When connected to your YouTube channel, Google AdWords can be used to create video ads that appear on other YouTube videos and on websites that run Google ads (known as the Google Display Network). The Google Display Network has the potential to reach over 90 percent of all Internet users worldwide, and consists of over 2 million websites.

Of course, you won’t need to reach 90 percent of worldwide Internet users; you only need to reach potential customers in your market. Google AdWords video advertising allows you to get extremely specific about the people you’re targeting with your video. You can target users by geographical location (down to the neighborhood) and by demographics, but that’s just the start of targeting customers with Google AdWords. You can target people who search for certain keywords, browse specific websites and express interest in specific topics.

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Social Media

Videos are also great for promotion through social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Facebook paid promotions have proven to be very effective for the shops I’ve worked with, allowing specific targeting by location, demographics and interests.

I recommend uploading your video to both YouTube and Facebook. Videos uploaded directly to Facebook can often get more views than those shared from YouTube, as Facebook videos will often auto-play as soon as they show up in your target audience’s newsfeed.

Get Out There and Get Started!

To be truly effective, video production requires a significant investment. However, when compared to the broad stroke approach of advertising on television, the highly targeted approach one can follow online can be extremely cost-effective.

Online video will make your website more engaging and can grow your brand in your service area when promoted effectively. So get out there and get started with video production, and take your online marketing to the next level! H&D Footnotes 1. www.merchantmarketinggroup.com/blog/merchants-2015-digital-marketing-predictions/ 2. www.slideshare.net/BlogGrowth/how-to-increase-business-profit-by-videos 3. https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html 4. Ibid.

5. http://thevideoeffect.tv/2013/05/08/online-video-attention-span-how-long-should-a-video-production-be/ 6. http://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803 7. http://syndacast.com/video-marketing-statistics-trends-2015 8. www.reelnreel.com/10-video-marketing-predictions-2015

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Lee Emmons is vice president in charge of AP Media based in Sykesville, MD. His public relations and marketing efforts on behalf of collision repair shops throughout the Mid-Atlantic have gained industry press coverage for those shops in trade publications and local media. He and his agency are certified Google Partners, with certifications in AdWords and in Google’s Video Advertising Advanced Certification. Marketing for auto body shops has become his passion and personal area of expertise. You can visit his company’s website at AbsolutePerfectionMedia.com.

Executive Director’s Thoughts

Lee’s outline of the effective use of inexpensive marketing tactics is just one way this industry can capture customers, make them brand-loyal and get referral business. The visual representation and reach available online versus in traditional media outlets is unparalleled in our history. Take advantage! - Jordan Hendler

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Don Beaver

PRESIDENT’S

(443) 539-4200 ext. 17061 Dbeaver@antwerpenauto.com

MESSAGE NEW LAWS ON THE ROAD

Today on the way home, traveling about 65 mph, I came up on a state trooper with a car pulled over. Maryland recently caught up with the rest of the country and passed a law that says when you are approaching emergency vehicles, you must slow down to 10 mph below the posted speed limit and move over a lane if possible. Having driven a tow truck for years (and having many friends who are first responders) I did just that. Besides being almost run over by another driver traveling way too fast and not caring about what was happening in front of him, I took it in stride and just had to laugh to myself that I’d probably be seeing him soon in my shop (or someone else’s). The real concern was not even the one-fingered salute he gave me as he passed, but the fact that

emergency personnel have a hard enough job without having to worry about being run over. These people put their lives on the line every day and don’t need morons to add to that danger. I write this in hopes that maybe some of you will share this law with someone and save a life.

Another new law also passed in Maryland was the impeding driver law. It basically says that it is illegal to hold up a faster-moving vehicle in a passing or fast lane regardless of the posted speed limit. That means drive faster or move over.

A lot of things in this business (and sometimes life in general) upset me. However, today was a good day for me in the body shop world, so I thought I’d take a different direction with my message. Last but not least, join WMABA and come to the meetings!!! We – and this industry – need more people who care. H&D

WE NEED YOUR LEGISLATIVE CONTRIBUTION! I appreciate WMABA working on my behalf at the state capitol(s)!

Here is my contribution to the legislative efforts.

P.O. Box 3157 • Mechanicsville, VA 23116

Name: ______________________________________Company: __________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________________________________________ City:____________________________________________State: ______________________Zip: ________ Phone:

______________________________Email:

Donation Amount: Check Enclosed

$50

$100

____________________________________________ $500

Other ________________

Credit Card (Visa, Amex, MC)# __________________________________________________________ Exp: ________

Name on Card: ______________________________Signature: __________________________________ 44

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Getting to know the industry pros who work on your behalf.

MEET THE BOARD: Robert Plate

“I like seeing something that is damaged, that looks like it is beyond repair, and watching it go through the repair process, coming out on the other end and looking like something that was never even damaged. That still excites me to this day.”

These are the words of recently added WMABA Board member Robert “RT” Plate, owner of Precision Collision in Lorton, VA. Plate’s journey to shop ownership was an interesting one. At the age of 14, he purchased his first car, driving back and forth from eighth grade (to the blissful ignorance of his mother).

“I’ve been interested in cars for as long as I can remember,” Plate recalls. “During high school, I used to work for Professional Auto Body [in Newington then] and my mom would have to call Ed V. [the owner] to find out if I was there because I would skip school to go work. Even when I didn’t know it, my dream was to own a body shop.”

At 17, Plate was working in clean up at an extremely small shop when the owner decided to go back to work at the local Honda dealership as a body tech. The shop owner asked Plate if he wanted to buy the business for $100,000. Plate scraped up what he could and between himself, his sister and his mother, they were able to gather $7,500, which the owner took in exchange for the shop. Within three months of owning the business, Cope Ford, a local dealership, closed their doors. One of the painters and body techs came to Plate and asked if he wanted to sell.

“I told them I would sell it to them for $100,000, and they took the offer,” Plate laughs. “At 18 years old, I had that much money in the bank. From there, I moved from Woodbridge to Lorton. I built a shop, sold it. Built two more, sold them. In 1989, I purchased a building with 2,280 square feet

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Precision Collision crew members with owner, RT Plate (far right in dark shirt).

and I was concerned that we weren’t going to be able to keep the bay full. Now, I’ve got a 40,000-square-foot facility with 55 employees who service over 300 cars a month.” Plate finds it truly humbling to look back on the journey that brought him to his situation today.

With this level of success, Plate can confidently say that the most important aspect of his shop is their “can-do attitude” and dedication to education and customer service.

“Learning is a big deal to me,” he explains. “I’ve surrounded myself with people who understand that these cars are changing quickly, and that if you want to continue in this trade, you have to know what is going on.”

Precision is certified for repairs for a number of different manufacturers, including Volkswagen, and they were one of the first shops on the east coast to be certified to repair the 2015 Aluminum-Intensive Ford F-150. All of the shop’s techs are certified for aluminum and steel repairs through I-CAR. “The people I work with are what make me proudest about my company,” he explains. “If I didn’t have qualified and customer service-oriented people who worked for me, this company wouldn’t be where it is today. There is no me without them.”

It is this culture of training and customer service that continues to drive Plate’s involvement in WMABA. “I’ve been a member of WMABA for as long as I can remember. The caption on the

first issue of Hammer & Dolly I ever read was, ‘Computers…Are They Here to Stay?’” he jokes. “There are so many benefits to membership, and the magazine is just one of them. Reading it monthly helps keep me in tune with what’s going on locally. I think that Hammer & Dolly and the association are doing a wonderful job, and they are here to help bridge the collision industry and insurance industry to the best of their ability.”

While many shop owners who have been in the industry for a while worry about the future of the field, Plate has high hopes.

“I see MSOs getting bigger, but I don’t think it’s doom and gloom for independent collision centers, as long as they are well-oiled and well-run,” he offers. “MSOs have to perform just like independents have to. If shop owners know their business, know their numbers, understand cycle time and severity above all and focus on customer service and the quality of the repair, they will continue to prosper in an MSO world.”

When not in the shop, Plate still continues to work on cars and boats, but for right now his focus is on his family. He uses his time away from work to be with his 15-year-old son, RJ, and 12-year-old daughter, Nicole, as much as possible, as you can’t get these precious years back before your kids grow up and move out.

For shop owners who want to achieve the same level of success, Plate has one piece of advice.

“Don’t worry about the things you can’t control; only worry about the things you can.”

H&D

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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX Air-Tech Products ................................39 Alexander & Cleaver............................29 Alexandria Toyota ................................39 All Foreign Used Auto..........................21 AP Media ............................................42

Audi Group ..........................................13

Audi Silver Spring ................................IBC

Axalta Coating Systems ......................OBC

BMW Group ........................................26-27 BMW of Silver Spring ..........................IBC BMW of Fairfax....................................3

CAPA ..................................................15

Car-Part.com ......................................29

Chesapeake Automotive Equipment ..21

Empire Auto Parts................................31 Ford Group ..........................................43 Future Cure ........................................32

GM Parts Group ..................................19 Hendrick Honda ..................................34

Honda Group ......................................46 Hyundai Group ....................................18

Koons Ford ..........................................34 Malloy Auto Group ..............................4

Mazda Group ......................................7

MINI Group ..........................................45 Mitsubishi Group..................................9

Mopar Group ........................................23

Nissan Group ......................................35 NUCAR................................................11

O’Donnell Honda ................................50

P&L Consultants ..................................31 Packer Norris Parts ............................25

Porsche Group ....................................49

Porsche of Silver Spring ......................IBC PPG ....................................................IFC Safety Regulations ..............................50 Sherwin-Williams ................................8

Subaru Group ......................................33

Toyota Group ......................................47 VW Group............................................22

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