AASP/MA Leads Body Shop Professionals Toward ‘Taking Back Their Business’

“Breaking free in 2023!”

Nearly 100 fired up collision repair professionals representing every corner of the state – illustrating the “allied forces” that truly make up the “Alliance” – shouted this mantra in unison as AASP/MA Executive Director Lucky Papageorg led the way.

The inspiring message set the tone for the Alliance’s November Fall General Membership meeting. Repairers flocked to the auditorium at Assabet Valley Vocational Technical School in Marlborough on a Saturday to soak up the beneficial education and collaboration offered, which focused on the idea of “Taking Back Their Business” in order to “break free in 2023.” The attendance list also included repair professionals from as far as New Jersey and New York.

Repairers took in discussions on how to develop a successful co-pay system led by Jack Lamborghini (Total Care Accident Repair; Raynham), how to use valuable tools such as National AutoBody Research’s “Collision Powerpak” presented by Don Dowling (Marblehead Collision; Marblehead) and other business-building resources that are needed to survive in an industry that is constantly challenged with third-party interference from the insurance industry.

While recent legislative attempts to improve the labor rate did not come through this time around, discussions involved other ways to fight back, regain control and get paid fairly.

Lamborghini gave repairers a lot to think about when it comes to insurer referral programs demonstrating their negative impact on what repairers get paid. “Even if only one shop agrees to a price set by a referral program, it can set the prevailing rate,” an inaccurate price based on little to no data which then devalues the cost it really takes to properly fix today’s vehicles.

He and his business partner Brian Bernard relied on these programs for quite some time but have since completely cut the cord and have not looked back.

The pair walked their fellow repairers through every step they took to sever these insurer agreements and how establishing a co-pay system to balance-bill their customer has been “life changing.” Their shop only bills at their own posted door rate and “collecting a significant amount from each customer in the form of a co-pay is helping.”

There need not be worry in losing customers if they are treated right, Lamborghini stressed. Keeping them informed of the process helps them see the good care they are receiving…and also opens their eyes to the poor treatment they often encounter from their insurer.

Through customer feedback surveys, he has been pleased to find not one customer has complained about having to pay money out of pocket.

The more shops that adopt this practice, the more insurers – or “the cartel” as Lamborghini likes to refer to them – are likely to “feel pressure.”

“There has never been a better time in our industry to do what we are all about to do,” he noted. “It’s the perfect storm. We all don’t have a full staff, we have more work, and cars are more complex than ever. I will not fix a car for as little as $40 or anything close to that. We owe it to ourselves and those who work for us to get paid fairly and appropriately to do what we do.”

Tools and resources, such as National AutoBody Research’s Variable Rate Survey, can go very far in helping shops get paid what they deserve.

“One of the main reasons we got ahead of where we are with the labor rate is thanks to the information collected on the VRS,” Papageorg suggested regarding small increases which have come about. “These aren’t pie in the sky numbers. When you answer the survey, it has to be with your posted door rate, the rate you use when writing your estimate.”

Dowling shared his experience using NABR’s BillableGenie program. Subscribing shops can submit their estimates to the program which compiles true rates from shops all over the state and country. The collected information is proof of actual market rates as opposed to the misleading prevailing rates set by insurers.

“I don’t work for NABR, but I believe

Jack Lamborghini

Don Dowling

Rick Starbard

continued from pg. 12

in it,” he boasted. “The more we feed to the system, the more it pays out.” Posting door rates via the LaborRateHero.com tool and updating it often has helped lead to some small increases from insurers.

Collision industry consultant and well-known speaker Barrett Smith of Auto Damage Experts gave the featured presentation, “How to Take Back Control of Your Business,” inspiring the auto body shop audience to think outside the box, earn customers’ trust and “reset the switch” to take their business back.

Smith reminded all that they are the experts and therefore it is the shops who should be in control. “You are just as important as a surgeon, doctor, accountant or attorney. You have an immense amount of responsibility to consumers because you are dealing with their safety, their economic well being and the proper restoration of their vehicle.”

When it comes to insurer pushback on fixing cars correctly, in Smith’s eyes, there is only one answer to that: “Do the right thing, the right way and for the right reasons. I encourage you to serve the customer and empathize with them. You should treat your insurance company as a guest on behalf of your customer.”

When the sight of a claims adjuster pulling up to the shop leaves one with anxiety, something is not right. “You should be enjoying your life. You should be enjoying being a business person and providing a viable service to your community. You should not be full of angst because the adjuster pulled up. They don’t control your business, but you are allowing the insurance industry to control you, your business and overall your mental health.”

It’s the customer the shop should focus on. Any high quality shop will “manage the customer’s expectations” by providing a positive experience from the first time a customer visits the website to the moment they arrive at the facility. Being sure to have that customer draw a pleasant picture in their mind of your facility will go a long way. “You have to be able to convince your customer that you have their best interests in mind.”

It can really turn things around.

“If you do everything you possibly can to run your business properly, ethically and morally, insurers will quit messing with you.”

Smith echoed “the perfect storm” Lamborghini predicted earlier in the day.

“They know it’s coming. They know shops are wising up. You can only poke a dog so long before it fights back. Our industry has been poked, prodded and abused for so long; they know it’s coming.”

Another highlight was a panel discussion moderated by Papageorg featuring Rick Starbard (Rick’s Auto Collision; Revere and Auto Damage Appraisers Licensing Board member), Ray Belsito (Arnie’s Auto Body; Charlton and former insurance professional) and Ken Miller (821 Collision; North Haledon, NJ and AASP/NJ Board member) who were joined by Lamborghini and Smith.

Along with audience engagement, the discussion tackled issues caused by the ADALB being housed under the Department of Insurance (DOI) rather than the Department of Occupational Licensure (DOL) as well as the role that effective complaint filing

continued on pg. 36