PARTS.

THEY’RE CALLED “ORIGINAL BMW PARTS” FOR GOOD REASON. FOR UNCOMPROMISING PRECISION AND INCOMPARABLE QUALITY, YOUR BMW CENTER IS YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR EVERYTHING BMW.

For Original BMW Parts, contact one of these authorized BMW centers:

BMW of West Springfield

1712 Riverdale St.

West Springfield, MA 01089

PH: 413-746-1722

FAX: 413-304-9009 bmwwestspringfield.com

New Country BMW

1 Weston Park Ave.

Hartford, CT 06120

PH: 860-240-7881

FAX: 860-240-7873 newcountrybmw.com

BMW of Stratham

71 Portsmouth Avenue

Stratham, NH 03885

PH: 603-772-0000

FAX: 603-772-9436 bmwofstratham.com

BMW of Warwick

1515 Bald Hill Rd.

Warwick, RI 02886

PH: 401-821-1510

FAX: 401-823-0530 bmwofwarwick.com

[COVER] STORY continued from pg. 27

Maylan Newton (Educational Seminars Institute) agrees that “the transportation industry has survived very well during every past recession. Even during the height of the pandemic, repair shops remained busy because people wanted to isolate themselves in their own mode of transportation. In the US, we are very transportation dependent, and few places have a reasonably clean, rapid public transit system. The average vehicle age and miles driven has increased, and although the industry is changing, I don’t think it’s changing to the point that it won’t be needed. Sure, we will need to modify the way we do things and learn new technology, but there are plenty of cars on the highway that need our attention.”

Before the pandemic, shops commonly saw workloads decrease for weeks at a time, but most repairers barely have a chance to catch a break between repairs these days. While COVID resulted in a larger remote workforce, the public still relies on their vehicles – to take the kids to soccer or dance practice, to travel to appointments and to attend social gatherings.

“Our cars are integral to how we live our lifestyles. That plays a lot into the consistent need for repairs, and as the economy tightens, more people opt to repair their cars instead of buying new,” points out Rachel James (Torque Financial Group). “Looking back at the economic changes the industry has experienced over the years, the only real constant is change. The economy isn’t stagnant; there’s economic uncertainty every day. But shops are used to changing and adapting. If you get a run in your paint, the painter knows there are tools to fix it. Having a solid financial plan is a tool that every business needs, no matter the current economic situation.”

On the other hand, it’s hard for shops to keep up with the influx of work while also contending with the ongoing workforce shortage; however, James believes the current economic situation also provides an opportunity for shops to attract more qualified talent from other industries that may be suffering more than ours. With companies announcing closures of locations all across the country, the employment structure is weakening which means qualified professionals will be looking for new opportunities. This offers our industry a chance to attract customer service representatives and other skilled talent to repair and collision shops.”

While economic downturns are typically viewed negatively, they also offer some benefits, according to Rick White (180BIZ). “This is a chance to realign and correct the economy when prices spiral out of control. It also offers a chance to ‘discover who’s swimming naked,’ as Warren Buffet said. A lot of activity hides a lot of sins in sales. Poor performance at the front counter can still be profitable if I have enough people coming in, but when the tide goes out, those shortcuts are glaringly evident without the activity to hide them. Slowing down gives us a chance to step back, return to the basics and correct our actions.”

Of course, it can be easy to fall into a pattern of pessimism when so much negativity surrounds us, but Newton stresses the importance of a positive attitude. “If it’s all doom and gloom, why are so many consolidators buying up shops?” he asks. “Venture capitalists are making huge investments in MSOs and software companies, and they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t believe there was a return on investment. We’re a vital industry, so we should be going to work excited, with a good attitude. Be optimistic about the future! Yes, we’ll need to learn about electric vehicles and how to work on alternatively fueled cars, but we’ve been learning for over 100 years. We started as blacksmiths, and now we’re working on complex machines. Even when vehicles advance to the Jetsonage of flying saucers, they’ll still need us to fix them. It’s up to you if you’re going to be prepared for that future or if you’re going to give up now.”

“Shop owners need to keep their heads and maintain a positive mindset because how you show up in business has everything to do with how the business will go,” White agrees. “You may need to work harder, but recognizing there’s still opportunities to take advantage of is better than believing it’s going to get slow. Thoughts dictate actions, so when you accept that negative change is coming, you stop working as hard; your negative thoughts allow you to spiral and reinforce that negativity. But positive thinking helps you work harder and make good things happen.

“When things go well, we unconsciously expect them to stay that way, and when they go sideways, we fear they’ll stay that way,” he continues. “But neither is true. In reality, there are seasons to business: We plant and grow in spring, nurture in summer, harvest in the fall and then recharge and reset every winter. And if you’re prepared for those cycles, it can be pretty amazing. Jim

Rohn has a great lesson on thinking like an ant…never quit, focus on gathering all you can, think winter all summer and think summer all winter. Your economy lives in the six inches between your ears, and when you’re approaching the unknown, recognizing that you control your mindset and your mindset controls your outcomes can make all the difference in the world.”

Opportunities absolutely exist for shops that know how to take advantage of them – and embracing a positive mindset is key in achieving a more favorable future outcome for your facility. So, what are those opportunities, how can advancing technology work to shops’ benefit and how can shops navigate increasing expenses? Stay tuned to next month’s New England Automotive Report as these leading industry experts share more insights to help you find ways that inflation can benefit your business!

This is my last regular Legal Perspective column. I have been writing monthly articles for New England Automotive Report, and before that for Damage Report, almost continuously since 1982. It has been a long journey, and I hope that I can adjust to a life of not having a monthly deadline hanging over my head.

I am not retiring, but the nature of my law practice has changed significantly over the past several years, and I am less involved with the collision repair industry than I used to be and more involved with other clients. And, quite frankly, it sometimes is a chore to come up with what appears to be a new topic every 30 days. On the other hand, I am still here, willing to give advice regarding issues that affect the industry, and, if pushed, I still might be willing to contribute an article here and there on a particular new or challenging issue.

It was suggested to me that I look back over the past many decades and use this opportunity to write about the topics that I think are most important to members of the collision repair industry, and that is what I am going to do; however, that being said, in my opinion, there is really only one major topic that matters the most: the labor rate!

There certainly are a lot of other topics that are important as well, but many of them would be only afterthoughts if collision repair shops could charge and collect a fair labor rate for their services. Are insurers looking for a discount on repair parts prices, or do they seem to take excessive depreciation on wear items, or are they claiming that certain procedures are already included in a particular repair allowance? While important, all of these issues would take a back seat if repairers were able to get paid a decent labor rate. Do insurers not want to pay a markup on sublet work, not want to pay your storage rate or want to pay only on a dollars times hours basis for paint and materials? Again, if repairers were able to get paid a fair labor rate for their services, then all of these issues would still be important, but much less so than they are now.

As I have often recounted, the very first question that was posed to me at the first Board of Directors meeting of a collision repair association that I attended was: What can we do about the labor rate? The association at the time was the Massachusetts Auto Body Shop Owners Association (MABSOA), the meeting took place in January of 1976. I had been a lawyer for about one month, and my boss had just picked up MABSOA as a client but did not want to personally attend their Directors’ meetings. So, as the new kid on the block, I was the one chosen to spend monthly night time meetings in smoke-filled, closely packed rooms with a bunch of mostly old-time tin knockers drinking Seagram’s VO and soda. I had no idea what the labor rate question meant at the time or how important it was to the industry, but I made the effort to talk to various members of the association to find out and tried my best to research laws that might show me some answers.

Over the years, MABSOA grew in membership, subsequently became MABA and eventually merged with two other industry associations to become AASP/MA. Meanwhile, cars became increasingly more complicated to repair, members of the industry became more sophisticated and better educated, and computers and microchips became an integral part of the collision repair business. But over those years, the question that I continued to get the most was: What can we do about the labor rate? That continues to be the case, and I have continued to talk to members continued on pg. 34