Where’s The Glue?

Where is the Glue?

Earlier this month, I attended the wake for the parent of a close friend of mine. (If you’re a shop owner in northern New Jersey, he’s probably a friend of yours, too, actually. This is a longtime active AASP/NJ member who’s done a lot of good for this industry in the time he’s been a part of it.) While I was paying my respects and talking with my friend, I noticed something very strange: The viewing was packed with family and friends, but I didn’t see any fellow shop owners or AASP/NJ members in attendance. I made a mental note and in asking around later, was disgusted to learn that three of “us” showed up or sent flowers to express our condolences. THREE. In an association of over 250 shops with an average of five employees in each facility. THREE PEOPLE showed their support for this person in their time of need, who has for sure been there for us countless times over the years. I hate to be the person that talks about how things were “in my day” – but take a minute and think back to the culture of our industry 10, 15, 20 years ago. Back then, we were a tight-knit group. And it wasn’t limited to the AASP/ NJ board of directors: If you were a collision shop out there trying to make a living, you had an unspoken fraternity with your fellow shops. Competition aside, at the end of the day, we recognized that we were all just trying to put food on the table to feed our families. Facing similar challenges and fighting the same fight bonded us together, and many of us built lifelong friendships out of those shared experiences. When needed, we would show up in force – whether that was down in Trenton giving our voice to legislation, filling a ballroom with 200 repairers or more to populate an AASP/ NJ general meeting or filing into a funeral home to be there for a shop in mourning. I’m talking friendly shops, competitor shops, suppliers, Board, non-Board, ex-Board, insurance adjusters. EVERYBODY came. Our experiences, struggles and successes became a glue, holding us together through the best and the worst of times. And when I say a fraternity, I mean it. We were a tight-knit community of friends who just happened to work in the same industry. We did everything together. We drove to NACE together, went to each other’s barbecues, kids’ birthday parties and christenings. We regularly went out to dinner together, our families knew each other...you get it. What started out as colleagues became my oldest and closest friends.

Fast-forward 20 years, and three people came to support one of us in an instance where there should have been hundreds. Instead of close friends who happen to work in the same industry, we see each other as “that guy I see at AASP/ NJ meetings who likes my Facebook posts once in a while.” Where is that glue? Have we become too busy to look after each other?

Now more than ever, unity should be the most important thing in this industry. Collision repairers are at a crossroads like never before; we are constantly bombarded with the threat of technology or outside parties trying to take our businesses away from us. The only way to succeed is through constant and COLLABORATIVE evolution. That means bettering yourself, but not doing it on an island. I get it: With all of the information and misinformation out there, and the “every man for himself” attitude that has become the norm these days, we simply don’t know who to trust. But do you know who you can trust? Your fellow shop. Sure, they’re your competition, but if you have a question about something, I can guarantee you that they either have the answer to that question, or they’re also stumped and just too busy, too proud or too scared to reach out to anyone for assistance. Together, you can pool your many resources to find a resolution on any number of challenges you’re both experiencing. Along the way, you might just transcend from competitors to colleagues, to friends. That kind of mindset is how we all rise to the top. If you haven’t already made a New Year’s Resolution, do me a favor: Make it a goal to connect with ONE shop owner you’ve never spoken with before this month. (Yes, I know you’re busy. We’re all busy. Do it anyway.) Share your frustrations and your successes, and encourage them to do the same. It’s very possible you each have solutions the other can use to make things run more smoothly. If you’re an AASP/NJ member and they’re not, make sure they’re aware of all of the great things this association has to offer a repair facility. If you’re both members, maybe you sit together at the next AASP/NJ general meeting. And in the meantime, get to know each other. What do they do outside the shop? Are they married? Do they have kids? Pets? You get the idea. If in the course of establishing a professional relationship you also make a friend, all the better. THAT’S how we get the glue back in this industry. We’ve forgotten how to show up – literally and figuratively – for our fellow shops. But we can get back to that, and we should. All it takes is a little bit of effort.