by EDWARD DAY
GUEST EDITORIAL
What Does It Mean to Be Elite? Is it volume? Is it numbers? Is it a completely landscaped building in a frontline location? Some of the finest restaurants I’ve ever been to in this state – or in Italy – have been places you’d call a dive. Some of the best meals I’ve had have been in taverns with people’s names scratched into the wooden bar. Everybody has had a different start in this industry. I admire every single one of them. Some have locations that have been there since the ’40s. Some have had different opportunities based on inheriting family wealth. Some scratched it out from zero. We have shops that have no room to expand, and we have shops that have had chances to buy better locations. They had the chance to move forward. Does it mean we are certified? Not certified? It’s very hard to define. Elite, to me, is someone who stays abreast of recent technology, goes for training and works hard to put out a quality product every day. There’s a restoration shop in Connecticut that’s no larger than seven cars. But if you go to the yearly Concours d’Elegance car show, he’s got a car there every year. There’s a restoration shop in Stillwater with a small office that’s nothing to write home about based on location and exterior aesthetics. His work is impeccable, he treats his customers properly and his pricing is a little above average. He gets paid for what he does. I consider these two shops elite. Do your reviews hold up? Make sure they do. They’re important. Do you follow up with your customer after a mistake? Do you take ownership of that mistake? I have found I sometimes make more customers by correcting small mistakes and going over and above the call of duty instead of patting my customer on the ass and saying, “We’re really sorry.” When it happens, do you have a local group of restaurants you work with? Maybe give a gift card to a local spot to your customer – or a bottle of
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34 | New Jersey Automotive | May 2021
wine on their front seat with an apology note. How about flatbedding that car and delivering it to the customer, making sure it’s washed and clean? Those things make you elite. I was never raised with jealousy. I’m more curious how the more successful shop got to where it is. I like listening to more successful people than myself; that’s how we learn. But I’ll say it again: Success isn’t judged by volume – it’s judged by integrity. It’s judged by fairness. Your ability to bend and compromise when needed. I don’t pass judgment on anybody’s work style. I don’t pass judgment on their location. I need to know that the people around me are decent human beings who would help each other at the drop of a hat. That’s the industry I grew up in. Those are the people I consider elite. In loving memory of my friend, Lee Vetland. AASP/NJ Hall of Famer Edward Day is the owner of Collision Restoration in Fairfield and a former president of AASP/NJ.
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