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Summer 2018
A Little and A LOT:
What’s Changed with the Public’s Perception of Collision Repair
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2016-2018 WACTAL BOARD of DIRECTORS President Larry Terrien, MJ Collision Center larry@mjcollisioncenter.com Vice President Mark Williams, Williams Auto Body mark@williamsautobody.com Secretary Ronnie Goss, Goss Auto Body, Inc. ronnie@gossautobody.com Treasurer Sue Black, Dean’s Auto Body suzieq@deansautobody.com Directors Eileen Haberman, Glen's Auto Body, Inc. Mike Miyagawa, M & M Auto Body Inc. Michael Taylor, Zimbrick ChevroletSun Prairie Tracy Black, Dean’s Auto Body, Inc. Association Administration Sue Peterson wactal@execpc.com / info@wactal.com (800) 366-9472 Lobbyist Jolene Plautz jplautz@aol.com
Summer 2018
Vol. 5, Number 4
CONTENTS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE................................................................5 So Many Ways to Save by Larry Terrien WACTAL MEMBER SPOTLIGHT ........................................................7 Prestige Auto Body, Marinette, WI by Kristen Dalli LOCAL NEWS ............................................................................8 WACTAL Announces Annual Scholarship Winner by Alana Bonillo FEATURE STORY ............................................................................10 A Little and A Lot: What’s Changed with the Public’s Perception of Collision Repair by Tom Slear BUSINESS INSURANCE SAVINGS FOR WACTAL MEMBERS ..........................12 WACTAL RECRUIT-A-MEMBER PROGRAM ............................................13
PUBLISHED BY: Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. 244 Chestnut St., Suite 202 Nutley, NJ 07110 PHONE: 973-667-6922 • FAX: 973-235-1963 ADVERTISING: 973-667-6922 • alicia@grecopublishing.com PUBLISHER Thomas Greco (thomas@grecopublishing.com) SALES DIRECTOR Alicia Figurelli (alicia@grecopublishing.com) CREATIVE DIRECTOR Lea Velocci (lea@grecopublishing.com) EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Joel Gausten (joel@grecopublishing.com) EDITORIAL / CREATIVE COORDINATOR Alana Bonillo (alana@grecopublishing.com) OFFICE MANAGER Donna Greco (donna@grecopublishing.com) www.grecopublishing.com Wisconsin Automotive News is published quarterly by Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc., 244 Chestnut Street, Suite 202 Nutley, NJ 07110. Distributed free to qualified recipients; $48 to all others. Additional copies of Wisconsin Automotive News are available at $5 per copy. Reproduction of any portions of this publication is specifically prohibited without written permission of the publisher. The opinions and ideas appearing in this magazine are not necessarily representations of Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. or of WACTAL. Copyright © 2018 by Thomas Greco Publishing, Inc. Cover image © www.istock.com.
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ASK MIKE ....................................................................................14 What is Your New OEM Webinar Series About? by Mike Anderson WACTAL MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION ................................................18
ADVERTISER’S INDEX Akzo Nobel ..............................................OBC
International Autos Waukesha..................IBC
Axalta Coating Systems ..........................IFC
Morrison’s Auto Parts ..............................4
Body Shop Supply Co. ............................6
Sherwin Williams ....................................9
Buerkle Hyundai ......................................13
Straight and Square ................................15
Dentsmart ................................................17
Zorn Compressor & Equipment ..............IBC 3
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So Many Ways to Save
President’s MESSAGE
WACTAL members, are you taking advantage of the
The Office Depot/OfficeMax program is just one of
Office Depot / OfficeMax discount program? If not, why
many WACTAL member benefits. If you’re not a
not? You need office supplies – pens, paper, ink and
member, why not? Not only can members save on office
toner, etc. The Office Depot program offers discounts of
supplies, they can save on their business insurance
up to 80 percent on thousands of items. Whether
through the Auto Owners Group Discount Program.
shopping online or in the store, the process is easy and
Savings on these two programs could more than pay for
savings immediate.
your annual dues. Visit the WACTAL website (wactal.com) for a list of the member programs and
I can personally attest to the ease of use and savings. An
benefits. Contact the WACTAL office or any board
order in which I did a price comparison between my
member if you have any questions.
usual supplier of office supplies and the Office Depot discount program resulted in savings.
Not a member? Join TODAY and become a part of the organization that is dedicated to addressing the interests
Members, watch for your discount card for in-store
of the collision repair industry in Wisconsin!
Larry Terrien WACTAL President
shopping to arrive in the mail later this month.
WAN
WACTAL Members
SAVE UP TO
80%
with Office Depot / OfficeMax
Save more with your WACTAL Membership Save up to 80% on thousands of items. Shopping and saving in-store or online is easy! Print a free discount card to be used for personal or business purchases. Find discounts on things like ink and toner, paper, cleaning and break room supplies, and even furniture! Most orders of $50 or more are eligible for free delivery to your home or office.
Members— Keep an eye out for your personal discount card in the mail! To visit the WACTAL homepage, go to www.wactal.com
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Prestige Auto Body Marinette, WI
WACTAL
Member
SPOTLIGHT
by Kristen Dalli Prestige Auto Body has been a Marinette, WI fixture since the doors were officially opened in 1984. Boasting one-day repairs and 24-hour local towing, Prestige is committed to performing the highest quality repairs and services to all customers, which is one of the many reasons they’ve received such considerable success for more than 30 years.
Mike Reek
Started in 1984 by former WACTAL President Jerome Camps, the shop is now run by Mike Reek and Camps’ daughter Lori. “I’ve been here since 1995,” Reek shares. “Lori’s father opened the shop, but we took over almost six years ago.” When asked about the shop’s greatest specialty, Reek was quick to answer that Prestige can “fix anything.” Summer 2018
“Collision repair is the number one thing we’re probably known for, but we do boats, motorcycles, trailers and RVs – pretty much anything.” A quick look at Prestige’s website proves Reek’s claim to be true. The shop offers customers an impressive repertoire of collision repair and painting services, ranging from paintless dent repair in their state of the art paint booths, supplemental auto body services, aluminum repair and frame straightening. Additionally, Prestige offers auto body advice completely free of charge! When it comes to standout players at Prestige that are responsible for the shop’s success, Reek couldn’t single out just one person – it’s a team effort! “Everybody that’s here – there’s six of us – and we all play a part in it. From me to Lori and Brenda and John – all of us.” As an established business, Reek notes a number of different marketing methods Prestige uses to attract new customers. “We do a lot of radio ads, and those have worked well for us. We also use social media; we put stuff out on Facebook a lot.” Prestige has a rather active Facebook presence, hosting giveaways for customers, sharing posts from satisfied customers and posting pictures of various jobs they’re working on. To keep up with the training demands of the industry, Reek utilizes a number of different platforms currently available to repairers, with the end goal in mind of staying as informed as possible. “We often go to I-CAR classes; we also go through FinishMaster – they offer a number of different classes. And then anytime we can go to WACTAL classes – when they have their conferences or trade shows – we make a point of attending those sessions as well.” Reek and Prestige have deep ties with WACTAL, and the shop’s commitment to the association has been unwavering since its opening. “Jerome Camps – the previous owner [of Prestige] – was the WACTAL president for quite some time. Ever since I’ve been continued on page 17 7
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Local
NEWS
WACTAL Announces Annual Scholarship Winner by Alana Bonillo
Elijah “Eli” Schieldt of Lone Rock has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 WACTAL Auto Collision Technician Scholarship. The recent high school graduate will receive a $2,000 scholarship courtesy of WACTAL in partnership with the Foundation of the Wisconsin Automobile and Truck Dealers Association (WATDA). Eli will also receive a Snap-On tool set valued at $3,905. “I was pretty ecstatic,” said Eli about receiving the good news. “This will help me a lot with my career path, helping me get started.” He will attend Southwest Wisconsin Technical College (SWTC) in Fennimore.
continued on pg. 17
WACTAL Scholarship Winner Eli Schieldt (pictured second from right)
SAVE THE DATE! The 2019 WACTAL Conference will be held March 15-16, 2019 at the Best Western in Green Bay, WI.
The event will include seminars, I-CAR classes, a spouses’ program and Friday evening reception held at The Automobile Gallery (theautomobilegallery.org)
VISIT WACTAL.COM FOR DETAILS 8
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A Little and Feature
STORY
By Tom Slear
A Lot:
What’s Changed with the
Public’s Perception of
Collision Repair 10
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D
uring Senate hearings five decades ago on the auto repair industry, Senator Roman Hruska of Nebraska quipped, “I have an idea that maybe this series of hearings is before the wrong subcommittee. We have a committee that deals with organized crime.” Even though Hruska spoke tongue-in-cheek, few people laughed. The hearings were summarized in the book, The Great American Auto Repair Robbery, and authors Don Randall (the subcommittee’s assistant counsel) and Arthur Glickman (a newspaper reporter) concluded that shoddy and dishonest repairs had become so ingrained in the public mindset that a feeling of helplessness and apathy had embedded themselves, combining “to make auto repairs the single largest consumer problem in the United States today.” Randall and Glickman’s directness was enhanced by the book’s cover, which was dominated by a vertical screw positioned to evoke the image of a middle finger. Consumer protection agencies in states throughout the country were awash with complaints about auto repairs. The underlying problems were multifaceted, from loose government regulation, to ill-equipped and ill-trained repairers. One specific concern cited about the collision industry will undoubtedly prompt current shop owners to nod in recognition: “Auto body shops, lest they lose a good portion of their business, are coerced by auto insurance companies into fixing cars involved in crashes as cheaply as possible,” Randall and Glickman wrote. “To make repairs at the insurance companies’ prices, these garages often must cut corners, resulting in the return to the road of millions of unsafe vehicles.” Has anything changed with the public’s perception over the last 50 years? Yes – a little and a lot.
A Shrug and a Scent of Distrust
First of all, the little. In public opinion surveys, collision and mechanical repairs are invariably lumped together to collision repair’s disadvantage. The Senate hearings in 1968 were overwhelmingly about inferior mechanical repairs and dealerships that shortchanged car owners on warranties. Collision repair was almost always an afterthought. The Great American Auto Repair Robbery consists of 260 pages, and the chapter, “The Bump Shop - Insurance Complex,” fills a mere 20 of them. Though shortcomings of body shops are highlighted, most of the chapter addresses topics such as corrupt adjusters, insurance companies’ demands for discounts on the cost of parts and the woefully underpriced Labor Rate – $6 to $15 per hour depending on the area of the country – that insurance companies imposed on “bump” shops. Collision shops today are still mixed with other segments of the automotive industry, and rarely get a fair hearing in the court of public Summer 2018
opinion. Over the last seven months of 2017, the highest number of complaints registered with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs fell under the category of “Motor Vehicle Sales/Repairs,” which included collision repairs and 14 other sub-categories. Of the 926 complaints, auto body repairs consisted of 17, or 1.8 percent. Removing the biggest offenders – new and used car sales, which had 440 complaints – and considering only repair categories (auto body, warranty, mechanical, transmission, accessories/parts), auto body was 6.9 percent – a mere dot on a page. Yet, does the public make the distinction? In 2016, AAA surveyed 1,000 US drivers by telephone. Some 63 percent said they don’t trust auto repair shops in general, which resulted in a news release headline of, “Most US Drivers Leery of Auto Repair Shops.” Unmentioned was the fact that the subject of the survey was strictly mechanical repairs. Queried about whether it had ever done a similar examination of the car-driving public’s reaction to collision repair, AAA answered: Nothing recently and probably nothing ever. There are good reasons why organizations that survey the general public give scant attention to collision repair. Call 1,000 car owners and all but a handful will react much as Barb Flannery would have three years ago, which was before she and her children had a string of bad luck on the roads near their home in central Pennsylvania. “Neutral,” she says. “I had no impression.” “In general surveys about service industries, (vehicle) repairs tend to rank low because there is generally not a lot of knowledge about what goes on,” says John Webb, president of TenPoint Complete, a call center and market research company that caters to the automotive and insurance industries. “There’s that feeling that repairers are selling them something they don’t need.” It’s safe to say that little has changed with how the general public perceives the collision industry since Senator Hruska’s attempt at humor. At best, it’s a shrug. At worst, it’s a scent of distrust. But what about the impressions of those with direct exposure to collision repair?
Above Average at Satisfying Customers
Former appraiser and shop owner Barrett Smith, who now owns the Florida-based consulting firm Auto Damage Experts, thinks collision repairers would average a five out of 10 if consumers were to assess their recent body shop experiences. “A lot of that has to do with insurance companies,” Smith says. “Their outlook is that if you are not with us (via DRP), you are against us and that erodes the perception of the consumer. There’s a battle out there and not a lot of shops are winning.” Flannery’s reaction was a bit different. She has five children, four beyond driving age. Over the last three years, two of her continued on page 16
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Recruit-a-Member Program For each member an existing WACTAL member recruits, the sponsoring (existing) member will receive a one-time $50 credit toward their membership dues. There is no limit on the number of members an existing member can recruit. If the dollar amount of the credits exceeds the sponsoring member’s annual dues, the excess amount will carry forward to subsequent years.
No monies will be paid out and credits cannot be cashed out. Credits cannot be split amongst multiple members. The sponsoring member’s individual and business name must be listed on the new member’s Application for Membership as the sponsoring member. If the new member had been a WACTAL member during the prior calendar year, no commission will be allowed. This program can be rescinded or amended without prior notice. In the event the program is rescinded or amended, credits for applications received after the change will be processed under the new program. No credits will be issued if the program is rescinded.
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Ask
MIKE
What is Your New OEM Webinar Series About? This month, we “ASK MIKE” to discuss his new free webinar series that examines OEM repair procedures for the benefit of the industry. We at Wisconsin Automotive News hope you find this following exchange useful, and we encourage you to reach out to us if you have a question for Mike on this or any industry-related matter that he can answer in a subsequent issue.
year with the Survey, we saw that less than 35 percent of the shops said they research OEM repair procedures all the time. That was just very, very concerning to me; it should be 100 percent of the time. I also saw that only one-third of the people used OEM websites, and another third said they referenced I-CAR. I just started looking at all the different ways that people researched repair procedures, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to educate people.’ I decided to start doing these webinars each month where I would actually teach shops how to research the OEM websites. It’s an absolute must – and Wisconsin Automotive News: You’ve been doing OEM-specific webinars for a mandatory – that you research repair while now. When did that idea first come procedures in order to do a safe and to be, and what are the primary goals of proper repair. There is a lot of liability out this project as another way to serve the there for shops, but I also understood shops’ frustration. You’re trying to write an industry? estimate, and all the OEM websites are different. There is no standardization. I Mike Anderson: Last year, somebody decided that I would do monthly webinars asked me, ‘Should I be worried about being where I’d examine an OEM website in the collision repair industry?’ It got me specifically and take people through how to thinking, should I be worried about being in find the things that were most common to the collision repair industry? I went and collision repairers. For example, how do Googled ‘worried,’ and I saw a quote by a you find out if there are any precautions guy named Harold Stephens that said, you should be aware of if you’re going to ‘There is a great difference between worry repair a bumper cover? My goal is to and concern. A worried person sees a educate shops enough that they might get problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.’ So I realized I’m not worried – I’m hungry and want to jump in there a little bit just concerned, and I want to be part of the more. Every OEM has been very supportive. solution. In my ‘Who Pays for What?’ The very first webinar we did was in Surveys, we ask shops how often they research OEM repair procedures and what February with Toyota and Lexus. We had about 1,100 people pre-register for it, and methods they use to do that. In our third 14
we had about 800 attend it live and stay on it for the full 90 minutes. We did Chrysler second, and we had close to 1,200 people register for that one. We did our third one in April on Nissan/Infiniti, and we had almost 1,300 register and close to 900 people stay on for the entire thing. It just really reaffirmed my belief that collision repairers really want to do the right thing. Another thing is that the OEMs are on the phone with us when we’re doing this, and they actually take and answer questions live. We had so many questions for Nissan that we decided to do a Part Two. The videos are posted on our Collision Advice YouTube channel (youtube.com/ collisionadvice), and people can watch them. There’s no charge to attend these webinars.
WAN: Based on the questions you’ve received so far from webinar attendees, are there common problem areas that seem to keep coming up that illustrate obvious gaps between what shops know and what the OEMs are actively trying to provide?
MA: Each OEM is different. When we did Nissan last month, we discussed how they have an equipment program where shops can receive discounts if they’re certified. We ended up getting a lot of questions about that, because no other OEM offers that. When we did Chrysler’s webinar, they actually offered some discounting on the OE repair procedure subscription, so we
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got a lot of questions on that. When we did Toyota, we got a lot of technical questions around zero-point calibrations and scanning. We’re averaging about 300 questions per webinar, and they vary based on the OEM. While we do open up the webinars to anyone – insurance companies, OEMs, jobbers, equipment manufacturers and shops – I would say 80 percent of the attendees are shops. We would love to see more insurers take part and watch it.
WAN: Are these attendees coming from particular markets again and again, or has it been a widespread response so far?
MA: It’s pretty widespread. I would say 90 to 95 percent of the attendees are from the US, and probably five to 10 percent are from Canada. Every webinar breaks the attendee record for the previous one.
WAN: What are some things that attendees might want to do to prepare to take in what you’re going to be offering in one of these presentations?
MA: When we originally had this, we allowed for people to dial in with the connection and listen on their phones. We found out that when you have over 1,000 people on a webinar, you have to pay by the minute that everybody called in. We’re funding this ourselves each month. Our bill for the first webinar was almost $4,000 just for the amount of people who called in. Now, you can’t call in and listen; you have to use audio on your laptop. Right now, we’re encouraging people to make sure they have the ability to listen in from their computer or get a headset they can plug into it if they don’t want anybody distracting them. WAN
Mike Anderson is an Accredited Automotive Manager (AAM) and the former owner of Wagonwork Collision Centers, two highly acclaimed shops located in Alexandria, VA. He has served as a member of many industry organizations throughout his career, including the WMABA Board of Directors, the Mitchell Advisory Board, the MOTOR Advisory Board, the ASE Test Review Committee, the National Auto Body Council, the Collision Industry Conference and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists. Additionally, he is a past Virginia SkillsUSA chairman, serves as a facilitator for Axalta Coating Systems’ highly recognized Business Council 20 Groups in both the US and Canada and facilitates numerous courses for Axalta Coating Systems’ Educational Series. He currently offers expert industry consulting via his latest venture, Collision Advice (collisionadvice.com).
Serving Northwest Wisconsin
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Feature STORY continued from page 11
daughters have been in accidents. Her son has been in two. Flannery herself recently rear-ended another car and caused $6,000 of damage to her Mazda6. She has used two shops. The first, recommended by a friend and not one of USAA’s preferred shops, handled two of the repairs. Flannery chose it because the owner volunteered to cover the $500 deductible. “I was pleased with the service for the most part,” she says, “but he didn’t do a good job matching the paint on the second repair.” The last three repairs were handled by a shop recommended by USAA. “That shop was awesome,” she says. “They were having trouble getting an airbag for my Mazda6. I didn’t have rental insurance. After about five days, they loaned me (at no cost) a year-old car with next to no mileage. When I went to pick up my car, the manager wasn’t happy with the paint (blend) and told me to come back in two days. I’d give the independent shop a four or a five. I’d put the latest shop at an eight.” The data accumulated annually by the global information and marketing firm J.D. Power indicates Flannery’s experience is common. Seventy-five percent of the 12,000 drivers it surveyed, all of whom had their cars repaired by a body shop in 2016 or 2017, said they used a shop preferred by their insurance company, and rated their experience quite a bit higher than those who chose an independent shop. Neither group’s rating of body shops was particularly high, though not horrible either, according to David Pieffer, the property and casualty insurance practice leader for J.D. Power. However, it was clear, he says, that car owners “feel more pleased with a shop they have been directed to as opposed to one they chose on their own.” 16
Whether preferred or not, shops scored very well on individual attributes. According to Pieffer, quality of repair, accuracy (no need for follow-up repairs) and helpfulness all were ranked “in the highest satisfaction category.” Speed and communication were average. Mitchell’s AutocheX results over the last five years are similar, with customer satisfaction very high in repair quality and service, but lower when it comes to keeping car owners informed. (AutocheX doesn’t rate
“There is certainly a percentage of shops who don’t care about customer satisfaction or anything else,” Webb says, “and those are the ones who generate bad experiences. But in general, shops are doing an above average job of satisfying their customers.” speed and accuracy on a scale, but as a percentage. Since 2013, on-time delivery has been 82 to 86 percent, and follow-up repairs have been required 14 to 16 percent of the time.) These high marks are reinforced by the collision industry’s net promoter scores. NPS has gained favor the last 15 years over traditional customer satisfaction scores because it gives a better assessment of what matters most to business owners, which is whether or not the customer will
return. Or as former Alliance of Automotive Service Providers (AASP) National President Nick Kostakis (Angelo’s Auto Body Shop; Irvington, NJ) says, “The proof of what customers really think is with their next accident. Do they come back to you?” TenPoint Complete conducts well over 100,000 surveys yearly for body shops throughout the US and Canada. According to Webb, consumers give the collision industry an NPS in the mid-70s. “Anything above a 50 NPS is considered pretty good,” he says. “Seventy or above in any industry is pretty remarkable.” The AutocheX NPS varies year to year from 78 to 80, and according to Susanna Gotsch, CCC’s industry analyst director, the NPS compiled by CCC on body shops runs in the mid-80s, which is almost off the charts. Yet there’s an obvious caveat to these high scores, whether NPS or plain vanilla customer satisfaction indices. The only shops evaluated are those who pay CCC, TenPoint Complete, Mitchell and other companies to collect the feedback. According to Gotsch, just 55 to 60 percent of the shops that use CCC’s estimating software also use its customer survey product. Webb estimates that only 60 percent or so of the roughly 40,000 body shops in the US survey their customers in one way or another. In other words, close to half of the shops are doing nothing to assess where they stand with their customers. They are likely the same shops that cover deductibles and return cars with two tones. Barrett’s unscientific assessment of five out 10 for body shops on customer satisfaction might not be that far off the mark. “There is certainly a percentage of shops who don’t care about customer satisfaction or anything else,” Webb says, “and those are the ones who generate bad experiences. But in general, shops are doing an above average job of satisfying their customers.” Bump shops no longer. WAN
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Local NEWS
WACTAL Member SPOTLIGHT continued from page 7
here, we’ve gone to the events and just been part of everything and participated in anything we could. We’ve always gone to the trade shows, and any other classes they offer throughout the year – that’s definitely the greatest value we receive out of being association members.” Like many other Wisconsin shops, Reek has noticed certain industry issues that he’d like to see WACTAL work to address moving forward. “I think the Labor Rates need to go up – that’s the biggest one. And the material rate, and all of that. A lot of people are pushing on the newer car stuff – and we haven’t had any issues with things like that. It might be because we’re in a smaller town, but the Labor Rates are an issue we experience regularly.” As someone who’s been in the industry for some time, Reek says one of the biggest technological changes he’s witnessed has been in paint. “Paint is a big one, for sure. That’s changed a lot – between going with water and the newer ways to dry – that’s an area we personally have seen a ton of change in.” Moving forward, Reek is hopeful that Prestige continues to succeed and lasts well into the future. “My hope is that it keeps moving on, and we keep striving to be better. And hopefully the younger family members can take over.” Reek has certainly found the perfect place at Prestige, and believes that this line of work is perfectly suited to him. “I grew up around cars, and I always liked them. It’s just a perfect fit for me – I like fixing cars, painting cars and I love seeing the finished product.”
continued from page 8
Eli was chosen out of more than 100 students who went through a comprehensive application process which included testing and interviews. Eli’s interests in the automotive world were born a few years back when his uncle first introduced him to the basics of vehicle repair. His new-found knowledge led him to land a job at a used car dealership doing some detailing and minor auto repairs; from there, his love of collision repair blossomed. “I started thinking about college and realized I should go into auto body. I fell in love with doing that stuff and I figured I may as well make a career out of it.” Receiving the tools is another great
benefit he truly appreciates. “It’s really nice having [the tools] starting off. Saves me a lot.” Eli is currently receiving mentoring and on-the-job-training at Greg’s Auto World in Lone Rock. “It’s a nice place to start getting my foot in the door and working my way up from there.” One day he hopes to have his own shop where he can work on other people’s vehicles and he would like to do some restoration work as well. He currently enjoys working to restore old cars in his spare time. “I like to make them look brand new again.” WAN
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