We are an industry that, at least in the abstract, when we are thinking logically, seems to understand the need to follow the OEM collision repair procedures. But unfortunately, in day-to-day practice, there are those – shops, technicians and insurers – who still second-guess that.
“We’ve being doing it this other way for 30 years, so…,” they tell themselves.
But, folks, I’m here to remind you there are some non-negotiables.
Bruce Halcro of Capital Collision Center in Helena, Mont., spells out what he calls the “laws” in his shop, the non-negotiables for his business. To make it crystal clear, it’s on every computer screen in his office. You may or may not agree with his list, but it’s worth at least considering. He tells his staff there are four things that aren’t negotiable. We do not, Halcro says, negotiate:
1. Anything that has to do with the law.
2. Anything that is an OEM procedure.
3. Anything that is in the estimating system procedure pages.
4. Rates.
Now, I’m not here to say you have to adopt that complete list in your business. I personally believe the latter two items on his list are business decisions that you can choose to make. He has decided they are not negotiable. You may make a business decision that’s different.
But here’s the deal: The first two items on that list are NOT a business decision. They cannot be negotiable. You have to follow the law and you have to follow the OEM repair procedures.
You can choose to charge (or not charge) for whatever you want. But I think it’s also critical that anything you do to the car that’s not included in some other line item should be on the repair order. Whether you charge for it or not. (Doing that might help you realize how heavily you are discounting those repairs.)
You may commit in those third-party agreements (DRPs) you sign not to charge for certain things. But you have never agreed to not repair the car correctly. I’ve never seen a DRP agreement say, “We don’t care how you fix it. Just match the paint and get it back on the road.”
So even under a DRP agreement, you have to follow the law, and you have to fix the car right. If you choose not to charge for something, that’s a business decision. But there’s not an option to not do it.
If you only think (but don’t know for sure) that following the law and OEM procedures is happening in your shop every time, I’d suggest checking out some of the online forums for technicians. You can pretty quickly find comments from technicians arguing, “I’m not going to do X because I’m not getting paid for it.”
Occasionally I’ve had to say to a shop owner, ‘You know what they’re doing out there, don’t you?’ Sometimes they say, “I know, but it’s hard to get them to do it right.”
But those shop owners need to wake up. Look at some of the recent lawsuits related to repairs when the OEM procedures weren’t followed. Those lawsuits didn’t go after the technician who actually did the work. They named the business owner. It won’t matter whether the technician who did the work is with you anymore or not. Your name is on that job. You own it.
And you own it even if you sell the business. One of the recent lawsuits named the person who owned the shop at the time the poor repair was made – even though that owner had subsequently sold the business. You typically sell only the assets of a business, not the liability. He ended up having to take serious cash out of his pocket for that bad repair. That’s the sort of thing that can sink your retirement.
So make your own “non-negotiable” list or “laws” for your company. Just make sure that at a minimum it includes the first two items on Halcro’s list. The law and OEM procedures aren’t negotiable.
